Battle lines have been drawn as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss go head to head in a six-week battle to secure the Tory crown.
It will now be up to the 160,000-strong Conservative membership to choose the next Prime Minister. Mr Sunak and Ms Truss must win the support of this small but decisive electorate to get the keys to No10.
And what better way to woo the Tory faithful than by positioning themselves as the heir to Margaret Thatcher?
The polarising PM is still loathed by swathes of the electorate but remains beloved by parts of the Tory party.
In an article in the Telegraph, Mr Sunak laboured the point by saying six times that he was a "Thatcherite".
He said: "My values are Thatcherite. I believe in hard work, family and integrity. I am a Thatcherite, I am running as a Thatcherite and I will govern as a Thatcherite."
Meanwhile Liz Truss, who was raised by left-wing parents who taught her to say "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out', has long positioned herself as another Iron Lady.
She complained that it was "frustrating" to be compared to Mrs Thatcher but observers may note that her photo op in a tank in Estonia earlier this year bore striking similarities to the Tory PM.
Here we look at how like Thatcher both candidates really are.
Tax
SUNAK
Rishi Sunak is resisting Tory calls to slash taxes immediately as he seeks to position himself as the most fiscally responsibly candidate.
The former Chancellor wants to retain credibility on the economy and has attacked his rivals for promoting "fantasy economics" that leave the party vulnerable to attacks from Labour.
Thatcher pushed for low taxation but she would have been wary about pledges for massive tax cuts without specifying how they would be funded, Tories have suggested.
Tory grandee Norman Lamont, who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Thatcher, has backed Mr Sunak.
Journalist Dominic Lawson also said his father Nigel Lawson, who was Chancellor under Thatcher, would have supported his approach.
Thatcher rating: 3/5
TRUSS
Liz Truss is vowing to cut taxes with an emergency budget to reverse the national insurance rise, scrap the planned corporation tax increase and suspend the green levies on energy bills.
Her £30billion a year plan will mean higher borrowing or cuts to public spending, according to the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank.
Thatcher was averse to Government borrowing but more bullish on cuts to public spending.
Thatcher rating: 3/5
Immigration
SUNAK
Rishi Sunak has spoken of his pride at his family's success after emigrating to the UK but he is a Brexiteer and backs control of the UK's borders.
He has vowed to keep Boris Johnson's policy to ship asylum seekers to Rwanda and wants a tough approach on criminal gangs trafficking people to the UK.
But reports suggested he was concerned about the cost of the scheme when he was in the Treasury.
Thatcher famously said people might be concerned about being "swamped by people with a different culture" when asked about cutting immigration in 1978 before she was elected.
Thatcher rating: 2/5
TRUSS
The Foreign Secretary also agrees with the Rwanda policy and has called for further reforms to stamp out illegal immigration.
She has also said she would be prepared to leave the European Convention on Human Rights as a last resort.
Thatcher was suspicious of Europe and might have approved.
Thatcher rating: 3/5
Foreign policy
TRUSS
There is no shortage of pictures of Liz Truss paying homage to Margaret Thatcher on her foreign travels on her Instagram account.
Ms Truss donned military gear and perched in a tank for pictures during a visit to Estonia, echoing an image of the former PM in a tank in West Germany in 1986.
On a trip to Moscow in February she posed for pictures in Red Square in a fur coat and hat, 35 years after the former Tory premier did the same on a visit to the then Soviet Union.
But is there more to the Foreign Secretary's approach than simply Thatcher cosplay?
On Europe the pair have their differences. Thatcher was a eurosceptic - and opposed closer political union - but she was a supporter of the single market, even wearing it on a jumper.
Truss has gone from Remainer to full-throated Brexiteer as she saw which way the political wind was blowing - and shares Thatcher's confidence about Britain’s global reach and support for free trade.
Thatcher would presumably have admired her willingness to "stand up" to Brussels but it is hard to see her disregarding international law as Truss has with the Northern Ireland protocol.
