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{{Short description|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990}}
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{{Redirect|Iron Lady||Iron Lady (disambiguation)|and|Margaret Thatcher (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2024}}
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{{Infobox officeholder {{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = {{Pre-nominal styles|RHon|size=100%}}
|honorific-prefix = <small>]</small><br>
|name = The Baroness Thatcher | name = The Baroness Thatcher
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|LG|OM|DStJ|PC|FRS|HonFRSC}}
|honorific-suffix = <br><small>] ] ] ]</small>
|image = Margaret Thatcher.png | image = Margaret Thatcher stock portrait (cropped).jpg
|alt = Photograph | alt = Thatcher in a half-length portrait photograph, wearing a black suit and pearls
|office = ] | caption = Studio portrait, {{circa|1995–96}}
|monarch = ] | office = ]
| term_start = 4 May 1979
|deputy = ]<br>]
|term_start = 4 May 1979 | term_end = 28 November 1990
|term_end = 28 November 1990 | monarch = ]
<!-- Whitelaw did not acquire the title of Deputy PM. (Hennessy 2001, p. 405.) -->
|predecessor = ]
|successor = ] | deputy = ] {{nowrap|(1989–90)}}
| predecessor = ]
|office2 = ]
|monarch2 = Elizabeth II | successor = ]
| office1 = ]
|primeminister2 = ]<br>]
|term_start2 = 11 February 1975 | term_start1 = 11 February 1975
|term_end2 = 4 May 1979 | term_end1 = 4 May 1979
| monarch1 = Elizabeth&nbsp;II
|predecessor2 = ]
| primeminister1 = {{Plainlist|
|successor2 = ]
* ]
|office3 = ]
* James Callaghan
|term_start3 = 11 February 1975
|term_end3 = 28 November 1990
|predecessor3 = Edward Heath
|successor3 = ]
|office4 = ]
|primeminister4 = Edward Heath
|term_start4 = 20 June 1970
|term_end4 = 4 March 1974
|predecessor4 = ]
|successor4 = ]
|constituency_MP5 = ]
|term_start5 = 8 October 1959
|term_end5 = 9 April 1992
|predecessor5 = ]
|successor5 = ]
|birthname = Margaret Hilda Roberts
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1925|10|13|df=y}}
|birth_place = ], ], United Kingdom
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = ]
|spouse = ] <small>(1951–2003)<br/>(his death)</small>
|children = ]<br>]
|alma_mater = ]
|profession = ]<br>Lawyer
|religion = ]<br /><small>(Since 1951)</small><ref name="Thatcher-p150">Thatcher, Margaret (1995), p. 150</ref><br>] <small>(Before 1951)</small>
|signature =
|signature_alt = Signature written in ink
}} }}
| deputy1 = ]
'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher'''<!-- ''not'' "Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven" -->, {{post-nominals|post-noms=], ], ], ]}} (] '''Roberts'''; born 13&nbsp;October 1925) was ] from 1979 until 1990. She was born in ] in ], and studied chemistry at ], before qualifying as a ]. In the ] she became the MP for ]. ] appointed Thatcher ] in his 1970 government. In 1975 she became ], the first woman to head a major UK political party. Following the ] she became Britain's first female Prime Minister.
| predecessor1 = ]
| successor1 = James Callaghan
| office2 = ]
| term_start2 = 11 February 1975
| term_end2 = 28 November 1990
| deputy2 = ]
| 1blankname2 = ]
| 1namedata2 = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = font-style:italic; font-weight:normal;
| title = See list
| ]
| ]
| ]
| ]
| ]
| ]
}}
| predecessor2 = Edward Heath
| successor2 = John Major
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Ministerial portfolios
| titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed = yes
| office1 = ]
| term_start1 = 20 June 1970
| term_end1 = 4 March 1974
| primeminister1 = Edward Heath
| predecessor1 = ]
| successor1 = ]
| title2 = ]
| subterm2 = 1961–1964
| suboffice2 = ]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Shadow <!--Cabinet--> portfolios
| titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed = yes
| title1 = ]
| subterm1 = 1967–1970
| suboffice1 = ]
| subterm2 = 1974–1975
| suboffice2 = ]
| title3 = ]
| subterm3 = 1967–1968
| suboffice3 = ]
| subterm4 = 1968–1969
| suboffice4 = ]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
{{Collapsed infobox section begin |cont = yes |Parliamentary offices
| titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder
| embed = yes
| office1 = ]
| status1 = ]
| term_label1 = ]age
| term_start1 = 30 June 1992
| term_end1 = 8 April 2013{{refn|On 30&nbsp;July 2011 it was announced that her office in the Lords had been closed.<ref name="telegraph8671195" />|group=nb}}
| parliament2 = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP2 = Finchley
| term_start2 = 8 October 1959
| term_end2 = 16 March 1992
| predecessor2 = ]
| successor2 = ]{{Collapsed infobox section end}} }}
| birth_name = Margaret Hilda Roberts
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1925|10|13}}
| birth_place = ], Lincolnshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2013|4|8|1925|10|13}}
| death_place = London, England
| resting_place = ]
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord |51.489057| -0.156195|region:GB_type:landmark |display=inline}}
| party = ]
| spouse = {{Marriage|]|13 December 1951|26 June 2003|end=d}}
| children = {{Flatlist|
* ]
* ]
}}
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* ] (])
* <!-- ] -->
}}
| awards = ]
| father = ]
| occupation = {{Flatlist|
* ]
* ]
* politician
}}
| signature = Signature of Margaret Thatcher.svg
| signature_alt = Cursive signature in ink
| website = {{Official website|margaretthatcher.org|name=Foundation}}
| nickname = {{Pslink|"Iron Lady"}}
| module = {{Listen voice
| filename = Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Joint Statement, 10th G7 summit.ogg
| description = Joint Statement for the ]
| recorded = 9&nbsp;June 1984}}
}}
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{{Margaret Thatcher sidebar}}


'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher'''<!--NOT "Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven"-->{{refn|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|LG|OM|DStJ|PC|FRS|HonFRSC|commas=on}}|group=nb}} ({{nee|'''Roberts'''}}; 13&nbsp;October 1925{{snd}}8&nbsp;April 2013), was a British stateswoman and ] politician who served as ] from 1979 to 1990 and ] from 1975 to 1990. She was the ] of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the position. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies known as ]. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "'''Iron Lady'''", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and ].
She entered {{nowrap|]}} determined to reverse what she perceived as a precipitous national decline.{{#tag:ref|In her foreword to the 1979 Conservative manifesto, Thatcher wrote of "a feeling of helplessness, that a once great nation has somehow fallen behind".<ref>{{cite web |title=Conservative Party Manifesto 1979 |url=http://www.conservativemanifesto.com/1979/1979-conservative-manifesto.shtml|last=Thatcher |first=Margaret (Foreword) |work=http://www.conservativemanifesto.com |publisher=http://www.politicalstuff.co.uk |year=2001 |accessdate=28&nbsp;July 2009}}</ref>|group=nb}} Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation, particularly of the financial sector, flexible labour markets, and the sale or closure of ] and withdrawal of subsidies to others. Thatcher's popularity sank amid recession and high unemployment, although economic recovery and the 1982 ] brought a resurgence of support and she was re-elected in 1983. She survived an ]. She took a hard line against trade unions, and her tough rhetoric in opposition to the Soviet Union earned her the nickname of the "]". Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her ] was widely unpopular and her views on the ] were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990 after ]'s ].


Thatcher studied chemistry at ], and worked briefly as a ] before becoming a ]. She was ] for ] in ]. ] appointed her ] in his ]. In 1975, she defeated Heath in the ] to become ], the first woman to lead a major political party in the UK.
She holds a ] as Baroness Thatcher, of ] in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitles her to sit in the ].


On becoming prime minister after winning the ], Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and Britain's struggles in the wake of the ] and ].{{refn|In her foreword to the ] of 1979, she wrote of "a feeling of helplessness, that we are a once great nation that has somehow fallen behind".<ref name="PoliticalStuff.co.uk" />|group=nb}} Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised ], the privatisation of ], and reducing the power and influence of ]. Her popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment. Victory in the 1982 ] and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her ] re-election in ]. She survived an assassination attempt by the ] in the 1984 ] and achieved a political victory against the ] in the ]. In 1986, Thatcher oversaw the ] of UK ]s, leading to ], in what came to be known as the ].

Thatcher was re-elected for a third term with another landslide in ], but her subsequent support for the ] (also known as the "poll tax") was widely unpopular, and her increasingly ] views on the ] were not shared by others in her cabinet. She resigned as prime minister and party leader in 1990, after a ], and was succeeded by ], her ].{{refn|Winning support from a majority of her party in the first round of votes, Thatcher fell four votes short of the required 15% margin to win the contest outright. Her fall has been characterised as "a rare coup d'état at the top of the British politics: the first since ] sawed ] off at the knees in 1916."<ref name="Heffer" />|group=nb}} After retiring from the ] in 1992, she was given a ]age as Baroness Thatcher (of ] in the ]) which entitled her to sit in the ]. In 2013, she ] at ], at the age of 87.

A polarising figure in British politics, Thatcher is nonetheless viewed favourably in ] and public opinion of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a ] towards ] policies in Britain; the complex legacy attributed to this shift continues to be debated into the 21st century.
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==Early life and education== ==Early life and education==
{{Overflow|
]
{{wikitable| align=center
]
|{{Multiple image
Margaret Roberts was born on 13 October 1925. Her father was ], originally from Northamptonshire, and her mother was the former Beatrice Ethel Stephenson from Lincolnshire.<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=1}}</ref> She spent her childhood in Grantham, Lincolnshire, where her father owned two grocery shops.<ref name="Beckett-p3">{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=3}}</ref> She and her older sister Muriel were raised in the flat above the larger of the two, located near the railway line.<ref name="Beckett-p3"/> Her father was active in local politics and religion, serving as an ] and a ] lay preacher,<ref name=BeckettP8/> and brought up his daughter as a strict Methodist.<ref name="Johnson">Maureen Johnson, "Bible-Quoting Thatcher Stirs Furious Debate", ''The Associated Press'' (28 May 1988).</ref> He came from a ] family but stood&nbsp;– as was then customary in local government&nbsp;– as an ]. He lost his position as alderman in 1952 after the ] won its first majority on Grantham Council in 1950.<ref name=BeckettP8>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=8}}</ref>
|align=center
|background color=whitesmoke
|total_width=580
|header=Birthplace in Grantham
|image1=Maison natale de Margaret Thatcher, Grantham.JPG
|alt1=The corner of a terraced suburban street. The lower storey is a corner shop, now advertising as a chiropractic clinic. The building is two storeys high, with some parts three storeys high. It was formerly Alfred Roberts's shop.
|caption1=2009 photograph of her father's former shop<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1062417 |grade=II |access-date=7 August 2022 |location=Lincolnshire}}</ref>
|image2=Plaque, maison natale de Margaret Thatcher.JPG
|alt2=A plaque reading "Birth place of the Rt.Hon. Margaret Thatcher, M.P. First woman prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
|caption2=Commemorative plaque<ref>{{Open Plaques |10728 |access-date=18 March 2017}}</ref>
|footer=Margaret and her elder sister were raised in the bottom of two flats on North Parade.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=3}} }}
}}}}


=== Family and childhood (1925–1943) ===
Roberts attended Huntingtower Road Primary School and won a scholarship to ].<ref name=BeckettP5>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=5}}</ref> Her school reports showed hard work and continual improvement; her extracurricular activities included the piano, ], poetry recitals, swimming and walking.<ref name=BeckettP6>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=6}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Blundell|2008|pp=21–22}}</ref> She was head girl in 1942–43.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kestevengrantham.lincs.sch.uk/ |title=Home / KGGS&nbsp;– Kesteven Grantham Girls School |publisher=Kestevengrantham.lincs.sch.uk |accessdate=6&nbsp;June 2010}}</ref> In her ] she applied for a scholarship to study chemistry at ] but was initially rejected, and only offered a place after another candidate withdrew.<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=12}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Blundell|2008|p=23}}</ref> She arrived in Oxford in 1943 and graduated in 1947 with ] in the four-year Chemistry ] degree; in her final year she specialised in ] under the supervision of ].<ref>{{Harvnb|Blundell|2008|pp=25–27}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=16}}</ref>
Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on 13&nbsp;October 1925 in ], Lincolnshire. Her parents were ] (1892–1970), from Northamptonshire, and Beatrice Ethel Stephenson (1888–1960), from Lincolnshire.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=1}} Her father's maternal grandmother, Catherine Sullivan, was born in ], ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Sullivan |first=Majella |date=10 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher's Irish roots lie in Co Kerry |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/margaret-thatchers-irish-roots-lie-in-co-kerry-29185669.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803171312/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/margaret-thatchers-irish-roots-lie-in-co-kerry-29185669.html |archive-date=3 August 2020 |access-date=18 July 2020 |work=Belfast Telegraph}}</ref>


