'Thatcher's values from 50 years ago live on... freedom, self-reliance, small government, justice, low taxes, security ...and our country is better off for it'

OCTOBER 13th will be the centenary of Margaret Thatcher's birth. It will also be my 55th and we both hail from Lincolnshire. In various ways, she has been part of my life for five decades.

- NIGEL HUDDLESTON

In February, we commemorated 50 years since Mrs Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party. So it is appropriate to reflect on her time in office and her legacy.

I don't remember her becoming leader when I was four in 1975, but I do vividly remember sitting in candlelight when the power went out during the Winter of Discontent. And I certainly remember Margaret Thatcher becoming our first female Prime Minister in May 1979.

Over her 15 years as leader and 11 years in office, she changed our party and our country. She realigned the post-war socioeconomic and political consensus. And she had a huge personal influence on me.

I'm from a working-class Midlands background. My dad was a Labour-voting, trade unionist factory worker. My mum worked on the tills at Asda and I went to the local comprehensive school. My grandparents, and most of my family, lived in council houses.

Conventional wisdom might suggest I should have become a Labour supporter. But instead, the positive, can-do, aspirational messages of Margaret Thatcher resonated with me. Her words caught my attention as I was formulating my political views as a teenager. I found myself agreeing with every word she said in particular the message that no matter where you come from, if you work hard and want to do well in life, the Conservative Party will back you.

It's not where you come from that matters, but where you are going. Success is to be applauded. Ambition is not a dirty word.

Wanting to do better for yourself, your family, and your country is to be encouraged, not something to be embarrassed about.

The message I was hearing from Margaret Thatcher was clear: the Conservative Party is the party of optimism, meritocracy and opportunity. I found my political home.