In the 21st Century, I hardly think it an acheivement for a mainstream political party to accept ethnic minorities in a multi-cultural society such as the United Kingdom.

However, whats the Conservatives do and what the Conservatives actually mean are two very different things. If you look at the percentage break down of the conservative party, the majority of its MPs are old white and male. Yes, they may have a brown haired figure head, but a figure head is all that Cameron is. The traditional Victorian style of politics is still very much in play, and looking at the constitution of the members of the party emphasises this.

In any debate around the influence of Thatcherism in the modern Conservative Party it seems important to treat "Thatcherism" in two strands, namely; economic policy being one and social policy being the other.

Arguably, the economic policy enacted by Margaret Thatcher during her premiership is now firmly entrenched in the mainstream of political opinion. Blair and Brown have accepted the Conservative policies around the free-market, they have not increased (until recently) the top rate of tax and they have not repealed Thatcher's laws around Union picketing. Thatcher's privatisation of many public services has also been untouched, quite the reverse; with plans in the pipeline for further sales (notably, of course, Royal Mail). The key differences between Labour and the preceding Thatcher government has been the latters' huge increase in public spending, its cutting of the lowest rate of tax and the introduction of tax credits. Until recently, with the collapse of the financial sector, Labour seemed not too distant from Thatcherism. In terms of economic policy, the financial crisis has allowed some "clear blue water" to emerge between the parties; mainly around where cuts should fall. The Tories are advocating a cut in corporation tax, a freeze in public sector pay , all with a view to cut the deficit; sooner rather than later. All things that I feel would make Lady Thatcher smile.

As for social policy, it cannot be argued that David Cameron is very much trying to make the Tory Party resemble compassionate Conservatives. However, on education the tories support Academies (a Labour invention; involving private partners investing in schools and then the school itself having independance) which is very much in-keeping with Thatcher's "small government" obsession. And on Local Government; the tories are now the largest party in local government, with something like 10,000 councillors, I would imagine that had Lady Thatcher of had such an overwhelming strangle-hold on local politics then she may well have advocated for more power to the boroughs as well. A cynical observer may wonder if Cameron would change his mind, were the tide to turn.

Alongside both these points; it is worth noting that the Conservative Way Foward, the group set-up to further Thatcherite policies, has as much influence as ever (Cameron's nince principles are taken from it), with an increased membership over recent years. On the other hand, the Tory Reform Group, similiar to the former, but with One Nation Conservative ideals, has suffered from a decline in membership. What does this tell us?

Overall, its a very good question; in some ways yes it has appeared to remove Thatcherism, most notably in social policy areas. However, its stance on Europe and in economic terms, perhaps not.