In fact, the Tory party has, under Margaret, stopped being a party and become a movement, as dedicated to change as Labour itself once was. Manifestos have been written on tablets of stone. This sea change has put older Tories in some difficulty. We joined a party, not a movement, zeal was once left to our socialist opponents; today it is hard to find a Tory who is not a zealot.
J. Critchley, The Palace of Varieties (1989), 142
Mrs Thatcher is a self-acknowledged 'conviction politician'. Indeed, when challenged she has drawn the parallel of the Apostles themselves; 'Do you think you would ever have heard of Christianity if the Apostles had gone out and said "I believe in consensus"?' she asked an American journalist. It is this sense of conviction which explains much of her success, and tells one more about the sort of public figure she is. Conviction politics is all very well, but it does tend to mean a lac of respect for the convictions of others, and its practice can lead one swiftly into the paths of self-righteousness.
J. Critchley, The Palace of Varieties (1989), 121-2
