Our Iron Lady

Earlier this year, I read a biography of David Cameron [DC], the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party. Believing in the maxim: "Know Thy Enemy!", my interest in DC comes at a time when Tories are governing the country through a necessary coalition with the Liberal-Democrats, under Nick Clegg, after being in opposition for 13 years; opposition in three consecutive Labour government terms. The coalition should prove a bit more interesting in the coming months given the challenges the UK has with Europe and Europe always affects the UK, whether Britons want to believe this or not.

Yet what really interests me is the fact that DC was able to scrape through the 2010 General Election after his party took three defeats at the General polls (1997;2001;2005). The ANC in the Western Cape can learn a lesson or two not only from the Conservatives post 1997 but even from the Labour Party. Labour was in opposition for 18 years before they came into power in 1997, under Tony Blair.

DC comes from a rather wealthy background, his wife from an even wealthier one and this is something that haunts him. He is said to be aloof, arrogant and out of touch with those whom his cuts really affect. His father was a financier, stock broker-cum-banker and it is this privileged background that gave DC both a headache on his way to claim the Tory leadership in 2005 but also crawling towards victory of the premiership in 2010. 

Even worse was his association with Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism. If DC, who wears the pants in the Cameron-Clegg marriage, is known for his cuts, cuts, cuts and more cuts to public spending then it is vintage Margaret Thatcher. In fact, he tried and is trying to go even further and privatise not only public services but civil society itself; quintessential Thatcherism.

But this then sparks an interest for Maggie herself. If Maggie is the one DC goes gagga for, then surely it is useful to try and understand the Iron Lady. She got this title from the Soviets while still in opposition, who meant it as an insult, but who the mother of modern day political spin was able to keep as a compliment, at home. DC was a protégé of Maggie but not exactly because they hardly worked together, as say Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki did. To understand how Mbeki thinks, one had to look into Tambo’s direction. Cameron never admitted to be a Thatcher fan but certainly there were signs of it during his Oxford days.

Cut a long story short, Maggie was able to defeat Labour in a number of successive general elections (1979;1983;1987). Not only did she earn her nickname by the way she handled domestic troubles: the riots of the early ‘80’s, how she related to the trade unions, how she dealt with Northern Ireland, the international community and everything else but also the way she dealt severe blows to Labour in elections.

The intrigue though comes with her downfall. The Iron Lady fell after her party imploded. Labour, the unions, terrorists/freedom fighters in Northern Ireland and the Soviets were all unable to do what her own party did: unseat her. It was her own party that slammed the door on her. Differences with her party emerged not only on policy but also with her attitude. Her deep differences, for example, on Europe coupled with her self-confidence, bordering on arrogance, caused the rebellion within the Tories, Labour needed.

John Major won the next election riding on Thatcher’s wave and by shining in Rupert Murdoch’s light. But yes, the end of Thatcher meant the end of the Tories and they continue to struggle to this day, hence their struggle to victory in 2010.

We have our own Maggie Thatcher. She runs the Western Cape and, like Thatcher, is the lonely woman, by design, in a rather male world. Her policies, and that of her party, are not far from Thatcher’s: individual opportunism, dislike of trade unions, favouring capital, entrench past privileges, divide and rule, and best of all, spin!

People hated Thatcherism but loved the woman. She had charm, she had balls and she was nice – but that’s where it stopped and people didn’t look farther than these. But then her colleagues got fed up with her, her policies, her attitude and her stink – and they got rid of her.

No doubt, our Iron Lady will probably go the same way. The majority of people who vote for her don’t know the policies she promotes and the privilege she defends but this is for sure: she is their darling. On twitter, on Facebook, on botox, our Iron Lady in the Western Cape, is just “with-it” and people do go gagga for her. She is witty, she is bright (pun intended) and she has style.

The leader of the Official Opposition in the Western Cape, who is also a woman, can learn a thing or two from this Iron Lady it’s been said before. Point being: as long as she is in the running things, it would seem that the opposition in the Province will remain in their side of the House. Until, wait for it, her party implodes, has had enough of her arrogance (which she has a klomp of) and gets rid of her. Be assured, the DA is as divided as the Tories were in the ‘80’s; it’s deep down.

The WC Iron Lady turned 60 this year by 2014 she’ll be 63 and by 2019, 68. The Opposition in the WC stands a chance therefore for 2019 but the ground work starts now. In the meantime, they should prod and target the whims of the Iron Lady, guys she has as henchmen. Of course, building the organisation as well will be important as Blair did before 1997 and certainly which Cameron is struggling to do.

P.S. My calling our home grown Iron Lady by that title is as complex as it was in Maggie’s day: a blue compliment mixed with red insult.