OF all the blondes jostling for attention this week, one stood head and shoulders above the rest.

It was not Boris Johnson or his wife, who left Downing Street in a whirl of silk fuschia and kisses (her) and growling (Dilyn the dog and his master). You just knew the family Johnson had not left the place clean for the next tenant.

Nor was it mustard-keen Liz Truss, the new Prime Minister. On entering Downing Street she did well to resist leaping out of the still-moving official car, kicking off her heels, and sprinting towards Number 10.

No, the person who deserves recognition is the hitherto little known Felicity Cornelius-Mercer. Hearing that her husband Johnny, a Minister, had just been sacked, Felicity went on Twitter to call Ms Truss “an imbecile”.

While the name-calling might have seemed at odds with the quietly celebratory but business-like mood of the day, it was actually spot on. For what we were witnessing as Ms Truss took to her twisty podium was the beginning of Thatcherism’s last stand. From this point on it is going to be carnage, a time of ill-feeling and unrest in which “imbecile” will be a term of endearment.

What struck me as Ms Truss made her brief speech was the quiet. Yes, there was the clatter of helicopters above as the Prime Ministerial convoy made its way to Downing Street (top man Huw Edwards and his running commentary, BTW: if he really is looking for new job opportunities the tour buses will have him in an instant). But other than that, the place was relatively hushed.

What a contrast with the arrival of Mrs Thatcher in May 1979. The occasion is largely remembered for her enlistment of St Francis of Assisi to the cause, but what is most notable in watching it again is the sheer rumpus going on. Cops and press doughnutting Mrs Thatcher, her voice struggling to be heard above the angry roar of the crowd outside. Whatever the new Prime Minister was bringing into government it wasn’t harmony.

Now, almost half a century on from the original, the heirs to the heirs of Thatcher have made it through the door of Number 10. They can play all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. They know the lyrics and buzzwords: aspiration, freedom, enterprise, reducing the burden, tax cuts, business-led growth and investment.

Some were not even born when Mrs Thatcher’s first term began (Suella Braverman, Chloe Smith, Kemi Badenoch, Michelle Donelan), and they cannot wait to make up all that lost time appealing to the centre. Just imagine. A chance to put into practice what they have so long preached.

None of this squares with what the new Prime Minister will do today when she finally reveals how she is going to help consumers and businesses deal with the enormous hikes in energy bills. That massive state intervention should be the first move of the new administration is a sign of the differing times.

It shows, too, what a tough to impossible job the new Thatcherites are going to have in office. First, there is the question of who pays for a price freeze that could cost north of £150 billion. Will it be the energy firms who have been raking in profits by the tens of billions? Will it be you? Or will it be your children and grandchildren?

Ms Truss, making her debut at PMQs yesterday, ruled out a windfall tax. So the line is drawn, for MPs and voters to choose which side they are on. It was notable yesterday how many of her own MPs (a majority of whom voted against her for the leadership) raised the subject of energy bills. It was always the case that Ms Truss’s honeymoon period in office was going to be brief, but a couple of days must be a record.

Not that you might have thought so by the end of PMQs, at which the new premier did rather well. Admittedly the bar of expectation had been set low, but she was more relaxed, and quicker on her feet, than some thought she would be. She even had a not too bad joke about why so many Labour leaders were men from North London; and she turned the Labour gibe of “same old Tories” – a line you will be hearing a lot – back on Keir Starmer’s troops, accusing them of having the same old tax and spend policies.

These are early days, but there seemed to be more women in the chamber, making their presence felt, which changed the atmosphere for the better. Like I say, early days. There will be soon be many opportunities to disagree, not least on the new Government’s belief in cutting taxes as a way of generating growth.

To her credit, the Prime Minister is perfectly open about where she is coming from on this. On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the host presented Ms Truss with figures showing the effect on the richest and poorest of reversing the National Insurance rise, as she has pledged to do. The poorest gained £7.66, while the richest benefited by £1801.89 (source: IFS). When asked if this was fair, Ms Truss said that looking at everything “through the lens of redistribution” was wrong. She was about growing the economy, which “benefits everybody”. Just like that we were back in the era of trickle-down economics. Who knew anyone still believed in such fantasies?

So there it is. Thatcherism attempting a comeback at the same time as the greatest squeeze on living standards in memory, and with a resurgent trade union movement ready, willing and able for the fight. It does not signal quiet times ahead. Instead of helping people ride out the storm, Ms Truss’s government will be adding to it.

This might appeal to some of those newly gathered round the Cabinet table. The ones who rue the day Theresa May uttered the phrase “the nasty party”. The ones who turned on Boris Johnson and his Chancellor for not cutting taxes. The ones who think the only thing wrong with austerity is that it did not go deeper for longer.

On a positive note, at least the redrawing of lines makes political boundaries clearer. Politics post-Boris could do with more clarity.

If they have not already done so, the public will soon make their minds up about the Truss administration and its last hurrah for Thatcherism. An Opposition that fails to capitalise on this, and soon, will not be forgiven easily.