Colchester and Margaret Thatcher's curious connection

Had Mrs Thatcher not become one of the towering figures of 20th century British politics, it may have been confectionary rather than Conservatism for which she would be best known, given her work as a chemistry graduate involved developing emulsifiers for ice creams.

But before throwing herself headfirst into politics, Mrs Thatcher lived a quieter life, catching the bus every morning from Colchester's St John's Street to Lawford, where for two years she worked as a research chemist for BX Plastics, starting in 1948.

At the same time, Mrs Thatcher was keenly involved in the town’s political life, attending hustings as a member of Colchester Conservatives.

It soon proved that politics was not something the future Prime Minister ever took lightly, even at a local level.

For her sake, perhaps it was just as well; Mrs Thatcher’s two-year stint as a chemist at BX Plastics came to an end in 1950 when her then manager let her go.

“We got rid of Margaret Roberts and possibly we did not do British science or industry a service,” the manager is said to have remarked to Hugo Young, who wrote Thatcher’s political biography.

“She did not fit with us.”

Mrs Thatcher was still living in the Lexden area of Colchester when she unsuccessfully campaigned to become MP for Dartford in 1950, before she then secured a job in London testing ice cream and cakefillings for food production company, J. Lyons.

It was there that Mrs Thatcher is said to have been part of a team which experimented with whipping more air into ice cream to produce the 'soft scoop' recipe, though her direct involvement is contested.

Her connections to Colchester remained long after she left Essex in 1950, however; she returned in 1976 – by which time she was Conservative party leader – as a guest of honour at the Colchester and District Soroptomist Club, thanks to an invitation from her former landlady in Cambridge Road.

Campaigning, canvassing, politicking – Thatcher found plenty of support in Essex as well as Colchester, which remained a Conservative constituency for 47 years after she moved on.

Many of the photos from the Gazette archive are from the campaign trail where Thatcher was in her element.

Margaret Thatcher in 1948 with garrison tailor and chair of Colchester Conservatives, Bill Jolliffe (Image: Newsquest)

A 23-year-old Margaret Roberts volunteers at a book stall at a Colchester Conservatives fundraising event1948 at book stall at Colchester Conservatives fundraising event (Image: Newsquest)

Thatcher is joined by Bill Jolliffe and Anthony Buck MP at a cocktail held at the Officers' Club, 1976 (Image: Newsquest)

Shoppers in Halstead share a few words with Mrs Thatcher during her visit to the Essex town (Image: Newsquest)

Thatcher pays a visit to her sister's farm in Little Oakley, 1978 (Image: Ray Wood)

Thatcher official unveils the new headquarters of Crittalls Windows in August 1990 (Image: Dave Barker)

Thatcher visits the factory floor at Crittalls Windows, Braintree, in 1990 (Image: Dave Barker)

Thatcher goes on the campaign trail with Stephan Shakespeare in 1997. The Conservative candidate is eventually defeated by Liberal Democrat Sir Bob Russell as the constituency returns a non-Tory MP for the first time in 47 years (Image: Warren Page)