Thatcher was right: Tory moderates have no power over the party’s ruthless rightwing extremists

‘Margaret Thatcher faced opposition from the “wets”, but as her dismissive label for them suggests, such figures have rarely stopped the right from getting its way.’ A statue of Thatcher in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Photograph: John Robertson/The Guardian

For Tory moderates – assuming some still exist – these ought to be quietly promising times. Their party’s extremists have made a huge mess of the last four Conservative governments, both as participants and critics. They may have discredited radical rightwing politics in the eyes of most voters for many years to come.

The failure of Brexit, which many Tory moderates predicted, and of populist Conservatism’s other miracle cures, may see the Tory right decimated at the coming election: favourable circumstances, you might think, for moderates to shape any party rebuilding.