TORY delegates found a new, if unsurprising, friend in Birmingham — former Blair adviser John McTernan. 

Speaking on Monday alongside rising star Tory MP Jessie Norman, Mr McTernan praised Thatcher’s privatisation agenda and that the only problem with it was that “she didn’t sell it properly. 

Former Labour official Mr McTernan, who was an adviser to Blair and Blairite MP Jim Murphy, said her council house sales were “a brilliant thing.” 

Mr McTernan regretted Labour hadn’t sold off more, saying “I would have privatised London Underground.” 

He was “very relaxed about capitalism,” but worried voters were more uptight on the subject and was shocked by a poll showing that “half the population think the greatest threat to Britain is big business.”

London Stock Exchange boss Xavier Rolet, who funded the meeting in a hotel next to the conference hall, was “very encouraged” by Mr McTernan’s views.