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Best of the Spectator

Coffee House Shots: who is the greatest ever conservative?

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4785 Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From wartime leadership to economic revolutions, Conservative figures have shaped Britain’s past and present. But who stands out as the greatest of them all? In this conversation, recorded live at Conservative Party Conference: Katie Lam makes the case for William Pitt the Younger, Camilla Tominay nominates Margaret Thatcher, William Atkinson points out the number of young Tories who now idolise Enoch Powell, and Neil O’Brien explains why all conservatives should know about Jerzy Popieluszko. Who wins? You decide.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, this is Grace Beverly, host of Working Hard, and my podcast is currently being sponsored by Sky Business. As I know too well, every day is a big day in business. There's no such thing as a quiet day, there's no time for downtime, delays or distractions. And so the last thing you need is an unresponsive connection. Sky Business gives you fibre-first solutions, expert teams and 24-7 support from real humans. So you can focus on, you know, keeping your business running. For a trusted partner, you can rely on to support you.

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0:47.0

Welcome to this spectator event, but we'll be asking who was the greatest conservative ever.

0:49.1

And I'm joined by Camilla Tominy of the Daily Telegraph and G.B. News.

0:56.8

From the Shadow Cabinet, Neil O'Brien,

1:01.5

the Shadow Home Affairs spokesperson and Member of Parliament for the Wield of Kent,

1:05.5

Katie Lamb, and the spectator's own William Atkinson.

1:08.8

Now, we know that all four of them are great conservatives.

1:14.9

So I'm not asking you to adjudicate on their individual merits. Instead, each of them will be acting as advocates for a great conservative from history.

1:23.3

And it will be up to you to ask them questions and then at the end to vote.

1:29.3

And it won't be AVE, STV or any of these absurd continental innovations.

1:36.6

It will be straightforward first past the post.

1:41.4

And just to explain, we'll be doing it in sort of historical order. So that means

1:47.0

that Camilla will be first, and Camilla will be making the case for Margaret Thatcher.

...

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