Roberts spent her childhood in Grantham, where her father owned a ]'s and a grocery shop. In 1938, ], the Roberts family briefly gave sanctuary to a teenage Jewish girl who had ]. With her {{wikt-lang|en|penfriend|pen-friending|i=-}} elder sister Muriel, Margaret saved pocket money to help pay for the teenager's journey.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|pp=38–39}}
Roberts became President of the ] in 1946.<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|pp=20–21}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Blundell|2008|p=28}}</ref> During her time at university she became influenced by ]'s 1944 work '']'', which condemned economic intervention by government as a precursor to an authoritarian state.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reitan|2003|p=17}}</ref>


Alfred was an ] and a ].{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=8}} He brought up his daughter as a strict ],<ref name="Johnson">{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Maureen |date=28 May 1988 |title=Bible-Quoting Thatcher Stirs Furious Debate |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> attending the ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Filby |first=Eliza |date=31 October 2015 |title=God and Mrs. Thatcher: The Battle for Britain's Soul |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/10/margaret-thatcher-christian-methodism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212034043/https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/10/margaret-thatcher-christian-methodism/ |archive-date=12 December 2019 |access-date=21 April 2018 |work=]}}</ref> but Margaret was more sceptical; the future scientist told a friend that she could not believe in ]s, having calculated that they needed a ] {{convert|6|feet}} long to support wings.{{r|Oxford1}} Alfred came from a ] family but stood (as was then customary in local government) as an ]. He served as Mayor of Grantham from 1945 to 1946 and lost his position as alderman in 1952 after the ] won its first majority on Grantham Council in 1950.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=8}}
Roberts moved to Colchester in Essex after graduating, to work as a research chemist for ].<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=17}}</ref> She joined the local Conservative Association and attended the party conference at Llandudno in 1948, as a representative of the University Graduate Conservative Association.<ref name="Beckett-p22">{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=22}}</ref> In January 1949, a friend from Oxford who was working for the ] Conservative Association in Kent, told her that they were looking for candidates.<ref name="Beckett-p22"/> Shortly afterwards Roberts was selected as the Conservative candidate, and moved to Dartford to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. There she was employed by ], developing methods to preserve ] and make it lighter.<ref name="Beckett-p22"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Savvy shopper: ice cream|newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=26&nbsp;March 2005 |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/3318441/Savvy-shopper-ice-cream.html|accessdate=19&nbsp;January 2011}}</ref>

]

Roberts attended ] and won a scholarship to ], a grammar school.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=5}} Her school reports showed hard work and continual improvement; her extracurricular activities included the piano, field hockey, poetry recitals, swimming and walking.{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1p=6|2a1=Blundell|2y=2008|2pp=21–22}} She was ] in 1942–43,<ref>{{Cite web |title=School aims |url=http://www.kestevengrantham.lincs.sch.uk/kg/about_school/school_aims |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128200852/http://kestevengrantham.lincs.sch.uk/kg/about_school/school_aims |archive-date=28 January 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |publisher=Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School}}</ref> and outside school, while the Second World War was ongoing, she voluntarily worked as a ] in the local ].{{sfnp|Moore|2019|page=929}} Other students thought of Roberts as the "star scientist", although mistaken advice regarding cleaning ink from ] almost caused ]. In her ], Roberts was accepted for a scholarship to study chemistry at ], a women's college, starting in 1944. After another candidate withdrew, Roberts entered Oxford in October 1943.{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1p=12|2a1=Blundell|2y=2008|2p=23}}{{r|Oxford1}}

===Oxford (1943–1947)===
] (''pictured''{{--)}} from 1943 to 1947.]]

Following her arrival at Oxford, Roberts began studies under ] ], the tutor in chemistry for Somerville College since 1934.{{sfnmp|1a1=Blundell|1y=2008|1pp=25–27|2a1=Beckett|2y=2006|2p=16|3a1=Agar|3y=2022}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-10 |title=Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/eminent/dorothy-crowfoot-hodgkin/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |publisher=Somerville College, Oxford |language=en-GB}}</ref> Hodgkin considered Roberts a "good" student, and later recalled: "One could always rely on her producing a sensible, well-read essay."{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} She opted to read for a classified ], entailing an additional year of supervised research.{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} As her thesis supervisor, Hodgkin assigned Roberts to work with ], a researcher in Hodgkin's lab, to determine the structure of the antibiotic ] ].{{sfnmp|1a1=Campbell|1y=2000|1p=65|2a1=Agar|2y=2022}} Although the research made some progress, the peptide's structure proved more complex than anticipated, and Schmidt would only determine its full structure much later; Roberts (by then Thatcher) learned this in the 1960s while visiting the ], where her former research partner was then working.{{sfnp|Agar|2022}}

Roberts graduated in 1947 with a ] in chemistry, and in 1950 also received the degree of ] (as an Oxford BA, she was entitled to the degree 21 terms after her ]).<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Whittaker |first1=Freddie |last2=Waite |first2=Debbie |last3=Culliford |first3=Elizabeth |name-list-style=amp |date=9 April 2013 |title=Thatcher: college will honour its former student |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10341124.thatcher-college-will-honour-former-student |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028113352/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10341124.thatcher-college-will-honour-former-student/ |archive-date=28 October 2021 |access-date=26 October 2021 |work=Oxford Mail}}</ref> Although Hodgkin would later be critical of her former student's politics, they continued to correspond into the 1980s, and Roberts in her memoirs would describe her mentor as "ever-helpful", "a brilliant scientist and a gifted teacher".{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} As prime minister, she would keep a portrait of Hodgkin at ].{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} Later in life, she was reportedly prouder of becoming the first prime minister with a science degree than becoming the first female prime minister.<ref name="runciman20130606">{{Cite news |last=Runciman |first=David |author-link=David Runciman |date=6 June 2013 |title=Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n11/david-runciman/rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190309071240/https://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n11/david-runciman/rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat |archive-date=9 March 2019 |access-date=11 June 2013 |work=]}}</ref> While prime minister she attempted to preserve Somerville as a women's college.<ref name="bowcott20161230">{{Cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=30 December 2016 |title=Thatcher fought to preserve women-only Oxford college |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/thatcher-fought-to-preserve-women-only-oxford-college-somerville |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101004346/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/thatcher-fought-to-preserve-women-only-oxford-college-somerville?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-2 |archive-date=1 January 2017 |access-date=31 December 2016 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Twice a week outside study she worked in a local forces canteen.{{sfnp|Dougill|1987|page=4}}

During her time at Oxford, Roberts was noted for her isolated and serious attitude.<ref name="Oxford1">{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham |date=19 April 2013 |title=A side of Margaret Thatcher we've never seen |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10006410/A-side-of-Margaret-Thatcher-weve-never-seen.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420214300/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10006410/A-side-of-Margaret-Thatcher-weve-never-seen.html |archive-date=20 April 2018 |access-date=25 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph |ref=none}}</ref> Her first boyfriend, Tony Bray (1926–2014), recalled that she was "very thoughtful and a very good conversationalist. That's probably what interested me. She was good at general subjects".{{r|Oxford1}}<ref name="Bray">{{Cite news |date=5 August 2014 |title=Tony Bray – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11013968/Tony-Bray-obituary.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205025842/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11013968/Tony-Bray-obituary.html |archive-date=5 February 2019 |access-date=25 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>

Roberts's coursework involved subjects beyond chemistry{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=47}} as she was already contemplating an entry into law and politics.<ref name="lecher20130408">{{Cite web |last=Lecher |first=Colin |date=8 April 2013 |title=How Thatcher The Chemist Helped Make Thatcher The Politician |url=http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/margaret-thatcher-politician-and-chemist-has-died |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217043947/http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-04/margaret-thatcher-politician-and-chemist-has-died |archive-date=17 February 2017 |access-date=22 November 2014 |magazine=]}}</ref> Her enthusiasm for politics as a girl made Bray think of her as "unusual" and her parents as "slightly austere" and "very proper".{{r|Oxford1}}{{r|Bray}} Roberts became President of the ] in 1946.{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1pp=20–21|2a1=Blundell|2y=2008|2p=28}} She was influenced at university by political works such as ]'s '']'' (1944),{{sfnp|Blundell|2008|p=30}} which condemned economic intervention by government as a precursor to an authoritarian state.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=17}}

===Post-Oxford career (1947–1951)===
After graduating, Roberts secured a position as a research chemist for British Xylonite (]) following a series of interviews arranged by Oxford; she subsequently moved to ] in Essex to work at the firm.{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1p=17|2a1=Agar|2y=2011}} Little is known about her brief time there.{{sfnp|Agar|2011}} By her own account, she was initially enthusiastic about the position, as she had been intended to function as a personal assistant to the company's head of research and development, providing opportunities to learn about ]: "But on my arrival it was decided that there was not enough to do in that capacity."{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} Instead, she seems to have researched methods of attaching ] (PVC) to metals.{{sfnp|Agar|2011}} While with the firm, she joined the ].{{sfnp|Agar|2011}} In 1948, she applied for a job at ] (ICI) but was rejected after the personnel department assessed her as "headstrong, obstinate and dangerously self-opinionated".<ref name="BBC2013">{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=In quotes: Margaret Thatcher |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10377842 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408090853/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10377842 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |access-date=12 April 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Jon Agar in '']'' argues that her understanding of modern scientific research later impacted her views as prime minister.{{sfnp|Agar|2011}}

Roberts joined the local ] and attended the party conference at ], Wales, in 1948, as a representative of the University Graduate Conservative Association.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=22}} Meanwhile, she became a high-ranking affiliate of the ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |date=5 February 2009 |title=Golly: now we know what's truly offensive |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/4520977/Golly-now-we-know-whats-truly-offensive.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205043254/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/4520977/Golly-now-we-know-whats-truly-offensive.html |archive-date=5 February 2019 |access-date=29 April 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref><ref name="Vermin">{{Cite magazine |last=J.C. |date=21 October 2012 |title=Gaffe-ology: why Mitchell had to go |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2012/10/political-crises |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021232133/https://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty/2012/10/political-crises |archive-date=21 October 2019 |access-date=29 April 2017 |magazine=] |quote=In 1948 Aneurin Bevan called the Conservative Party 'lower than vermin' The Tories embraced the phrase; some formed the Vermin Club in response (Margaret Thatcher was a member).}}</ref> a group of grassroots Conservatives formed in response to a derogatory comment made by ].{{r|Vermin}} One of her Oxford friends was also a friend of the Chair of the ] Conservative Association in ], who were looking for candidates.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=22}} Officials of the association were so impressed by her that they asked her to apply, even though she was not on the party's approved list; she was selected in January 1950 (aged 24) and added to the approved list ].{{sfnp|Blundell|2008|p=36}}

At a dinner following her formal adoption as Conservative candidate for Dartford in February 1949, she met divorcé ], a successful and wealthy businessman, who drove her to her Essex train.{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1p=22|2a1=Blundell|2y=2008|2p=36}} After their first meeting, she described him to Muriel as "not a very attractive creature – very reserved but quite nice".{{r|Oxford1}} In preparation for the election, Roberts moved to Dartford, while she supported herself by working as a research chemist for ] in ], reportedly as part of a team developing ]s for ].{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1p=22|2a1=''New Scientist''|2y=1983}} As the work was more theoretical in nature than during her prior role with BX Plastics, Roberts found it "more satisfying".{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} While at Lyons, she worked under the supervision of Hans Jellinek, who headed the company's physical chemistry section.{{sfnmp|1a1=Agar|1y=2022|2a1=Jellinek|2y=1979}} Jellinek assigned her to research the ] of α-monostearin (]), which has properties as an emulsifier, stabiliser and food preservative. Agar has noted the research may have been connected with the emulsification of ice cream, but only as a possibility.{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} In September 1951, their research was published in the '']'', a recently launched publication of the ],{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} as "The saponification of α-monostearin in a monolayer".{{sfnp|Jellinek|Roberts|1951}} This would be Roberts's sole scientific publication.{{sfnp|Agar|2022}} In 1979, following his former assistant's election as prime minister, Jellinek, by then a professor of physical chemistry at ] in the United States, said she had done "a very good job" on the project, "showing great determination".{{sfnp|Jellinek|1979}} She sent Jellinek a congratulatory letter upon his retirement in 1984, and another letter shortly before his death two years later.{{sfnp|Kerker|1987}}

