We want to win well-Thatcher

Mrs. Thatcher told Scunthorpe Conservative Party workers yesterday that she hoped the French election result would be reflected in the next General Election here.

“I would settle for the kind of result they had in France with about 90 majority. We want a straight Conservative victory, a large victory so that we can have clear Government for the next five years so that people know exactly where they are going.”

The Labour Government was now trying to undo some of the damage they themselves had done. It was only at election times that they started thinking about reducing income tax.

Mrs Thatcher added: “We shall approach the next election in a can do, will do and shall do, style. We can and must win,” she said.

Mrs Thatcher said she thought Mr Callaghan was “frightened of losing.”

She added: “Now they dare not face the country. Mr Callaghan is in a minority position but for the Liberals. They had a common interest in not going to the electorate because they were frightened of losing their seats.”

An Easter Shadow Cabinet reshuffle is now being predicted by many Tory MPs. Opposition leader Mrs Margaret Thatcher is keeping her own counsel, but is felt to be conscious of the recent criticism of the Shadow Cabinet's performance by the executive committee of the powerful 1922 back-bench committee.

As the Tories feel they have increasingly won the initiative from the Government on such issues as immigration and law and order, Mrs Thatcher is being urged to maintain the momentum by changing her team.