When Thatcher took performance lessons from Laurence Olivier, it changed the course of her political destiny

‘So far as millions of viewers were concerned, Downing Street was starting to seem like just another road off Coronation Street.’ Margaret Thatcher with the Coronation Street cast in Manchester, 1990. Photograph: PA

If Jim Callaghan and Ted Heath had one thing in common, it was a stodginess that characterised political leaders of the 70s: baggy suits, sweaty faces, leaden delivery. When she succeeded Heath as leader of the Conservative party 50 years ago, and found herself facing Callaghan across the dispatch box, Margaret Thatcher decided she wanted to truly embrace the TV age.

That was how she came to be given “presentation lessons” by no less an actor than Laurence Olivier, who subsequently arranged for her to receive voice coaching from Catherine Fleming, the woman who helped him perfect the basso profundo he needed to play Othello in a celebrated National Theatre production. The influence Olivier had on Thatcher was profound, and it affected the business of politics in this country.