Audiences at Conservative party conferences are not easily surprised, but Robert Jenrick’s revelation drew audible gasps: yes, he said, his daughter’s middle name was really Thatcher. The unexpected diversion took place on the main conference stage, where Jenrick was the third of four candidates for the party leadership to face an hour-long interview with Christopher Hope, of GB News, in front of 4,000 delegates in Birmingham.
The subject of Jenrick’s daughters came up when he attempted the latest in a series of sometimes slightly limp jokes at the Tory gathering about Keir Starmer’s apparent fondness for donations and free tickets. “I’ve got three young girls, and they’ve all been reading the papers, watching the news, and one of them said to me the other day: ‘Does this mean we’re going to get free tickets to Taylor Swift?’” As the indulgent laughter died down, Hope asked Jenrick about one of the girls’ middle names, something Jenrick had previously told him. “Margaret Thatcher,” Jenrick initially replied, before swiftly clarifying that he meant just “Thatcher”, not both names. “She was born the year that Margaret Thatcher died,” Jenrick said of Sophia, 11, as if this perhaps explained the decision. “As you know, I respect strong women. In fact, everyone is female at my house. I’ve got three daughters, my wife and two dogs, who are both female. I thought it was a good way of reminding her of a great prime minister.” Political name-giving is not unknown. Liz Truss’s younger daughter is named Liberty, a nod to the former prime minister’s free-market views. Starmer is routinely said to have been named after Keir Hardie, a founder of the Labour party, although some Starmer scholars argue there is minimal evidence for this. Jenrick’s commitment to the Tory cause is well known. One source in his camp conceded that when he married his wife, the date of the wedding meant he went straight from the nuptials to the Conservative conference, only going on honeymoon afterwards.