Drag acts, detractors and true-blue diehards: my weird weekend at a Margaret Thatcher festival

<p>For some, she was a hero. For others, quite the opposite. On 13 October, the prime minister who looms large over British politics would have turned 100 – and a gathering in Grantham celebrated her days in power</p><p>The bronze statue of Margaret Thatcher by the sculptor Douglas Jennings has a rating of 2.8 out of five on Google Maps. Although curiously, none of the reviewers seems to have overly preoccupied themselves with the quality of the craftsmanship or the fidelity of the likeness. “One of the most important PMs this country ever had,” writes one. “It’s a public toilet but there’s nowhere to wash your hands,” writes another.</p><p>The statue was originally commissioned more than a decade ago, and was intended to stand in front of the Houses of Parliament, but Westminster city council rejected it on the grounds that it might become a target for vandalism. Instead, it was offered to her birthplace of Grantham, a town she left at the age of 18 and rarely visited again. Within hours of its installation, someone threw an egg at it. Shortly after that, it was defaced with red paint. And now, on a grey October afternoon, Margaret Thatcher herself is gazing upon it, bearing a look of pure disgust.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/oct/16/drag-acts-detractors-and-true-blue-diehards-my-weird-weekend-at-a-margaret-thatcher-festival">Continue reading...</a>