THE proposed Thames Estuary airport should be named after the late Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, Boris Johnson says.

The former Conservative Party leader died on Monday after a stroke. She was 87.

The London mayor has already called for a statue to be erected in Mrs Thatcher’s honour in central London.

Now he is calling for the airport he has long since championed to bear her name.

He said: “Mega airports are springing up all over the continent that are stealing British trade and are a threat to our economy.

“It is why this country so desperately needs a new four runway hub airport and I can think of no name that would strike greater fear into the heart of our European rivals than Margaret Thatcher International Airport.”