Jimmy Lai Recognised in the 2026 Margaret Thatcher Awards

Jimmy Lai is among the announced Margaret Thatcher Award recipients, as New Direction prepares a Brussels ceremony recognising political, cultural and public figures associated with its vision of free societies.

Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai is among the recipients of awards named after former UK PM Margaret Thatcher.

Lai, a British citizen and founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was 78 when sentenced in February 2026.

In a statement dated 9 February 2026, his international legal team at Doughty Street Chambers said he had been continuously imprisoned since December 2020 and had spent more than five years in solitary confinement. The team said he was then held at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, having previously been imprisoned in Stanley Prison.

On 9 February 2026, Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison in his national security case. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Associated Press reported at the time of sentencing that it was the longest punishment imposed under the national security law up to that point.

On 13 October, the day Margaret Thatcher would have turned 101, and 50 years after the Soviet press first branded her the “Iron Lady”, Lai was announced as a recipient of an award named after Mrs Thatcher.

The 2026 Margaret Thatcher Awards were announced in the European Parliament. The ECR Group’s official programme listed the Brussels press conference for 13 October.

Other winners were Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, writer and women’s rights campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Puy du Fou President Nicolas de Villiers and actor John Rhys-Davies.

A call for a new generation of leaders

As Martin Banks reported for EU Reporter, the winners were announced by Nicola Procaccini, Co-Chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group and President of New Direction – Foundation for European Reform.

He used the occasion to call for a “new generation of leaders ready to defend free societies and Western values without compromise.”

He said that in 1976 Moscow meant the Iron Lady label “as an insult” but that “within a week Thatcher had made it her own.”

“Half a century later, with Russia waging war on Ukraine, China extending its reach, Islamist terrorism still striking and Western societies increasingly divided from within, Europe once again needs that kind of courage,” Procaccini said.

He added, “Fifty years ago, the Soviet press called Thatcher the ‘Iron Lady’ – a name meant as an insult, which she turned into a title to wear with pride. It showed how much authoritarian regimes saw her as a threat. Today we face old and new challenges, from Russia’s imperial ambitions to China’s growing influence and the threat of Islamist terrorism.

“Now more than ever we need new iron leaders: leaders able to stand up to authoritarianism around the world, unafraid to defend Western values when they are challenged, and capable of uniting our societies in pursuit of the common good,” he told a press conference.

The awards announcement also recognised the Camino de Santiago and Italian lyrical opera as part of Europe’s historical, cultural and spiritual heritage.

Procaccini added: “When I became President of New Direction, one of my first goals was to honour the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. Last year in Rome we recognised figures such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Michael Gove for their contribution to the cause of freedom. This year we continue on that path.”

The awards and their conservative heritage

Further comment came from Stephen Jones, Research Fellow at New Direction, who said: “Conservatives are, by nature, optimists.

“Today, once more, we are called to preserve, protect and defend our intellectual heritage – a heritage of free societies, free markets and free choices, Margaret Thatcher’s gift to us. Just as the Iron Lady governed through the strength of her convictions and the timelessness of her values, so today’s conservative leaders in Europe are carrying the torch of liberty forward.”

Roberts Zīle, Vice-President of the European Parliament and Vice-President of New Direction, added: “Together with Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher helped to fight the Soviet regime in the name of freedom. We are proud to carry forward these values, which belong to conservatives.”

New Direction lists the 2026 Margaret Thatcher Awards Night for 9 December 2026 in Brussels.

• Photo credit: Wikemedia Commons