Roberts married at ] and her children were baptised there,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Death of a Member: Baroness Thatcher |house=House of Lords |date=10 April 2013 |volume=744 |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2013-04-10/debates/1304101000196/DeathOfAMemberBaronessThatcher |page=1154 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> but she and her husband began attending ] services and would later convert to ].<ref name="Belz">{{Cite news |last=Belz |first=Mindy |date=4 May 2013 |title=Weather maker |url=https://world.wng.org/2013/04/weather_maker |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203055950/https://world.wng.org/2013/04/weather_maker |archive-date=3 February 2019 |access-date=10 January 2017 |work=]}}</ref><ref name="Filby">{{Cite news |last=Filby |first=Eliza |date=14 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: her unswerving faith shaped by her father |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9992424/Margaret-Thatcher-her-unswerving-faith-shaped-by-her-father.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205050323/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9992424/Margaret-Thatcher-her-unswerving-faith-shaped-by-her-father.html |archive-date=5 February 2019 |access-date=10 January 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>


==Early political career== ==Early political career==
In the ] and ] she campaigned for the safe Labour seat of ], where she attracted media attention as the youngest and the only female candidate.<ref name="Beckett-p23">Beckett, Clare (2006), p. 23</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Blundell|2008|p=37}}</ref> She lost both times to ], but reduced the Labour majority by 6,000, and then a further 1,000.<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=24}}</ref> While campaigning in Kent in 1950, she met ], a wealthy divorced businessman who ran his family's firm. They married in 1951.<ref name="Denis Thatcher">{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article36663.ece |accessdate=9&nbsp;December 2007 |date=27&nbsp;June 2003 |title=Sir Denis Thatcher Bt |newspaper=The Independent|location=London}}</ref> Denis funded his wife's studies for the ];<ref>Beckett, Clare (2006), p. 25</ref> she qualified as a barrister in 1953 and specialised in taxation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Blundell|2008|p=35}}</ref> That same year her twins, ] and ], were born.<ref name="Beckett-p26">{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=26}}</ref> In the ] and ] general elections, Roberts was the Conservative candidate for the Labour seat of ]. The local party selected her as its candidate because, though not a dynamic public speaker, Roberts was well-prepared and fearless in her answers. A prospective candidate, ], recalled: "Once she opened her mouth, the rest of us began to look rather second-rate."{{r|runciman20130606}} She attracted media attention as the youngest and the only female candidate;{{sfnmp|1a1=Beckett|1y=2006|1pp=23–24|2a1=Blundell|2y=2008|2p=37}} in 1950, she was the youngest Conservative candidate in the country.{{sfnp|Jackson|Saunders|2012|p=3}} She lost on both occasions to ] but reduced the Labour majority by 6,000 and then a further 1,000.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|pp=23–24}} During the campaigns, she was supported by her parents and by her future husband Denis Thatcher, whom she married in December 1951.{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|pp=23–24}}<ref name="Denis Thatcher">{{Cite news |date=27 June 2003 |title=Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/1434154/Sir-Denis-Thatcher-Bt.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114083041/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/1434154/Sir-Denis-Thatcher-Bt.html |archive-date=14 January 2012 |access-date=6 January 2012 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Denis funded his wife's studies for the ];{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=25}} she qualified as a ] in 1953 and specialised in taxation.{{sfnp|Blundell|2008|p=35}} Later that same year their twins ] and ] were born, delivered prematurely by Caesarean section.{{sfnmp|1a1=Ogden|1y=1990|1p=70|2a1=Beckett|2y=2006|2p=26|3a1=Aitken|3y=2013|3p=74}}


===Member of Parliament (1959–1970)=== ===Member of Parliament (1959–1970)===
Thatcher began looking for a safe Conservative seat in the mid-1950s. She was narrowly rejected as the candidate for ] in 1955,<ref name="Beckett-p26"/> but was selected for Finchley in April 1958. She won the seat after a hard campaign in the 1959 election and was elected as a ] (MP).<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2006|p=27}} See also: {{London Gazette|issue=41842 |startpage=6433 |date=13&nbsp;October 1959 |accessdate=28&nbsp;February 2008}}</ref> Her ] was in support of her ] (]), requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public. In 1961 she went against the Conservative Party's official position by voting for the restoration of ].<ref>{{Harvnb|Campbell|2000|p=134}}</ref> In 1954, Thatcher was defeated when she sought selection to be the ] candidate for the ] of January 1955. She chose not to stand as a candidate in the ], in later years, stating: "I really just felt the twins were only two, I really felt that it was too soon. I couldn't do that."{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=100}} Afterwards, Thatcher began looking for a Conservative safe seat and was selected as the candidate for ] in April 1958 (narrowly beating ]). She was elected as MP for the seat after a hard campaign in the ].{{sfnp|Beckett|2006|p=27}}<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=41842 |date=13 October 1959 |page=6433}}</ref> Benefiting from her fortunate result in a lottery for ]s to propose new legislation,{{r|runciman20130606}} Thatcher's maiden speech was, unusually, in support of her ], the ], requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public; the bill was successful and became law.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 February 1960 |title=HC S 2R (Maiden Speech) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/101055 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109151758/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/101055 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |access-date=8 April 2013 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>{{sfnp|Aitken|2013|p=91}} In 1961 she went against the Conservative Party's official position by voting for the restoration of ] as a ].{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=134}}


====On the frontbenches====
In October 1961 Thatcher was promoted to the front bench as ] in ]'s administration.<ref>Reiten, Earl (2003), p. 4</ref> After the loss of the ] she became Conservative spokesman on Housing and Land, in which position she advocated the Conservative policy of allowing tenants to buy their ]s.<ref name="Wapshott-p64">Wapshott, Nicholas (2007), p. 64</ref> She moved to the Shadow ] team in 1966, and as Treasury spokesman opposed Labour's mandatory price and income controls, arguing that they would produce contrary effects to those intended and distort the economy.<ref name="Wapshott-p64"/>
Thatcher's talent and drive caused her to be mentioned as a future prime minister in her early 20s{{r|runciman20130606}} although she herself was more pessimistic, stating as late as 1970: "There will not be a woman prime minister in my lifetime – the male population is too prejudiced."<ref name="sandbrook20130409">{{Cite news |last=Sandbrook |first=Dominic |author-link=Dominic Sandbrook |date=9 April 2013 |title=Viewpoint: What if Margaret Thatcher had never been? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22076886 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608091711/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22076886 |archive-date=8 June 2013 |access-date=16 June 2013 |work=BBC News Magazine}}</ref> In October 1961 she was promoted to the ] as ] by ].{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=4}} Thatcher was the youngest woman in history to receive such a post, and among the first ] to be promoted.{{sfnp|Scott-Smith|2003}} After the Conservatives lost the ], she became spokeswoman on housing and land. In that position, she advocated her party's policy of giving tenants the ] their ]s.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=64}} She moved to the ] team in 1966 and, as Treasury spokeswoman, opposed Labour's mandatory price and income controls, arguing they would unintentionally produce effects that would distort the economy.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=64}}


At the Conservative Party Conference of 1966 she criticised the high-tax policies of the Labour Government as being steps "not only towards Socialism, but towards Communism".<ref name="Wapshott-p64"/> She argued that lower taxes served as an incentive to hard work.<ref name="Wapshott-p64"/> Thatcher was one of few Conservative MPs to support ]'s Bill to decriminalise male homosexuality and voted in favour of ]'s Bill to legalise abortion,<ref name="Thatcher-p150"/> as well as a ban on ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acigawis.co.uk/awisreview.html |title=Animal Welfare Information Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Hare coursing attack; League Against Cruel Sports |newspaper=The Times |date=28&nbsp;February 1989}}</ref> She supported the retention of capital punishment and voted against the relaxation of divorce laws.<ref>Thatcher, Margaret (1995), p. 151</ref> ] suggested Thatcher as a ] member after the Conservatives' ], but party leader ] and Chief Whip ] eventually chose ] as the ]'s sole woman member.{{sfnp|Scott-Smith|2003}} At the 1966 Conservative Party conference, Thatcher criticised the high-tax policies of the ] as being steps "not only towards Socialism, but towards Communism", arguing that lower taxes served as an incentive to hard work.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=64}} Thatcher was one of the few Conservative MPs to support ]'s bill to decriminalise male homosexuality.<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Sexual Offences (No. 2) |house=House of Commons |date=5 July 1966 |volume=731 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1966/jul/05/sexual-offences-no-2 |page=267 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> She voted in favour of ]'s bill to legalise abortion,{{sfnp|Thatcher|1995|p=150}}<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill |house=House of Commons |date=22 July 1966 |volume=732 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1966/jul/22/medical-termination-of-pregnancy-bill |page=1165 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> as well as a ban on ].<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Hare Coursing Bill |house=House of Commons |date=14 May 1970 |volume=801 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1970/may/14/hare-coursing-bill |access-date=22 October 2020 |pages=1599–1603}}</ref> She supported the retention of capital punishment<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Capital Punishment |house=House of Commons |date=24 June 1969 |volume=785 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1969/jun/24/capital-punishment |page=1235 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> and voted against the relaxation of divorce laws.<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Divorce Reform Bill |house=House of Commons |date=9 February 1968 |volume=758 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1968/feb/09/divorce-reform-bill |access-date=22 October 2020 |pages=904–907}}</ref>{{sfnp|Thatcher|1995|p=151}}


====In the Shadow Cabinet====
In 1967 she was selected by the ] to take part in the ] (then called the Foreign Leader Program), a professional exchange programme that gave her the opportunity to spend about six weeks visiting various US cities, political figures, and institutions such as the ].<ref>{{Cite book|last= Scott-Smith |first= Giles |title= |year= 2003 |publisher=Roosevelt Study Center |month= Winter |format = PDF}}</ref> Thatcher joined the ] later that year as Shadow Fuel spokesman. Shortly before the ], she was promoted to Shadow Transport, and then to Education.<ref>Wapshott, Nicholas (2007), p. 65</ref>
In 1967, the ] chose Thatcher to take part in the ] (then called the Foreign Leader Program), a professional exchange programme that allowed her to spend about six weeks visiting various US cities and political figures as well as institutions such as the ]. Although she was not yet a Shadow Cabinet member, the embassy reportedly described her to the ] as a possible future prime minister. The description helped Thatcher meet with prominent people during a busy itinerary focused on economic issues, including ], ], ] and ]. Following the visit, Heath appointed Thatcher to the Shadow Cabinet{{sfnp|Scott-Smith|2003}} as fuel and power spokeswoman.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher's timeline: From Grantham to the House of Lords, via Arthur Scargill and the Falklands War |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatchers-timeline-from-grantham-to-the-house-of-lords-via-arthur-scargill-and-the-8564555.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104013802/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatchers-timeline-from-grantham-to-the-house-of-lords-via-arthur-scargill-and-the-8564555.html |archive-date=4 November 2016 |access-date=2 November 2016 |work=]}}</ref> Before the ], she was promoted to shadow transport spokeswoman and later to education.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=65}}

In 1968, ] delivered his ] in which he strongly criticised ] immigration to the United Kingdom and the then-proposed ]. When Heath telephoned Thatcher to inform her that he would sack Powell from the Shadow Cabinet, she recalled that she "really thought that it was better to let things cool down for the present rather than heighten the crisis". She believed that his main points about Commonwealth immigration were correct and that the selected quotations from his speech had been taken out of context.{{sfnp|Aitken|2013|page=117}} In a 1991 interview for '']'', Thatcher stated that she thought Powell had "made a valid argument, if in sometimes regrettable terms".<ref name="Sandford">{{Cite magazine |last=Sandford |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Sandford (biographer) |date=4 December 2017 |orig-date=June 2012 issue |title=To See and to Speak |url=https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/article/to-see-and-to-speak/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027040342/https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/article/to-see-and-to-speak/ |archive-date=27 October 2020 |access-date=23 October 2020 |magazine=]}}</ref>

Around this time, she gave her first Commons speech as a shadow transport minister and highlighted the need for investment in ]. She argued: "f}} we build bigger and better roads, they would soon be saturated with more vehicles and we would be no nearer solving the problem."{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=189}} Thatcher made her first visit to the ] in the summer of 1969 as the Opposition transport spokeswoman, and in October, delivered a speech celebrating her ten years in Parliament. In early 1970, she told ''The Finchley Press'' that she would like to see a "reversal of the permissive society".{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|pp=190–191}}


