SHE divided opinion during her time in office and she continues to cause debate today – but the public seem to have taken a film about Margaret Thatcher to their hearts.

Cinemas in Worcester and at Malvern Theatres have reported strong ticket sales for The Iron Lady while one female Conservative MP in Worcestershire has given a ringing endorsement of the film and tipped Meryl Streep, who plays Lady Thatcher, for an Oscar.

While critics have also praised Streep for her performance of Britain’s first female Prime Minister, their comments about the film’s script, structure and content have been less enthusiastic.

However, film lovers do not appear to have been put off.

James Morris, general manager at the Odeon in Foregate Street, Worcester, said: “Ticket sales have been really strong. A lot of people are coming to see The Iron Lady, particularly in the afternoons.

“It’s proving to be very popular. There’s a potential Oscar nomination in it.”

A spokesman for Malvern Theatres said they were pleased to have secured showing the film on its release date until Thursday, January 19.

“Ticket sales so far have been very encouraging and we are advising cinema goers to book in advance to avoid disappointment,” she said.

Review by Harriett Baldwin MP

HARRIETT Baldwin, Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, has watched the film and this is her review: If Meryl Streep doesn’t win the Oscar for best actress this year for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, I will be astonished.

Come to think of it, if there were an Oscar for best actress of all time, Meryl Streep should win.

She’s certainly had more nominations than anyone else in the history of the award.

I watched the film of the at a fund-raiser for an organisation called Women2Win, which works to get more Conservative women elected to public office.

Many of those in the audience were politicians who knew Lady Thatcher when she was Prime Minister.

For example Lord Tebbitt, whose wife was cruelly injured by the IRA bomb at the party conference at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, was there.

We all agreed that Streep’s portrayal of Prime Minister Thatcher and of a mentally frail octogenarian is astonishing.

But the film is not a documentary.

It is a drama and one which portrays the terrible impact of dementia very vividly and uses it as a dramatic device to have flashbacks.

Whenever I have met Lady Thatcher in recent years she has always been immaculately turned out and in full possession of her faculties – so viewers should appreciate that this is more a work of fiction with some very fine acting.

The Iron Lady is a moving portrayal of the tragedy of dementia. It looks back at a life defined by courage – but the student looking for historical accuracy will have to look elsewhere.