TEARS bubbled up, throats dried and sniffles could be heard from the stalls as the Tory faithful paid a final tribute to the Iron Lady.
For the first time in years, that familiar voice saying all those familiar things could be heard echoing around the Conservative Party conference. In the cavernous hall, clad in funereal black, the tribute to "Our Maggie" was played recounting her defeating the Argies in the Falklands to denationalisation and from defeating the Ruskies in the Cold War to privatising council houses.
There were some old familiar faces, including Lords Parkinson, Young, Hurd and Howard, saying what a truly wonderful and great leader Mrs T was and how the leaderene had "saved Britain" from the clutches of socialism.
Surrounded by large banners proclaiming "immigration down", "welfare capped" and "more private sector jobs", the latest Doctor Who incarnation of the Tory leadership paid tribute to her "absolute determination" to turn the nation round.
"She was a great leader, a great Prime Minister, a great Briton and a great Conservative," declared David C, who praised her lionhearted convictions of "you can't spend what you haven't earned", "it's not governments that create jobs, it's businesses", "sound money", "strong defence" and "stand up for your country".
The 15-minute tribute was listened to in a respectful silence, interrupted by an occasional polite round of applause.
It was interesting to hear Mrs T tackle Labour's illusionist policies of the 1970s and 1980s and the Tories' capitalist outlook on defending freedom and promoting enterprise.
The most humorous bit came when Mrs T, looking like a dolled-up housewife, made mention of how she was wearing a "red star chiffon evening gown", her face "softly made up" and her "fair hair gently waved" and revelled in how she had been dubbed the Iron Lady of the Western World.
As the Falklands War was billed as her most challenging moment, the music intensified and one colleague choked as he said: "That was some Iron Lady."
As the lights came back on the unThatcheresque blinking figure of Grant Shapps, the Tory Chairman, gushed about how Britain's one and only female premier had been a remarkable woman and exceptional leader. "There will," he declared, "only be one Margaret Thatcher."
To her supporters, the response would be "how very, very true", to her detractors, the response would be "thank God".
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