The death of Margaret Thatcher has made an unlikely top 10 hit out of Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead, 74 years after it first appeared in the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz.

Propelled by a campaign on Facebook, the song is number 10 in the midweek charts, published on Wednesday, and is on course to be one of the top three sellers by the end of the week.

There has been a surge in downloads of the song, which has been appropriated by the former prime minister's critics since her death on Monday, aged 87.

While many people were mourning her loss, others were quick to celebrate. A Facebook campaign, called "Make Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead number one the week Thatcher dies", launched on Monday.

The Official Charts Company said the song, credited to Judy Garland, had been bought more than 10,600 times by midnight on Tuesday.

There was also a small increase in sales for a 1961 cover version of the song, sung by Ella Fitzgerald, which just nudged into the top 150.

The Official Charts Company said the Garland version of the song was around 5,000 sales away from a place in the top three selling singles of the week.

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