Baroness Thatcher had the perfect excuse to be a little late for her 80th birthday party tonight - she had a ten minute telephone call from President Bush in the White House.

The red carpet was rolled out for the former Prime Minister at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park tonight where she was hosting a glittering event for 650 guests, including the Queen, Tony Blair and some unlikely names from the showbusiness world.

Lady Thatcher was dressed in a trademark navy blue cocktail coat and silk chiffon dress designed by Camilla Milton. She looked frail and made no public comment as a crowd of well-wishers lined the streets to catch a glimpse of Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.

Her guest list was a roll call of honour from the 1980s Thatcher heyday. Michael Portillo, who was once seen as her anointed heir made a surprise appearance. He said; "She was influential in her day but not now."

Lady Thatcher will welcome her guests at a two-and-a-half-hour reception. The time has been kept short as she tires quickly and suffers from memory loss after several minor strokes.

Only two of four contenders for her old role as Conservative leader were invited to the party: David Davis and Dr Liam Fox, both right-wingers.

Kenneth Clarke, who served in her cabinet and displeased her with his Europhile views, and the youthful David Cameron, who was only just into his teens when she became Prime Minister in 1979, have been left off the guest list.

The four leadership candidates have already suffered one handbagging today, after being invited to present their ideas to the spouses of Tory MPs.

The event was organised by Contact, a group set up 30 years ago to help Tory wives keep up with developments in the party. Rachel Robathan, the wife of Andrew Robathan MP and chairman of Contact, said afterwards that all the candidates had done well.

"Today, on Baroness Thatcher’s birthday, we have had a tremendous presentation," she said.

"All four of our candidates have addressed the group and given excellent speeches outlining their vision and agenda to drive the party forward. In each of them we have candidates of such leadership qualities that each of them would be an excellent next prime minister."

Mr Cameron left the meeting saying it had been "very enjoyable". He said he had been asked "all sorts of things about the economy, the future and how we are going to win".

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