Young Margaret Thatcher wants nothing more than to be an MP. But is she the right kind of “chap” for the Tory Party of the Fifties? She didn’t have a “good war”; and thinks a woman’s place can be in the House as well as the home!

Tony Saint’s light-hearted and imaginative film shows how, when Margaret begins her battle to get selected to a winnable Tory seat in the Fifties, little does she know just how much blood, sweat and tears she will need to invest in what evolves into a 10-year struggle.

Standing against considerable local opposition, Thatcher was rejected by a succession of Home Counties Tory selection committees. However, against this opposition, she was finally selected for Finchley, the seat that she was to be identified with for the rest of her political career.

Margaret Thatcher is played by Andrea Riseborough (Party Animals), Dennis Thatcher by Rory Kinnear (Mansfield Park), Sir John Crowder by Geoffrey Palmer (As Time Goes By), Sir Donald Kaberry by Oliver Ford-Davis (Star Wars) and Ted Heath by Samuel West (Cambridge Spies).

Thursday 12 June
9.00-10.25pm BBC FOUR