Margaret Thatcher would have been “the most formidable member of the ERG” if she was still in parliament, according to her former colleague Ken Clarke.
The ex-Chancellor told of how the first woman prime minister would have wanted to be “in the thick of it” were she still a politician.
While Baroness Thatcher was in favour of the UK staying in the European Community in 1975, she was more sceptical of the EU as time wore on.
Mr Clarke told the Financial Times: “[Mrs Thatcher] was never a Brexiter. It never crossed her mind to leave the European Union.”
But by the end of her premiership she had become wary of Brussels having too much control without Britain being able to have a say.
Speaking of what her role in the Brexit debate would have been if she was still in the Commons, Mr Clarke added: “She would have been by far the most formidable member of the ERG.”
Being in the European Research Group would mean rubbing shoulders with the likes of Andrew Bridgen, Mark Francois, Steve Baker and Jacob Rees-Mogg, before the latter became Leader of the House of Commons.
The ERG is the influential eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party which refused to vote for Theresa May’s deal to take the country out of the EU as it was viewed as staying too close to the union.
Baroness Thatcher died in 2013 aged 87. She was Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990.
Ken Clarke served in a number of Cabinet roles for her including Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a position now occupied by Michael Gove.
He was the longest serving member of the House of Commons until he stood down as an MP ahead of the 2019 election.