===Education Secretary (1970–1974)=== ===Education Secretary (1970–1974)===
] had done for older children in 1968.]]
The Conservative Party, led by Edward Heath, won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher was appointed to the ] as ]. Thatcher caused controversy when, after only a few days in office, she withdrew Labour's ], which attempted to force ], without going through a consultation process. She was highly criticised for the speed at which she carried this out.{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=222}} Consequently, she drafted her own new policy (]), which ensured that local authorities were not forced to go comprehensive. Her new policy was not meant to stop the development of new comprehensives; she said: "We shall expect plans to be based on educational considerations rather than on the comprehensive principle."{{sfnp|Moore|2013|p=215}}


Thatcher supported ]'s 1971 proposal for market forces to affect government funding of research. Although many scientists opposed the proposal, her research background probably made her sceptical of their claim that outsiders should not interfere with funding.{{r|lecher20130408}} The department evaluated proposals for more local education authorities to close grammar schools and to adopt ]. Although Thatcher was committed to a tiered ]-grammar school system of education and attempted to preserve grammar schools,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=14}} during her tenure as education secretary, she turned down only 326 of 3,612&nbsp;proposals (roughly 9 per cent){{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=224}} for schools to become comprehensives; the proportion of pupils attending comprehensive schools consequently rose from 32&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent to 62&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|pp=248–249}} Nevertheless, she managed to save 94 grammar schools.{{sfnp|Moore|2013|p=215}}
The Conservative party under Edward Heath won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher was appointed ]. In her first months in office she attracted public attention as a result of the administration's attempts to cut spending. She gave priority to academic needs in schools,<ref name="Reitan-p14"/> and imposed public expenditure cuts on the state education system, resulting in the abolition of free milk for schoolchildren aged seven to eleven.<ref name="Wapshott-p76">Wapshott, Nicholas (2007), p. 76</ref> She held that few children would suffer if schools were charged for milk, but she agreed to provide younger children with a third of a pint daily, for nutritional purposes.<ref name="Wapshott-p76"/> Her decision provoked a storm of protest from the Labour party and the press,<ref name="Reitan-p15">Reitan, Earl (2003), p. 15</ref> and led to the moniker "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher".<ref name="Wapshott-p76"/> Thatcher wrote in her autobiography: "I learned a valuable lesson . I had incurred the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit."<ref name="Reitan-p15"/>


{{anchor|Milk Snatcher}}
Thatcher's term of office was marked by proposals for more local education authorities to close ] and to adopt ]. Although she was committed to a tiered ]–grammar school system of education, and determined to preserve grammar schools,<ref name="Reitan-p14">Reitan, Earl (2003), p. 14</ref> during her tenure as Education Secretary, she turned down only 326 of 3,612 proposals for schools to become comprehensives; the proportion of pupils attending comprehensives rose from 32% to 62% during this time.<ref>Marr, 2007, pp. 248–249</ref>
During her first months in office, she attracted public attention due to the government's attempts to cut spending. She gave priority to academic needs in schools,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=14}} while administering public expenditure cuts on the state education system, resulting in the abolition of ] aged seven to eleven.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=76}} She held that few children would suffer if schools were charged for milk but agreed to provide younger children with {{convert|0.3|imppt}} <!-- pint --> daily for nutritional purposes.{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=76}} She also argued that she was simply carrying on with what the Labour government had started since they had stopped giving free milk to secondary schools.{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=231}} Milk would still be provided to those children that required it on medical grounds, and schools could still sell milk.{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=231}} The aftermath of the milk row hardened her determination; she told the editor-proprietor Harold Creighton of '']'': "Don't underestimate me, I saw how they broke ], but they won't break me."{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=288}}

Cabinet papers later revealed that she opposed the policy but had been forced into it by the Treasury.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hickman |first=Martin |date=9 August 2010 |title=Tories move swiftly to avoid 'milk-snatcher' tag |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-move-swiftly-to-avoid-milksnatcher-tag-2047372.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517184554/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-move-swiftly-to-avoid-milksnatcher-tag-2047372.html |archive-date=17 May 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |work=The Independent}}</ref> Her decision provoked a storm of protest from Labour and the press,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=15}} leading to her being notoriously nicknamed "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher".{{sfnp|Wapshott|2007|p=76}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Rebecca |date=8 August 2010 |title=How Margaret Thatcher became known as 'Milk Snatcher' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118071518/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html |archive-date=18 January 2012 |access-date=9 April 2013 |work=The Sunday Telegraph}}</ref> She reportedly considered leaving politics in the aftermath and later wrote in her autobiography: "I learned a valuable lesson. I had incurred the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit."{{sfnmp|1a1=Reitan|1y=2003|1p=15|2a1=Thatcher|2y=1995|2p=182}}


===Leader of the Opposition (1975–1979)=== ===Leader of the Opposition (1975–1979)===
{{See also|Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher}}
] on 18&nbsp;September 1975]]
{{External media
| topic=1975 speech to the ]
| headerimage=]
| caption=Thatcher in late 1975
| audio1={{Cite speech |title=National Press Club Luncheon Speakers: Margaret Thatcher |url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/pressclub/thatcher.html}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Press Club Luncheon Speakers: Margaret Thatcher (Recorded Sound Research Center, Library of Congress) |url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/pressclub/thatcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927213633/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/pressclub/thatcher.html |archive-date=27 September 2018 |publisher=]}}</ref> (Starts at 7:39, finishes at 28:33.)<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 1975 |title=Speech to the National Press Club |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102770 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029044318/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102770 |archive-date=29 October 2016 |access-date=28 October 2016 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>
}}
The ] continued to experience difficulties with ] and union demands for wage increases in 1973, subsequently losing the ].{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=15}} Labour formed ] and went on to win a narrow majority in the ]. Heath's leadership of the Conservative Party looked increasingly in doubt. Thatcher was not initially seen as the obvious replacement, but she eventually became the main challenger, promising a fresh start.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=16}} Her main support came from the parliamentary ]{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=16}} and ''The Spectator'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cosgrave |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Cosgrave |date=25 January 1975 |title=Clear choice for the Tories |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/04/clear-choice-for-the-tories/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025145009/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/04/clear-choice-for-the-tories/ |archive-date=25 October 2017 |access-date=13 July 2017 |publication-date=13 April 2013 |magazine=The Spectator}}</ref> but Thatcher's time in office gave her the reputation of a pragmatist rather than that of an ideologue.{{r|runciman20130606}} She ] on the first ballot, and he resigned from the leadership.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Naughton |first=Philippe |date=18 July 2005 |title=Thatcher leads tributes to Sir Edward Heath |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thatcher-leads-tributes-to-sir-edward-heath-353gzwv3fdh |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210913173244/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thatcher-leads-tributes-to-sir-edward-heath-353gzwv3fdh |archive-date=13 September 2021 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=The Times}}</ref> In the second ballot she defeated Whitelaw, Heath's preferred successor. Thatcher's election had a polarising effect on the party; her support was stronger among MPs on the right, and also among those from southern England, and those who had not attended public schools or ].{{sfnp|Cowley|Bailey|2000}}


Thatcher became Conservative Party leader and ] on 11&nbsp;February 1975;<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 February 1975 |title=Press Conference after winning Conservative leadership (Grand Committee Room) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=102452 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218065547/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=102452 |archive-date=18 February 2012 |access-date=29 September 2007 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> she appointed Whitelaw as her ]. Heath was never reconciled to Thatcher's leadership of the party.{{sfnp|Moore|2013|pages=394–395, 430}}
The Heath government continued to experience ] and union demands for wage increases in 1973, and was defeated in the ].<ref name="Reitan-p15"/> The Conservative result in the ] was even worse, and Thatcher mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party.<ref name="Reitan-p16">Reitan, Earl (2003), p. 16</ref> Promising a fresh start, she drew her main support from the Conservative ].<ref name="Reitan-p16"/> She ] on the first ballot and he resigned the leadership.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article545321.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2|title=Thatcher leads tributes to Sir Edward Heath|date=18 July 2005|accessdate=14 October 2008|work=The Times|location=London|Naughton, Philippe}}</ref> In the second ballot she defeated Heath's preferred successor, ], and became party leader on 11 February 1975;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=102452|title=Press Conference after winning Conservative leadership (Grand Committee Room)|accessdate=29 September 2007}}</ref> she appointed Whitelaw as her deputy. Heath remained disenchanted with Thatcher to the end of his life for what he, and many of his supporters, perceived as her disloyalty in standing against him.<ref>{{cite news |title=For British Tories, a Private Feud Goes Public|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE0DC173CF936A15754C0A96E948260 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=14&nbsp;October 2008 |date=25&nbsp;July 1988 |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard}}</ref>


Television critic ], writing in '']'' prior to her election as Conservative Party leader, compared her voice of 1973 to "a cat sliding down a blackboard".{{refn|{{harvtxt|James|1977|pp=119–120}}: <q>The hang-up has always been the voice. Not the timbre so much as, well, the {{em|tone}} – the condescending explanatory whine which treats the squirming interlocutor as an eight-year-old child with personality deficiencies. It has been fascinating, recently, to watch her striving to eliminate this. BBC2 ''News Extra'' on Tuesday night rolled a clip from May 1973 demonstrating the Thatcher sneer at full pitch. (She was saying that she wouldn't {{em|dream}} of seeking the leadership.) She sounded like a cat sliding down a blackboard.</q><ref>{{Cite news |last=James |first=Clive |date=9 February 1975 |title=Getting Mrs T into focus |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52299047/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173045/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52299047/2-c-mt-on-tv/ |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=The Observer |page=26 |via=]}}</ref>|group=nb}} Thatcher had already begun to work on her presentation on the advice of ], a former television producer. By chance, Reece met the actor ], who arranged lessons with the ]'s voice coach.{{sfnp|Thatcher|1995|p=267}}<ref name="Moore Vanity">{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |date=December 2011 |title=The Invincible Mrs. Thatcher |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/12/margaret-thatcher-201112 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218073039/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/12/margaret-thatcher-201112 |archive-date=18 February 2012 |access-date=25 February 2012 |work=]}}</ref>{{refn|Thatcher succeeded in completely suppressing her Lincolnshire dialect except when under stress, notably after provocation from ] in the Commons in 1983, when she accused the ] of being ].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=A miracle recovery for Finchley mother of two |date=22 April 1983 |page=28 |issue=61513 |department=News |last=Johnson |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Johnson (journalist)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 April 1983 |title=PM taunts Labour over early election |work=The Guardian |page=5 |quote=Amid uproar from both sides of the house, Mrs Thatcher shouted: 'So you are afraid of an election are you? Afraid, Afraid, Afraid. Frightened, frit – couldn't take it. Couldn't stand it.'}}</ref>|group=nb}}
Thatcher began at this time regularly to attend lunches at the ] (IEA), a think tank founded by the poultry magnate ], a disciple of ]; she had begun visiting the IEA and reading its publications during the early 1960s. She came in contact there with ] and ], who became influences on her. Thatcher now became the face of the ideological movement that opposed the ] ] economics they believed was weakening Britain. The institute's pamphlets proposed less government, lower taxes, and more freedom for business and consumers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2010|chapter=11}}</ref>


Thatcher began attending lunches regularly at the ] (IEA), a think tank founded by {{wikt-lang|en|Hayekian|i=-}} poultry magnate ]; she had been visiting the IEA and reading its publications since the early 1960s. There she was influenced by the ideas of ] and ] and became the face of the ideological movement opposing the ]. ], they believed, was weakening Britain. The institute's pamphlets proposed less government, lower taxes, and more freedom for business and consumers.{{sfnp|Beckett|2010|loc=chpt. 11}}
Thatcher began to work on her voice and screen image. The critic ], writing in '']'' in 1977, compared her voice of 1973 to a cat sliding down a blackboard, but acknowledged her intelligence and mental agility.{{#tag:ref|"The hang-up has always been the voice. Not the timbre so much as, well, the tone – the condescending explanatory whine which treats the squirming interlocutor as an eight-year-old child with learning deficiencies. ''News Extra'' rolled a clip from May 1973 demonstrating the Thatcher sneer at full pitch. She sounded like a cat sliding down a blackboard&nbsp;... She's cold, hard, quick and superior, and smart enough to know that those qualities could work for her instead of against."<ref>{{Harvnb|James|1977|pp=119–20}}</ref>|group=nb}}