And while the Iron Lady's relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev was key to bringing the Cold War to an end, Britain and Russia's relationship under Vladimir Putin is very much in the deep freeze.
There are more similarities in their approach to the US - Truss is a big Atlanticist although it is hard to see her emulating Thatcher's close relationship with Ronald Reagan with current US president Joe Biden.
Thatcher rating: 4/5
SUNAK
Without having held any foreign policy roles, Rishi Sunak’s positions on foreign policy are more difficult to interpret.
Just like Thatcher, he is a committed Eurosceptic, voting to Leave the European Union.
But she was a tough negotiator. Her resolute refusal - the famous “No, no, no” - to contemplate more European integration gave Cabinet colleagues reason to desert her.
Sunak's allies have claimed he would strike a "different tone" in relations with Brussels, dialling down the rhetoric. There's a possibility Thatcher would have seen that as surrender.
He has said he'd allow the Northern Ireland Protocol bill through Parliament, but is believed to have concerns about economic reprisals from the EU.
The ex-Chancellor is less hawkish than his rival on China - seeking to keep dialogue open with the East Asian superpower - around economic investment and trade.
Thatcher also wanted to maintain relations with Beijing - resulting in the handover of Hong Kong in 1997.
Sunak, who lived and worked in the US, is a committed Atlanticist like the Iron Lady before him.
But much of his international experience has been around his G7 role brokering a minimum global corporation tax rate.
While Thatcher may have backed the 12.5% base rate, she would presumably have been against his plans to whack up corporation tax at home.
Thatcher rating: 2/5
Unions
SUNAK
Rishi Sunak has done his share of throwing mud at the unions as he attempts to burnish his Thatcherite credentials.
But they have hit back - criticising the former Chancellor for not doing enough to help workers during the cost of living crisis.
Thatcher faced similar criticisms when she took over as PM in 1979. But unlike some of his colleagues, he also has proven experience of working with the unions.
The TUC helped persuade him to adopt the furlough scheme to help workers during the pandemic, and he even posed with its chief Frances O'Grady on the steps of No 11.
Thatcher wouldn't have let union chiefs anywhere near.
Thatcher rating: 2/5
TRUSS
Margaret Thatcher will forever be known for crushing the might of Britain's trade unions, with the 1984-1985 miners' strike symbolic of how determined she was about beating "the enemy within".
Liz Truss was brought up by left-wing parents who supported the unions but as part of her "political journey" she has made a 180 degree turn.
Her Government has taken a belligerent approach to the unions, repealing key legislation to protect workers' rights and attacking union chiefs over strikes on pay and job cuts.
The Iron Lady would surely approve.
Thatcher rating: 4/5
Back story
SUNAK
The former Chancellor put his family story at the heart of his launch video, where he spoke about how his grandparents emigrated to Britain in the 1960s from East Africa.
He was raised in Southampton by his GP dad and pharmacist mum, attending private Winchester College and Oxford.
His wife Akshata Murty is the daughter of an Indian tech billionaire, and the couple are 222nd on the Sunday Times rich list with a £730m fortune.
He has sought to present his story as a British version of the American dream, citing the value of entrepreneurship and hard work.
While his background and present day wealth set him apart from Thatcher, his story of aspiration may have chimed with her.
Thatcher rating: 2/5
TRUSS
Liz Truss was raised in Paisley, Scotland, and Leeds by left-wing parents who taught her anti-Thatcher slogans as a child.
She described her academic father and nurse mother as being "to the left of Labour" and abandoned their politics to become a Lib Dem activist, before joining the Conservative party.
She has said her comprehensive "let down" pupils but alumni of Roundhay school, in an affluent suburb of Leeds, have disputed her claims.
Ms Truss worked as an accountant for Shell and Cable & Wireless before entering politics.
Thatcher rating: 2/5
