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EastEnders wanted to show Thatcher’s Britain. These days it would make Maggie proud

In its efforts to reflect the real world, the BBC’s flagship soap has unconsciously embraced the Tory vision

14 February 2015

9:00 AM

14 February 2015

9:00 AM

Albert Square full of Thatcherites? You ’avin a larf? No, it’s true. EastEnders, conceived 30 years ago partly as a means of enraging the Conservative party, has blossomed into a Tory commercial.

Iain Duncan-Smith could watch all the wealth-creating activity in Albert Square with a syrupy smile; George Osborne could visit Phil Mitchell’s garage in a hi-vis jacket and look perfectly at home (Boris Johnson has already had a cameo pint at the Queen Vic).

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