{{multiple image
On 19 January 1976 Thatcher made a speech in Kensington Town Hall in which she made a scathing attack on the Soviet Union.
|direction=vertical
|image1=President Gerald Ford Meeting with Great Britain's Conservative Party Leader Margaret Thatcher in the Oval Office.jpg
|alt1=Thatcher sitting with Gerald Ford
|caption1=With President Ford in the ], 1975
|image2=Shah and Margaret Thatcher.jpg
|alt2=Thatcher sitting with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
|caption2=With the Shah in the ], 1978
}}
Thatcher intended to promote ] economic ideas at home and abroad. Despite setting the direction of her foreign policy for a Conservative government, Thatcher was distressed by her repeated failure to shine in the House of Commons. Consequently, Thatcher decided that as "her voice was carrying little weight at home", she would "be heard in the wider world".{{sfnp|Campbell |2000|p=344}} Thatcher undertook visits across the Atlantic, establishing an international profile and promoting her economic and foreign policies. She toured the United States in 1975 and met President ],<ref>{{Cite wikisource |title=President Ford–Margaret Thatcher memcon |date=18 September 1975 |wslink=President Ford–Margaret Thatcher memcon (18 September 1975)}}</ref> visiting again in 1977, when she met President ].{{sfnp|Cooper|2010|pp=25–26}} Among other foreign trips, she met Shah ] during a visit to ] in 1978.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Press Conference concluding visit to Iran |date=1 May 1978 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103489 |access-date=13 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414010627/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103489 |archive-date=14 April 2018}}</ref> Thatcher chose to travel without being accompanied by her ], ], in an attempt to make a bolder personal impact.{{sfnp|Cooper|2010|pp=25–26}}


In domestic affairs, Thatcher opposed ] (]) and the creation of a ]. She instructed Conservative MPs to vote against the Scotland and Wales Bill in December 1976, which was successfully defeated, and then when new Bills were proposed, she supported amending the legislation to allow the English to vote in the ] on Scottish devolution.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 April 2008 |title=How Thatcher tried to thwart devolution |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/how-thatcher-tried-to-thwart-devolution-1-1165673 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016012202/http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/how-thatcher-tried-to-thwart-devolution-1-1165673 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=20 April 2013 |work=The Scotsman}}</ref>
{{quote|The Russians are bent on world dominance, and they are rapidly acquiring the means to become the most powerful imperial nation the world has seen. The men in the Soviet ''Politburo'' do not have to worry about the ebb and flow of public opinion. They put guns before butter, while we put just about everything before guns.<ref name="ironlady"/>}}


Britain's economy during the 1970s was so weak that then Foreign Secretary ] warned his fellow Labour Cabinet members in 1974 of the possibility of "a breakdown of democracy", telling them: "If I were a young man, I would emigrate."{{sfnp|Beckett|2010|loc=chpt. 7}} In mid-1978, the economy began to recover, and opinion polls showed Labour in the lead, with a general election being expected later that year and a Labour win a serious possibility. Now prime minister, Callaghan surprised many by announcing on 7&nbsp;September that there would be no general election that year and that he would wait until 1979 before going to the polls. Thatcher reacted to this by branding the Labour government "chickens", and Liberal Party leader David Steel joined in, criticising Labour for "running scared".<ref>{{Cite news |title=7 September 1978: Callaghan accused of running scared |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/7/newsid_2502000/2502781.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120410202005/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/7/newsid_2502000/2502781.stm |archive-date=10 April 2012 |access-date=13 January 2012 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=]}}</ref>
In response, the Soviet Defence Ministry newspaper '']'' (''Red Star'') gave her the nickname "]".<ref name="ironlady">{{cite web |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=102939 |title=Britain Awake |accessdate=2&nbsp;November 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> She took delight in the name, and it soon became associated with her image.


Despite an economic recovery in the late 1970s, the Labour Government faced public unease about the direction of the country and a damaging series of strikes during the winter of 1978–79, popularly dubbed the "]". The Conservatives attacked the Labour government's unemployment record, using advertising hoardings with the slogan ''Labour Isn't Working''. A ] was called after ]'s government lost a ] in early 1979. The Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in the House of Commons, and Margaret Thatcher became the UK's first female Prime Minister. The Labour government then faced fresh public unease about the direction of the country and a damaging series of strikes during the winter of 1978–79, dubbed the "]". The Conservatives attacked the Labour government's unemployment record, using advertising with the slogan "]". A ] was called after the Callaghan ministry ] in early 1979. The Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in the House of Commons, and Thatcher became the first female British prime minister.{{sfnp|Butler|Kavanagh|1980|page=199}}


===="Iron Lady"====
==Prime Minister (1979–1990)==
{{Main|Britain Awake}}
{{External media |topic=1976 speech to Finchley Conservatives |video1={{Cite speech |title=Speech to Finchley Conservatives'' (admits to being an "Iron Lady")'' |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111324 |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}<ref name="Iron Lady" />}}
{{blockquote|I stand before you tonight in my ''Red Star'' chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up and my fair hair gently waved, the Iron Lady of the Western world.{{r|Iron Lady}}|Thatcher embracing her Soviet nickname in 1976}}

In 1976, Thatcher gave her "Britain Awake" foreign policy speech which lambasted the Soviet Union, saying it was "bent on world dominance".<ref name="britain-awake">{{Cite web |date=19 January 1976 |title=Speech at Kensington Town Hall ('Britain Awake') (The Iron Lady) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102939 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017152319/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102939 |archive-date=17 October 2010 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |quote=] we endorsed the status quo in Eastern Europe. In return we had hoped for the freer movement of people and ideas across the Iron Curtain. So far we have got nothing of substance.}}</ref> The Soviet Army journal '']'' reported her stance in a piece headlined "Iron Lady Raises Fears",<ref name="Gavrilov">{{Cite news |last=Gavrilov |first=Yuri |date=24 January 1976 |title=The 'Iron Lady' Sounds the Alarm |work=Red Star |pages=3, 17 |volume=28 |issue=1–13 |translator={{text|''The Current Digest of the Soviet Press''}}}}</ref> alluding to her remarks on the ].<ref name="britain-awake" /> '']'' covered the ''Red Star'' article the next day,<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 January 1976 |title=Maggie, the 'Iron Lady' |url=http://gale.cengage.co.uk/images/upload/NewsVault/Thatcher/15-Maggie-the-Iron-Lady.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029044402/http://gale.cengage.co.uk/images/upload/NewsVault/Thatcher/15-Maggie-the-Iron-Lady.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2016 |access-date=28 October 2016 |newspaper=The Sunday Times}}</ref> and Thatcher embraced the ] a week later; in a speech to Finchley Conservatives she likened it to the ]'s nickname "{{title case|iron duke}}".<ref name="Iron Lady">{{Cite web |date=31 January 1976 |title=Speech to Finchley Conservatives (admits to being an 'Iron Lady') |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102947 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924182918/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102947 |archive-date=24 September 2016 |access-date=17 October 2016 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> The ] followed her throughout ever since,{{sfnmp|1a1=Atkinson|1y=1984|1p=115|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2000|2p=60}} and would become a generic ] for other strong-willed female politicians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macpherson |first=Fiona |author-link=Fiona Macpherson |date=10 April 2013 |title=The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher's linguistic legacy |url=https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/04/10/margaretthatcher |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616153939/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/04/10/margaretthatcher/ |archive-date=16 June 2018 |access-date=20 May 2018 |website=] |quote=While it has been applied to other women since (from politicians to tennis players), the resonance with Margaret Thatcher remains the strongest.}}</ref>

==Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–1990)==
{{Main|Premiership of Margaret Thatcher}} {{Main|Premiership of Margaret Thatcher}}
{{Further|First Thatcher ministry|second Thatcher ministry|third Thatcher ministry}}
], 1981]]
{{External media
| topic=1979 remarks on becoming prime minister
| headerimage=]
| caption=], {{circa|1979}}
| video1={{Cite speech |title=Remarks on becoming Prime Minister'' (St Francis's prayer)'' |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/115355 |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}<ref name="Prayer" />
}}
Thatcher became prime minister on 4&nbsp;May 1979. Arriving at ] she said, paraphrasing the ]:


{{poemquote|
Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979. Arriving at 10 Downing Street, she said, in a paraphrase of ]:
Where there is discord, may we bring harmony;
Where there is error, may we bring truth;
Where there is doubt, may we bring faith;
And where there is despair, may we bring hope.<ref name="Prayer">{{Cite web |date=4 May 1979 |title=Remarks on becoming Prime Minister (St Francis's prayer) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104078 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322015853/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104078 |archive-date=22 March 2017 |access-date=21 March 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>
}}


In office throughout the 1980s, Thatcher was frequently referred to as the most powerful woman in the world.{{sfnmp|1a1=Bern|1y=1987|1p=43|2a1=Ogden|2y=1990|2pp=9, 12}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sheehy |first=Gail |author-link=Gail Sheehy |year=1989 |title=Gail Sheehy on the most powerful woman in the world |magazine=Vanity Fair |page=102 |volume=52}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Eisner |first=Jane |author-link=Jane Eisner |date=7 June 1987 |title=The most powerful woman in the world |magazine=] Magazine |page=1 |asin=B006RKBPBK}}</ref>
{{quote|Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.}}


===Domestic affairs=== ===Domestic affairs===
====Minorities====
Thatcher was Prime Minister at a time of great racial tension in Britain. Her standing in the polls rose by 11% after she said in a TV interview during campaigning for the 1979 election: "The moment a minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened. The British character has done so much for democracy, for law, that if there is any fear that it might be swamped, people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in".<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Time magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920566-3,00.html |title=Britain: Facing a Multiracial Future |date=27&nbsp;August 1979 |accessdate=20&nbsp;January 2011|year=1979}}</ref> She complained privately about Asian immigration in July 1979, in the context of restricting the number of ] settling in the UK. Her stance on these issues was perceived as taking votes from the openly racist ].<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Daily Telegraph| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6906503/Margaret-Thatcher-complained-about-Asian-immigration-to-Britain.html |title=Margaret Thatcher complained about Asian immigration to Britain |date=30&nbsp;December 2009 |accessdate=20&nbsp;January 2011}}</ref>
Thatcher was the Opposition leader and prime minister at a time of increased racial tension in Britain. During the ], '']'' commented: "The Tory tide swamped the smaller parties{{snd}}specifically the ], which suffered a clear decline from last year."<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 May 1977 |title=Votes go to Tories, and nobody else |newspaper=The Economist |pages=24–28 |volume=263 |issue=6976}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 1978 |title=Conservative Campaign Guide Supplement 1978 |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110797 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019154057/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110797 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |page=}}</ref> Her standing in the polls had risen by 11% after a 1978 interview for '']'' in which she said "the British character has done so much for democracy, for law and done so much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in", as well as "in many ways {{interp|minorities}} add to the richness and variety of this country. The moment the minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened".<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 1978 |title=TV Interview for Granada World in Action ('rather swamped') |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103485 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717144335/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103485 |archive-date=17 July 2017 |access-date=23 July 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Mrs Thatcher fears people might become hostile if immigrant flow is not cut |date=31 January 1978 |page=2 |issue=60224 |department=News}}</ref> In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives had attracted votes from the NF, whose support almost collapsed.{{sfnmp|1a1=Reitan|1y=2003|1p=26|2a1=Ward|2y=2004|2p=128}} In a July 1979 meeting with Foreign Secretary ] and Home Secretary William Whitelaw, Thatcher objected to the number of Asian immigrants, in the context of limiting the total of ] allowed to settle in the UK to fewer than 10,000 over two years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swaine |first=Jon |date=30 December 2009 |title=Margaret Thatcher complained about Asian immigration to Britain |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6906503/Margaret-Thatcher-complained-about-Asian-immigration-to-Britain.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525084645/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6906503/Margaret-Thatcher-complained-about-Asian-immigration-to-Britain.html |archive-date=25 May 2010 |access-date=20 January 2011 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>


