Council Leader defends plans for Margaret Thatcher festival
A week-long event is planned in Thatcher's Grantham hometown this October
Last updated 17th Jun 2025
Grantham's council leader says plans for a Margaret Thatcher festival are about marking history not celebrating.
It will be a 100 years since the first female Prime Minister was born in Grantham on October 13.
Now, South Kesteven District Council are planning a week-long cultural festival, starting on this anniversary (Monday 13 October to Sunday 19 October).
It's set to include Thatcher-themed walks, famous Tory speakers and even a drag impersonator.
"We've not come to praise her or to bury her, " said Ashley Baxter, Leader of South Kesteven District Council.
"We're just saying this is the place where Margaret Thatcher grew up and it shaped her outlook of the world, and the world changed as a result of Thatcher.
"If you think for better or for worse that's up to you."
"I think political debate in this country has been reduced since the era of Thatcher, and we want to reignite political debate," said Cllr Baxter.
"We don't want to start a fight, we want to get people to talk rationally about the policies of Thatcher and her cronies in the 80s."
Thatcher's belief in free markets and a small state has influenced politics around the world, but her policies also had a huge impact on UK art and music.
On Saturday 18 October a band is set to perform 'Thatcher inspired music', which will include hits by UB40 and Billy Bragg.
"I'm not going to be celebrating the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, I'm going to be acknowledging she was Prime Minister for over a decade," said Cllr Baxter.
Tories Against Thatcher gave the following statement regarding the festival:
"The Thatcher festival is another outrageous iteration of pouring taxpayer money into civic displays that perpetuate social injustice and exclusion. When we spoke to constituents regarding the controversial erection of Thatcher's statue, the majority of them weren't in favour of such an odious and expensive memorial to a divisive leader.
"We echo the Grantham Museum, in their rejection of the proposal to rename the museum after Thatcher, asking does this represent all of Grantham? Surely the statue alone is enough money spent and enough of a commemoration?"