The writer, a former FT editor, is head of industrial policy at Policy Exchange, a think-tank

Among the issues facing the Conservative leadership contenders there is one that has received almost no attention: industrial policy. This topic, while not in the same league as the energy crisis, will present the government with tricky decisions in the coming months. They are important, not least in showing how far the next prime minister believes in an active role for the state in influencing the structure and performance of particular industries.

Margaret Thatcher, admired by both leadership candidates, believed that the government had no business deciding that one industry was more important than another, and therefore deserving of special help. She also insisted that no obstacles should be put in the way of foreign acquirers of British companies — that put her at odds with Tory MPs. She was greatly irritated when backbench pressure forced her to abandon the sale of parts of British Leyland to Ford and General Motors. As she wrote later, a kind of “pseudo-patriotic hysteria” had swept through politics.