====The Queen====
As Prime Minister, Thatcher met weekly with ] to discuss government business,<ref>{{Harvnb|Reitan|2003|p=28}}</ref> and their relationship came under close scrutiny.<ref>Seward, Ingrid (2001), p. 154</ref> In July 1986 the '']'' reported claims attributed to the Queen's advisers of a "rift" between ] and ] "over a wide range of domestic and international issues".<ref name=dismayed>{{cite news |title=Queen dismayed by 'uncaring' Thatcher |newspaper=Sunday Times |date=20&nbsp;July 1986}}</ref><ref name=rift>{{cite news |title=The Queen And Thatcher: The story they couldn't kill; Alleged rift between Premier and British Monarch |newspaper=Sunday Times |date=27&nbsp;July 1986}}</ref> The Palace issued an official denial, heading off speculation about a possible constitutional crisis.<ref name=rift/> After Thatcher's retirement a senior Palace source again dismissed as "nonsense" the "stereotyped idea" that she had not got along with the Queen, or that they had fallen out over Thatcherite policies.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen to toast Thatcher |newspaper=The Times |date=16&nbsp;October 1995 |page=2}}</ref> Thatcher herself declared that "stories of clashes between 'two powerful women' were too good not to make up&nbsp;... I always found the Queen's attitude towards the work of the Government absolutely correct".<ref>{{Harvnb|Thatcher|1993|p=18}}</ref>


As prime minister, Thatcher met weekly with ] to discuss government business, and their relationship came under scrutiny.{{sfnmp|1a1=Reitan|1y=2003|1p=28|2a1=Seward|2y=2001|2p=154}} {{harvtxt|Campbell|2011a|page=464}} states:
===Economy and taxation===
Thatcher's economic policy was influenced by ] thinking and economists such as ] and ].<ref name="Childs-p185">{{Harvnb|Childs|2006|p=185}}</ref> Together with ] ], she lowered direct taxes on income and increased indirect taxes.<ref name="Reitan-p30">{{Harvnb|Reitan|2003|p=30}}</ref> She increased interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply and thereby lower inflation,<ref name="Childs-p185"/> introduced cash limits on public spending, and reduced expenditures on social services such as education and housing.<ref name="Reitan-p30"/> Her cuts in higher education spending resulted in her being the first Oxford-educated post-war Prime Minister not to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Oxford, after a 738 to 319 vote of the governing assembly and a student petition.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_2506000/2506019.stm |title=29 January 1985: Thatcher snubbed by Oxford dons |accessdate=9 April 2007 |year=2008|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> Her new centrally funded ]s did not enjoy much success, and the Funding Agency for Schools was set up to control expenditure by opening and closing schools; the ], a right-wing think tank, described it as having "an extraordinary range of dictatorial powers".<ref>{{Harvnb|Marr|2007|p=464}}</ref>


{{blockquote|One question that continued to fascinate the public about the phenomenon of a woman Prime Minister was how she got on with the Queen. The answer is that their relations were punctiliously correct, but there was little love lost on either side. As two women of very similar age – Mrs Thatcher was six months older – occupying parallel positions at the top of the social pyramid, one the head of government, the other head of state, they were bound to be in some sense rivals. Mrs Thatcher's attitude to the Queen was ambivalent. On the one hand she had an almost mystical reverence for the institution of the monarchy Yet at the same time she was trying to modernise the country and sweep away many of the values and practices which the monarchy perpetuated.}}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="float:right; text-align:center; margin:10px;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:190px;"| GDP and public spending <br />by functional classification
! scope="col" style="width:150px;"|% change in real terms<br />1979/80 to 1989/90<ref>{{Harvnb|Lawson|1992|p=301}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row" |GDP
| +23.3
|-
!scope="row" |Total government spending
| +12.9
|-
!scope="row" |Law and order
| +53.3
|-
!scope="row" |Employment and training
| +33.3
|-
!scope="row" |Health
| +31.8
|-
!scope="row" |Social security
| +31.8
|-
!scope="row" |Transport
| −5.8
|-
!scope="row" |Trade and industry
| −38.2
|-
!scope="row" |Housing
| −67.0
|-
!scope="row" |Defence
| −3.3<ref>{{cite journal |first=Roger |last=Middleton |title=The Political Economy of Decline |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=41 |issue=3 |year=2006 |page=580}}</ref>
|}


], the Queen's press secretary, in 1986 leaked stories of a deep rift to ''The Sunday Times''. He said that she felt Thatcher's policies were "uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive".{{sfnp|Pimlott|1996|pp=460–463, 484, 509–514}} Thatcher later wrote: "I always found the Queen's attitude towards the work of the Government absolutely correct stories of clashes between 'two powerful women' were just too good not to make up."{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|p=18}}
Some Heathite Conservatives in the ], the so-called "]", expressed doubt over Thatcher's policies.<ref name="nft"/> ] resulted in the British media discussing the need for a policy ]. At the 1980 Conservative Party conference, Thatcher addressed the issue directly, with a speech written by the playwright ]<ref>Jones, Bill et al. (2007), p. 224</ref> that included the lines: "You turn if you want to. ]!"<ref name="nft">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm |title=10 October 1980: Thatcher 'not for turning'|accessdate=21 December 2008 |year=2008 |publisher=BBC|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref>


====Economy and taxation====
Thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23% by December 1980, lower than recorded for any previous Prime Minister.<ref name=Thornton>{{Harvnb|Thornton|2006|p=18}}</ref> As the ] deepened, she increased taxes<ref name="Reitan-p31">Reitan, Earl (2003), p. 31</ref> despite concerns expressed in a statement signed by 364&nbsp;leading economists and issued towards the end of March 1981.<ref>{{cite news |title=An avalanche of economists {{subscription}} |date=31&nbsp;March 1981 |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/263/101/138526786w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS285575295&dyn=75!xrn_1_0_CS285575295&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib |newspaper=The Times |page=17 |accessdate=12&nbsp;January 2011}}</ref>
{{See also|June 1979 United Kingdom budget|l1=1979 budget}}
{{Margaret Thatcher/datatable}}
Thatcher's economic policy was influenced by ] thinking and economists such as ] and ].{{sfnp|Childs|2006|p=185}} Together with her first ], ], she lowered direct taxes on income and increased indirect taxes.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=30}} She increased interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply, and thereby lower inflation;{{sfnp|Childs|2006|p=185}} introduced cash limits on public spending and reduced expenditure on social services such as education and housing.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=30}} Cuts to higher education led to Thatcher being the first ] post-war prime minister without an honorary doctorate from Oxford University after a 738–319 vote of the governing assembly and a student petition.<ref>{{Cite news |title=29 January 1985: Thatcher snubbed by Oxford dons |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_2506000/2506019.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724131128/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_2506000/2506019.stm |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=9 April 2007 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>


Some Heathite Conservatives in the Cabinet, the so-called "]", expressed doubt over Thatcher's policies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=10 October 1980: Thatcher 'not for turning' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724131113/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=21 December 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> The ] resulted in the British media discussing the need for a ]. At the 1980 Conservative Party conference, Thatcher addressed the issue directly with a speech written by the playwright ],{{sfnp|Jones|2007|p=224}} that notably included the following lines:{{blockquote|To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the "U" turn, I have only one thing to say. "You turn if you want to. ]."<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 October 1980 |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference ('the lady's not for turning') |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104431 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105144306/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104431 |archive-date=5 January 2018 |access-date=31 March 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>}}
By 1982 the UK began to experience signs of economic recovery;<ref>{{Harvnb|Floud|Johnson|2004|p=392}}</ref> inflation was down to 8.6% from a high of 18%, but unemployment was over 3&nbsp;million for the first time since the 1930s.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2506000/2506335.stm |title=26 January 1982: UK unemployment tops three million |publisher=BBC |year=2008 |accessdate=16 April 2010|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> By 1983 overall economic growth was stronger and inflation and mortgage rates were at their lowest levels since 1970, although manufacturing output had dropped by 30% since 1978<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/article.asp?ID=1296 |publisher=]|accessdate=13&nbsp;June 2008 |title=Consumer Price Inflation: 1947 to 2004}}</ref> and unemployment remained high, peaking at 3.3&nbsp;million in 1984.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unemployment-among-young-workers-hits-15-per-cent-1645728.html |title=Unemployment among young workers hits 15 per cent&nbsp;– Home News, UK |publisher=The Independent |date=16&nbsp;March 2009 |accessdate=21&nbsp;November 2010}}</ref>


{{See also|1981 United Kingdom budget|l1=1981 budget}}
Throughout the 1980s, revenue from the 90% tax on ] extraction was used as a short-term funding source to balance the economy and pay the costs of reform.<ref>{{Harvnb|Marr|2007|p=439}}</ref>
Thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23% by December 1980, lower than recorded for any previous prime minister.{{sfnp|Thornton|2004|p=18}} As the ] deepened, she increased taxes,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=31}} despite concerns expressed in a March 1981 statement signed by 364&nbsp;leading economists,<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 March 1981 |title=An avalanche of economists |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/263/101/138526786w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS285575295&dyn=75!xrn_1_0_CS285575295&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib |url-access=limited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714012618/http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/mclib?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/263/101/138526786w16/purl%3Drc1_TTDA_0_CS285575295%26dyn%3D75!xrn_1_0_CS285575295%26hst_1%3Fsw_aep%3Dmclib&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no |archive-date=14 July 2012 |access-date=12 January 2011 |work=The Times |page=17}}</ref> which argued there was "no basis in economic theory for the Government's belief that by deflating demand they will bring inflation permanently under control", adding that "present policies will deepen the depression, erode the industrial base of our economy and threaten its social and political stability".<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 March 1981 |title=Economy: Letter of the 364 economists critical of monetarism (letter sent to academics and list of signatories) |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/121217 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401144432/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/121217 |archive-date=1 April 2018 |access-date=31 March 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>


] in 1982]]
Thatcher replaced local government taxes with a ], in which property tax rates were made uniform, in that the same amount was charged to every individual resident, and the residential property tax was replaced by a head tax at a rate set by local authorities.<ref name="polltax">{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DD1030F930A15757C0A966958260 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=30&nbsp;October 2008 |date=23&nbsp;April 1990 |last=Passell |first=Peter |title=Furor Over British Poll Tax Imperils Thatcher Ideology}}</ref> The new tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales the following year,<ref>Reitan, Earl (2003), pp. 87–88</ref> and proved to be among the most unpopular policies of her premiership,<ref name="polltax"/> culminating in a public demonstration that turned into ] in ], London, on 31 March 1990; more than 100,000 protesters attended and more than 400&nbsp;people were arrested.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530763.stm |title=31 March 1990: Violence flares in poll tax demonstration |accessdate=30 October 2008 |year=2008|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> Thatcher remained confident that, as with her other major reforms, the initial public opposition would eventually turn into support.<ref>{{cite news |title=All Thatcherites now |newspaper=The Times |date=15&nbsp;June 1988 | last=Wyatt|first=Woodrow|authorlink=Woodrow Wyatt}}</ref>
By 1982, the UK began to experience signs of economic recovery;{{sfnp|Floud|Johnson|2004|p=392}} inflation was down to 8.6% from a high of 18%, but unemployment was over 3&nbsp;million for the first time since the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite news |title=26 January 1982: UK unemployment tops three million |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2506000/2506335.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221074348/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2506000/2506335.stm |archive-date=21 February 2018 |access-date=16 April 2010 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> By 1983, overall economic growth was stronger, and inflation and mortgage rates had fallen to their lowest levels in 13 years, although manufacturing employment as a share of total employment fell to just over 30%,{{sfnp|Rowthorn|Wells|1987|page=234}} with total unemployment remaining high, peaking at 3.3&nbsp;million in 1984.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Grady |first=Sean |date=16 March 2009 |title=Unemployment among young workers hits 15 per cent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unemployment-among-young-workers-hits-15-per-cent-1645728.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724123849/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unemployment-among-young-workers-hits-15-per-cent-1645728.html |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=21 November 2010 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

During the 1982 Conservative Party Conference, Thatcher said: "We have done more to roll back the frontiers of socialism than any previous Conservative Government."<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 October 1982 |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105032 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073302/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105032 |archive-date=8 April 2018 |access-date=7 April 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> She said at the Party Conference the following year that the British people had completely rejected ] and understood "the state has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money."<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 October 1983 |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408010401/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454 |archive-date=8 April 2018 |access-date=7 April 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>

By 1987, unemployment was falling, the economy was stable and strong, and inflation was low. Opinion polls showed a comfortable Conservative lead, and ] results had also been successful, prompting Thatcher to call a general election for 11&nbsp;June that year, despite the deadline for an election still being 12 months away. The ] saw Thatcher re-elected for a third successive term.<ref>{{Cite news |title=11 June 1987 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge87.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203222938/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge87.shtml |archive-date=3 December 2011 |access-date=14 November 2011 |work=Politics 97 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>

