In 1999, twenty years after Thatcher had come to power, the Conservative Party held a dinner in London Hilton to honour the anniversary. During the dinner several speeches were given. To Thatcher’s astonishment, the Conservatives had decided that it was time to reject the economic policies of the 1980s. The Conservative Party leader at the time William Hague said that the party had learnt its lesson from the 1980s and called it a “great mistake to think that all Conservatives have to offer is solutions based on free markets”. His deputy at the time Peter Lilley elaborated and said, “belief in the free market has only ever been part of Conservatism”.