At this year's Conservative Party conference, nostalgia was on full display.
Glass cabinets showcased some of the outfits of Margaret Thatcher, giant carboard cutouts of the 'Iron Lady' stood tall, as did a photo collage.
Ostensibly, the Thatcher showcase was staged to mark 100 years since the first female Prime Minister's birth.
One could argue too though, that it reflected a subconscious belief among many in the party, that their best days were behind them.
However, Mrs Thatcher is also a personal hero of current leader Kemi Badenoch.
On many occasions Ms Badenoch has likened herself to Margaret Thatcher, who also struggled in the job when she first took it on.
Prime Minister's Questions were initially a challenge for Mrs Thatcher.
Although, this was during an era when there were no cameras in the House of Commons, so Mrs Thatcher arguably did not receive the same level of scrutiny during PMQs as Kemi Badenoch.
In the winter of 1975, when Mrs Thatcher became Tory leader, the party was struggling in opinion polls, 14 points behind Labour.
Today, Ms Badenoch faces a similar uphill challenge. The latest YouGov MRP survey has the party several points behind Labour again.
However, it's even further behind the new player in town, Reform UK.
And perhaps that is the great difference between Margaret Thatcher and Kemi Badenoch.
Mrs Thatcher was seen as the leader of Britain's alternative to Labour.
Today, many see Nigel Farage as that right-wing alternative, while Kemi Badenoch struggles for relevance.
Playing the long game
"I'm an engineer, not a miracle performer", Ms Badenoch told the Telegraph ahead of her party's conference.
It sums up her approach to the Conservative party's woes.
Unlike Reform UK, whose policy announcements are plentiful and attention grabbing, Ms Badenoch has spent much of her first year as leader of the opposition refraining from making any major policy decisions.
She promised "thoughtful Conservatism, not knee-jerk analysis".
It was a style however, that caused frustration in her party, as Tories saw Reform UK dominating headlines, while the Conservative Party embarked on introspection.
This week, Kemi Badenoch lifted the lid on some of those slow-cooked policy proposals, indicating that she's heard the cries of those criticising her "thoughtful" approach.
They included the abolition of stamp duty on homes in England and Northern Ireland.
The most eye-catching announcement though, from an Irish perspective at least, was the decision to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
Should it come to pass, the UK would be the only European country, besides Russia, to leave the convention drawn up in the aftermath of World War II.
It's significance to Ireland is that the ECHR is part of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Conservative party tasked its Shadow Attorney General David Wolfson with reviewing the impact of the ECHR on the party's immigration policies.
According to Ms Badenoch, he found that leaving the "ECHR is fully compatible with the Belfast Agreement – the Good Friday Agreement".
In his review, Mr Wolfson pointed out that there are two agreements, as part of the Good Friday Agreement.
One, a British-Irish agreement, which he found does not reference the ECHR and "in no way implies or entails that the UK or Ireland in 1998 renounced their right to withdraw from the ECHR in future".
The second, multi-party agreement, which Britain and Ireland agreed to uphold is more complicated and does reference the ECHR.
While he does not conclude that this would be a barrier to the UK leaving the ECHR, it would present significant difficulties.
Ms Badenoch accepted this herself, writing on social media the "Belfast Agreement and UK-EU agreements aren’t legal barriers but pose serious political challenges".
The Conservative leader can credibly claim that she has done her homework on this policy, and others, but there’s a question around whether voters will reward her for doing so.
Nigel Farage has already pledged to leave the ECHR.
He brushed off the impact of doing so on the Good Friday Agreement, telling RTÉ News at his own party conference last month, that "the "ECHR thing was written in right at the end".
"The peace agreement wasn't dependent on the ECHR, I don't see a problem with that."
One could argue that Conservatives are chasing the same Reform policies, they’re just slower at getting to the destination.
Power play
There were striking similarities between the Conservative and Labour conferences this year.
Both parties are preoccupied with the threat of Reform UK.
And both conferences saw potential leadership challengers take centre stage.
For Keir Starmer, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was the man stirring trouble. For Kemi Badenoch it’s Robert Jenrick, her Shadow Justice Secretary.
On Tuesday morning Ms Badenoch found herself defending Mr Jenrick over controversial comments he made about a recent visit to Birmingham.
In a recording obtained by The Guardian, Mr Jenrick could be heard saying that he "didn't see another white face" during a 90-minute visit to one part of the city. He stood by the comments.
Mr Jenrick also criticised "activist judges", promising to scrap rules which restrict political involvement in judicial appointments.
While publicly Mr Jenrick expresses support for Ms Badenoch, he’s also in full campaign mode, presenting himself as the clear alternative.
Like Mr Starmer, the Tory leader seems to have fended off any immediate leadership challenge.
Safe for now
2 November is an important date for Ms Badenoch.
It will mark one year since she became leader. More significantly, from that point onwards, Tory MPs will be able to lodge letters of no-confidence in her leadership.
Her speech at the Tory conference wasn’t a game changer, but it was generally well received.
Like the Labour leader, she managed to quash any immediate leadership challenge. Injecting some confidence into the room too.
Videos of her singing and dancing to 'Sweet Caroline’ also indicated that she was genuinely enjoying her time among the party faithful.
However, the upcoming May elections present major challenges for Ms Badenoch.
Her party faces heavy losses in Wales, Scotland and in local elections in England.
Some speculate that she may even have to go sooner.
Others urge the party to hold tight in the hope that prospects will improve before the next general election.
However, the Tory party has sank to historic lows. Meanwhile, the right-wing Reform UK dominates the right-wing space. The Conservative Party’s greatest battle remains one of relevance.
