It is argued here that David Cameron has been heavily influenced by the example that Margaret Thatcher set with regard to leadership style, approach and rhetoric. The influence that she has exerted upon him may have become more marked in recent times, in response to the economic downturn and debt crisis, which has allowed Cameron to be more openly Thatcherite in his language, but he has always tried to follow in at least some of her footsteps. This was because of the dominance of right-wing views in the parliamentary Conservative party, which it has been necessary for Cameron to appease in the interests of party unity, and because he shared Thatcher's scepticism towards the state, seeking to express it in the more voter-friendly concept of social responsibility.
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