Thatcher had been firmly opposed to British membership of the ] (ERM, a precursor to ]), believing that it would constrain the British economy,<ref name="ecc">{{Cite news |last=Riddell |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Riddell |date=23 November 1987 |title=Thatcher stands firm against full EMS role |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106969 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420095953/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106969 |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=8 October 2008 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> despite the urging of both Chancellor of the Exchequer ] and Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe;{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|p=712}} in October 1990 she was persuaded by ], Lawson's successor as chancellor, to join the ERM at what proved to be too high a rate.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=484}}

Thatcher reformed local government taxes by replacing ] (a tax based on the nominal rental value of a home) with the ] (or poll tax) in which the same amount was charged to each adult resident.<ref name="polltax">{{Cite news |last=Passell |first=Peter |date=23 April 1990 |title=Furor Over British Poll Tax Imperils Thatcher Ideology |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DD1030F930A15757C0A966958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602032717/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/23/business/furor-over-british-poll-tax-imperils-thatcher-ideology.html |archive-date=2 June 2013 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The new tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales the following year,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|pp=87–88}} and proved to be among the most unpopular policies of her premiership.{{r|polltax}} Public disquiet culminated in a 70,000 to 200,000-strong<ref name="trafalgarsq num">{{Cite news |last=Graham |first=David |date=25 March 2010 |title=The Battle of Trafalgar Square: The poll tax riots revisited |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-battle-of-trafalgar-square-the-poll-tax-riots-revisited-1926873.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119102840/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-battle-of-trafalgar-square-the-poll-tax-riots-revisited-1926873.html |archive-date=19 January 2018 |access-date=8 April 2013 |work=The Independent}}</ref> demonstration in London in March 1990; the demonstration around ] deteriorated into ], leaving 113 people injured and 340 under arrest.<ref name="otd pt">{{Cite news |title=31 March 1990: Violence flares in poll tax demonstration |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530763.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409013226/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530763.stm |archive-date=9 April 2013 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> The Community Charge was abolished in 1991 by her successor, John Major.{{r|otd pt}} It has since transpired that Thatcher herself had failed to register for the tax and was threatened with financial penalties if she did not return her form.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Narwan |first=Gurpreet |date=30 December 2016 |title=Threat of fine for unpaid poll tax sent to No 10 |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/threat-of-fine-for-unpaid-poll-tax-sent-to-no-10-szqwdrlb6 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210821195006/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/threat-of-fine-for-unpaid-poll-tax-sent-to-no-10-szqwdrlb6 |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Times}}</ref>

====Industrial relations====
{{See also|GCHQ trade union ban|Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service|label2=the GCHQ case}}

Thatcher believed that the ] were harmful to both ordinary trade unionists and the public.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|pp=89–90}} She was committed to reducing the power of the unions, whose leadership she accused of undermining parliamentary democracy and economic performance through strike action.{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|pp=97–98, 339–340}} Several unions launched strikes in response to legislation introduced to limit their power, but resistance eventually collapsed.<ref name="thatcher-cw">{{Cite news |title=Margaret Thatcher |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/thatcher |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703072749/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/thatcher |archive-date=3 July 2008 |access-date=29 October 2008 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> Only 39% of union members voted Labour in the 1983 general election.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Revzin |first=Philip |date=23 November 1984 |title=British Labor Unions Begin to Toe the Line, Realizing That the Times Have Changed |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> According to the BBC's political correspondent in 2004, Thatcher "managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation".<ref name="bbcstrike">{{Cite news |last=Wilenius |first=Paul |date=5 March 2004 |title=Enemies within: Thatcher and the unions |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3067563.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430144439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3067563.stm |archive-date=30 April 2009 |access-date=29 October 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The ] was the biggest and most devastating confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Henry |first=John |date=5 March 2009 |title=When miners took on the government |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7923138.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521105409/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7923138.stm |archive-date=21 May 2018 |access-date=20 May 2018 |work=BBC News |location=Yorkshire}}</ref>

]
In March 1984, the ] (NCB) proposed to close 20 of the 174&nbsp;state-owned mines and cut 20,000&nbsp;jobs out of 187,000.<ref name="Glass">{{Cite news |last=Glass |first=Robert |date=16 December 1984 |title=The Uncivilized Side of Britain Rears its Ugly Head |work=The Record |page=37}}</ref><ref name="Black">{{Cite news |last=Black |first=David |date=21 February 2009 |title=Still unbowed, ex-miners to mark 25 years since the start of the strike |url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/still-unbowed-ex-miners-mark-25-4488387 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812022044/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/still-unbowed-ex-miners-mark-25-4488387 |archive-date=12 August 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Journal}}</ref>{{r|pits-closed}} Two-thirds of the country's miners, led by the ] (NUM) under ], went on strike in protest.{{r|Glass}}<ref name="thatcher-num">{{Cite news |last=Hannan |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Hannan (presenter) |date=6 March 2004 |title=Iron Lady versus union baron |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3537463.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226200523/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3537463.stm |archive-date=26 February 2009 |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Jones">{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Alan |date=3 March 2009 |title=A History of the Miners' Strike |agency=Press Association}}</ref> However, Scargill refused to hold a ballot on the strike,{{sfnp|Adeney|Lloyd|1988|pages=88–89}} having previously lost three ballots on a national strike (in January and October 1982, and March 1983).{{sfnp|Adeney|Lloyd|1988|page=169}} This led to the strike being declared illegal by the ].{{sfnp|Adeney|Lloyd|1988|page=170}}<ref>{{Cite news |title=28 September 1984: Pit dispute 'illegal' says judge |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_2540000/2540813.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002235052/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_2540000/2540813.stm |archive-date=2 October 2018 |access-date=26 December 2012 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>

Thatcher refused to meet the union's demands and compared the miners' dispute to the ], declaring in a speech in 1984: "We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty."{{sfnp|Khabaz|2006|p=226}} Thatcher's opponents characterised her words as indicating contempt for the working class and have been employed in criticism of her ever since.{{sfnp|Moore|2015|p=164}}

After a year out on strike in March 1985, the NUM leadership conceded without a deal. The cost to the economy was estimated to be at least £1.5&nbsp;billion, and the strike was blamed for much of the ]'s fall against the US dollar.<ref name="Harper">{{Cite news |last=Harper |first=Timothy |date=5 March 1985 |title=Miners return to work today. Bitter coal strike wrenched British economy, society |work=The Dallas Morning News |page=8}}</ref> Thatcher reflected on the end of the strike in her statement that "if anyone has won", it was "the miners who stayed at work" and all those "that have kept Britain going".{{sfnp|Moore|2015|p=178}}

The government closed 25&nbsp;unprofitable coal mines in 1985, and by 1992 a total of 97 mines had been closed;{{r|pits-closed}} those that remained were privatised in 1994.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 March 2004 |title=UK Coal sees loss crumble to £1m |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3531819.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131203228/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3531819.stm |archive-date=31 January 2011 |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The resulting closure of 150&nbsp;coal mines, some of which were not losing money, resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and had the effect of devastating entire communities.<ref name="pits-closed">{{Cite news |date=5 March 2004 |title=Watching the pits disappear |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3514549.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702053420/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3514549.stm |archive-date=2 July 2008 |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Strikes had helped bring down Heath's government, and Thatcher was determined to succeed where he had failed. Her strategy of preparing fuel stocks, appointing hardliner ] as NCB leader and ensuring that police were adequately trained and equipped with riot gear contributed to her triumph over the striking miners.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=411}}

The number of stoppages across the UK peaked at 4,583 in 1979, when more than 29&nbsp;million working days had been lost. In 1984, the year of the miners' strike, there were 1,221, resulting in the loss of more than 27&nbsp;million working days. Stoppages then fell steadily throughout the rest of Thatcher's premiership; in 1990, there were 630 and fewer than 2&nbsp;million working days lost, and they continued to fall thereafter.{{sfnp|Butler|1994|p=375}} Thatcher's tenure also witnessed a sharp decline in trade union density, with the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union falling from 57.3% in 1979 to 49.5% in 1985.{{sfnp|Laybourn|1992|page=208}} In 1979 up until Thatcher's final year in office, trade union membership also fell, from 13.5&nbsp;million in 1979 to fewer than 10&nbsp;million.{{sfnp|Barrell|1994|p=127}}

====Privatisation====
The policy of ] has been called "a crucial ingredient of Thatcherism".{{sfnp|Seldon|Collings|2000|p=27}} After the 1983 election, the sale of state utilities accelerated;{{sfnp|Feigenbaum|Henig|Hamnett|1998|p=71}} more than £29&nbsp;billion was raised from the sale of nationalised industries, and another £18&nbsp;billion from the sale of council houses.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=428}} The process of privatisation, especially the preparation of nationalised industries for privatisation, was associated with marked improvements in performance, particularly in terms of ].{{sfnp|Parker|Martin|1995}}

Some of the privatised industries, including gas, ], and electricity, were ] for which privatisation involved little increase in competition. The privatised industries that demonstrated improvement sometimes did so while still under state ownership. ] had made great gains in profitability while still a nationalised industry under the government-appointed MacGregor chairmanship, which faced down trade-union opposition to close plants and halve the workforce.{{sfnp|Kirby|2006}} Regulation was also significantly expanded to compensate for the loss of direct government control, with the foundation of regulatory bodies such as ] (]), ] (]), and the ] (]).{{sfnp|Veljanovski|1990|pp=291–304}} There was no clear pattern to the degree of competition, regulation, and performance among the privatised industries.{{sfnp|Parker|Martin|1995}}

In most cases, privatisation benefited consumers in terms of lower prices and improved efficiency but results overall have been mixed.{{sfnp|McAleese|2004|pp=169–70}} Not all privatised companies have had successful share price trajectories in the longer term.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Emma |date=12 April 2013 |title=Thatcher's legacy: how has privatisation fared? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/shares-and-stock-tips/9989430/Thatchers-legacy-how-has-privatisation-fared.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015222606/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/shares-and-stock-tips/9989430/Thatchers-legacy-how-has-privatisation-fared.html |archive-date=15 October 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> A 2010 review by the IEA states: "t}} does seem to be the case that once competition and/or effective regulation was introduced, performance improved markedly But I hasten to emphasise again that the literature is not unanimous."<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 November 2000 |title=A Review of Privatisation and Regulation Experience in Britain |url=https://iea.org.uk/publications/research/a-review-of-privatisation-and-regulation-experience-in-britain |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033519/https://iea.org.uk/publications/research/a-review-of-privatisation-and-regulation-experience-in-britain |archive-date=20 February 2018 |access-date=19 February 2018 |publisher=Institute of Economic Affairs}}</ref>

Thatcher always resisted ] and was said to have told Transport Secretary ]: "Railway privatisation will be the ] of this government. Please never mention the railways to me again." Shortly before her resignation in 1990, she accepted the arguments for privatisation, which her successor John Major implemented in 1994.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=495}}

The privatisation of public assets was combined with ] to fuel economic growth. Chancellor Geoffrey Howe abolished the UK's exchange controls in 1979,<ref name="Robertson">{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Jamie |date=27 October 2016 |title=How the Big Bang changed the City of London for ever |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37751599 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816022757/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37751599 |archive-date=16 August 2017 |access-date=19 June 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> which allowed more capital to be invested in foreign markets, and the ] of 1986 removed many restrictions on the ].{{r|Robertson}}

====Northern Ireland====
]
In 1980 and 1981, ] (PIRA) and ] (INLA) prisoners in Northern Ireland's ] carried out ] to regain the status of political prisoners that had been removed in 1976 by the preceding Labour government.{{r|strike}} ] began the 1981 strike, saying that he would fast until death unless prison inmates won concessions over their living conditions.<ref name="strike">{{Cite news |title=3 October 1981: IRA Maze hunger strikes at an end |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2451000/2451503.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113034637/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2451000/2451503.stm |archive-date=13 January 2018 |access-date=5 January 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for the prisoners, having declared "Crime is crime is crime; it is not political".{{r|strike}} Nevertheless, the British government privately contacted republican leaders in a bid to bring the hunger strikes to an end.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clarke |first=Liam |date=5 April 2009 |title=Was Gerry Adams complicit over hunger strikers? |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111769 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111220938/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111769 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=The Sunday Times |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> After the deaths of Sands and nine others, the strike ended. Some rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but not official recognition of political status.{{r|CAIN-hs}} Violence in Northern Ireland escalated significantly during the hunger strikes.{{sfnp|English|2005|pp=207–08}}

Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in an IRA ] at a Brighton hotel early in the morning on 12&nbsp;October 1984.<ref name="bbc-bomb">{{Cite news |title=12 October 1984: Tory Cabinet in Brighton bomb blast |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2531000/2531583.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308094001/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2531000/2531583.stm |archive-date=8 March 2017 |access-date=29 October 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> Five people were killed, including the wife of minister ]. Thatcher was staying at the hotel to prepare for the Conservative Party conference, which she insisted should open as scheduled the following day.{{r|bbc-bomb}} She delivered her speech as planned,{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|pp=379–383}} though rewritten from her original draft,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=3 October 2014 |title=Thatcher was to call Labour and miners 'enemy within' in abandoned speech |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/03/thatcher-labour-miners-enemy-within-brighton-bomb |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228014646/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/03/thatcher-labour-miners-enemy-within-brighton-bomb |archive-date=28 February 2017 |access-date=25 May 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> in a move that was supported across the political spectrum and enhanced her popularity with the public.{{sfnp|Lanoue|Headrick|1998}}

On 6&nbsp;November 1981, Thatcher and ] (Irish prime minister) ] had established the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council, a forum for meetings between the two governments.<ref name="CAIN-hs">{{Cite web |title=The Hunger Strike of 1981 – A Chronology of Main Events |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/hstrike/chronology.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206165221/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/hstrike/chronology.htm |archive-date=6 December 2010 |access-date=27 January 2011 |website=] |publisher=Ulster University}}</ref> On 15&nbsp;November 1985, Thatcher and FitzGerald signed the Hillsborough ], which marked the first time a British government had given the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland. In protest, the ] movement led by ] attracted 100,000 to a rally in Belfast,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anglo Irish Agreement Chronology |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206111841/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm |archive-date=6 December 2010 |access-date=27 January 2011 |website=Conflict Archive on the Internet |publisher=Ulster University}}</ref> ], later assassinated by the PIRA, resigned as ] in ],<ref>{{Cite news |title=15 November 1985: Anglo-Irish agreement signed |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_2539000/2539849.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120742/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_2539000/2539849.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=4 May 2010 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>{{sfnp|Moloney|2002|p=336}} and all 15 Unionist MPs resigned their parliamentary seats; only one was not returned in the subsequent ] on 23&nbsp;January 1986.{{sfnp|Cochrane|1997|p=143}}

===Environment===
Thatcher supported an active ] policy; she was instrumental in the passing of the ],{{sfnp|Tewdwr-Jones|2003|page=47}} the founding of the ],<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 May 1990 |title=Speech opening Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108102 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613090256/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108102 |archive-date=13 June 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> the establishment of the ],<ref name="Harrabin">{{Cite news |last=Harrabin |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Harrabin |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: How PM legitimised green concerns |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22069768 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810032718/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22069768 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and the ratification of the ] on preserving the ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bourke |first=India |date=14 October 2016 |title=Will Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan be the unlikely saviours of the world from climate change? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/energy/2016/10/will-margaret-thatcher-and-ronald-reagan-be-unlikely-saviours-world-climate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206102436/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/energy/2016/10/will-margaret-thatcher-and-ronald-reagan-be-unlikely-saviours-world-climate |archive-date=6 December 2018 |access-date=6 December 2018 |magazine=]}}</ref>

Thatcher helped to put ], ] and general pollution in the British mainstream in the late 1980s,{{r|Harrabin}}{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|page=642}} calling for a global treaty on climate change in 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 September 2013 |title=A brief history of climate change |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15874560 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170726033727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15874560 |archive-date=26 July 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Her speeches included one to the ] in 1988,<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 September 1988 |title=Speech to the Royal Society |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107346 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406101350/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107346 |archive-date=6 April 2016 |access-date=27 April 2016 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> followed by another to the ] in 1989.


===Foreign affairs=== ===Foreign affairs===
{{multiple image
]
|direction=vertical
|image1=Thatcher at Oval Office desk with Carter.jpg
|alt1=Thatcher sitting with Jimmy Carter
|caption1=With ] in the Oval Office, 1979
|image2=President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom.jpg
|alt2=Thatcher sitting with Ronald Reagan
|caption2=With ] in the Oval Office, 1988
|image3=Thatcher and Bush - 1990 - P14935-18A.jpg
|alt3=Thatcher standing with George H. W. Bush
|caption3=With ] in ], 1990
}}
Thatcher appointed Lord Carrington, an ennobled member of the party and former ], to run the ] in 1979.{{sfnp|Sked|Cook|1993|pages=364–422}} Although considered a "wet", he avoided domestic affairs and got along well with Thatcher. One issue was what to do with ], where the white minority had determined to rule the prosperous, black-majority breakaway colony in the face of overwhelming international criticism. With the 1975 ] collapse in the continent, South Africa (which had been Rhodesia's chief supporter) realised that their ally was a liability; black rule was inevitable, and the Thatcher government brokered a peaceful solution to end the ] in December 1979 via the ]. The conference at Lancaster House was attended by Rhodesian prime minister ], as well as by the key black leaders: ], ], ] and ]. The result was the new Zimbabwean nation under black rule in 1980.{{sfnmp|1a1=Lewis|1y=1980|2a1=Soames|2y=1980}}


====Cold War====
Thatcher took office in the final decade of the ], an era of strategic confrontation between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and ]. She became closely aligned with the policies of US President ], based on their shared distrust of Communism.<ref name="thatcher-cw"/>
Thatcher's first foreign-policy crisis came with the 1979 ]. She condemned the invasion, said it showed the bankruptcy of a ] policy and helped convince some British athletes to boycott the ]. She gave weak support to US president Jimmy Carter who tried to punish the USSR with economic sanctions. Britain's economic situation was precarious, and most of NATO was reluctant to cut trade ties.{{sfnp|Lahey|2013}} Thatcher nevertheless gave the go-ahead for ] to approve ] (along with the SAS) to undertake ].{{sfnp|Dorril|2002|p={{nowrap|{{plainlink|https://archive.org/details/mi6insidecovertw00dorr/page/752|752}} {{closed access}}}}}} As well as working with the CIA in ], they also supplied weapons, training and intelligence to the '']''.{{sfnp|Cormac|2018|pages=233–36}}


The '']'' reported in 2011 that her government had secretly supplied ] with ].<ref name="Thatcher Hussein secret">{{Cite web |last=Stothard |first=Michael |date=30 December 2011 |title=UK secretly supplied Saddam |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52add2c4-30b4-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701032514/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52add2c4-30b4-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=11 October 2015 |newspaper=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Leigh |first1=David |author-link1=David Leigh (journalist) |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |name-list-style=amp |date=27 February 2003 |title=How £1bn was lost when Thatcher propped up Saddam |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811011113/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
During her first year as Prime Minister she supported ]'s decision to deploy US nuclear ] and ]s in Western Europe,<ref name="thatcher-cw"/> and permitted the US to station more than 160&nbsp;cruise missiles at ], starting on 14&nbsp;November 1983. This triggered mass protests by the ].<ref name="thatcher-cw"/> She bought the ] nuclear missile submarine system from the US to replace Polaris, resulting in a tripling of Britain's nuclear forces<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |title=Trident is go |accessdate=16&nbsp;January 2011 |date=28&nbsp;July 1980 |publisher=Time Magazine}}</ref> at an eventual cost of more than £12&nbsp;billion (at 1996–97 prices).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |title=Vanguard Class Ballistic Missile Submarine |accessdate=16&nbsp;January 2011 |date=5&nbsp;November 1999 |publisher=Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> She strongly opposed Reagan's October 1983 ], but the US went ahead with it anyway.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gilbert|2002|p=565}}</ref>


Having withdrawn formal recognition from the ] in 1979,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Kampuchea |house=House of Commons |date=16 May 1985 |volume=79 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1985/may/16/kampuchea |column_start=486 |column_end=490 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> the Thatcher government backed the ] keeping their UN seat after they were ousted from power in Cambodia by the ]. Although Thatcher denied it at the time,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Cambodia |house=House of Commons |date=26 October 1990 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198990/cmhansrd/1990-10-26/Debate-3.html |column_start=655 |column_end=667 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> it was revealed in 1991 that, while not directly training any Khmer Rouge,{{sfnp|Neville|2016|p=20}} from 1983 the ] (SAS) was sent to secretly train "the armed forces of the ]" that remained loyal to Prince ] and his former prime minister ] in the fight against the ].<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Cambodia |house=House of Commons |date=22 July 1991 |volume=195 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/jul/22/cambodia |column_start=863 |column_end=883 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 January 2000 |title=Butcher of Cambodia set to expose Thatcher's role |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144544/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=26 May 2011 |work=The Observer}}</ref>
Thatcher's preference for defence ties with the US was demonstrated in the ] of January 1986. She acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer ], a defence contractor, to refuse an offer from the Italian firm ] in favour of the management's preferred option, a link with ]. The UK Defence Secretary, ], who had supported the Agusta deal, resigned in protest.


Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond warmly to reformist Soviet leader ]. Following Reagan–Gorbachev summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, she declared in November 1988 that "e're}} not in a Cold War now" but rather in a "new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was".<ref name="reforms1988">{{Cite news |date=18 November 1988 |title=Gorbachev Policy Has Ended The Cold War, Thatcher Says |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DC1738F93BA25752C1A96E948260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173109/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/18/world/gorbachev-policy-has-ended-the-cold-war-thatcher-says.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> She went on a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1984 and met with Gorbachev and Council of Ministers chairman ].{{sfnp|Zemcov|Farrar|1989|page=138}}
In April 1986, Thatcher permitted US ]s to use RAF bases for the ] in retaliation for the alleged ],<ref name=Cannon>{{cite news |first=Lou |last=Cannon |title=Reagan Acted Upon 'Irrefutable' Evidence |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=15&nbsp;April 1986}}</ref> citing the right of self-defence under ] of the ].<ref>{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Riddell |title=Thatcher Defends US Use Of British Bases / Libya bombing raid |newspaper=Financial Times |date=16&nbsp;April 1986 |page=1}}</ref> Thatcher told the ] that America had the right to defend its own assets.<ref name=DeYoung>{{cite news|last=DeYoung|first=Karen|title=Thatcher Stands Firm In Support of U.S. Europeans Criticize Attack|work=The Washington Post|date=16 April 1986|quote=The United States has more than 330,000&nbsp;members of her forces in Europe to defend our liberty. Because they are there they are subject to terrorist attack. It is inconceivable that they should be refused the right to use American aircraft and American pilots in the inherent right of self-defence to defend their own people.}}</ref>


====Ties with the US====
The UK was the only nation to provide assistance for the US action.<ref name=DeYoung/> Polls suggested that more than two out of three people disapproved of Thatcher's decision.<ref>Anthony Lejeune, "A friend in need", ''National Review'', 38 (23 May 1986), p. 27 (1)</ref> Later that year the US Congress approved an extradition treaty intended to stop IRA operatives evading extradition. The US Senate only ratified this treaty when Reagan explicitly mentioned British support for the bombing of Libya.<ref>Campbell, John (2003), p. 282</ref>
] with ministers in the ], 1981]]
Despite opposite personalities, Thatcher bonded quickly with US president ].{{refn|{{harvtxt|Cannadine|2017}}: <q>In many ways they were very different figures: he was sunny, genial, charming, relaxed, upbeat, and with little intellectual curiosity or command of policy detail; she was domineering, belligerent, confrontational, tireless, hyperactive, and with an unrivalled command of facts and figures. But the chemistry between them worked. Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously; she agreed with him about the importance of creating wealth, cutting taxes, and building up stronger defences against Soviet Russia; and both believed in liberty and free-market freedom, and in the need to outface what ].</q>|group=nb}} She gave strong support to the ]'s ] based on their shared ].{{r|thatcher-cw}} A sharp disagreement came in 1983 when Reagan did not consult with her on the ].{{sfnp|Williams|2001}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2004 |title=Ronald Reagan |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628180545/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111260 |archive-date=28 June 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |type=Obituary |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation |newspaper=The Times}}</ref>


During her first year as prime minister, she supported ]'s decision to deploy US nuclear ] and ] missiles in Western Europe,{{r|thatcher-cw}} permitting the US to station more than 160&nbsp;cruise missiles at ], starting in November 1983 and triggering mass protests by the ].{{r|thatcher-cw}} She bought the ] submarine system from the US to replace Polaris, tripling the UK's nuclear forces<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=28 July 1980 |title=Trident is go |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904225816/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |archive-date=4 September 2008 |access-date=16 January 2011 |magazine=Time}}</ref> at an eventual cost of more than £12&nbsp;billion (at 1996–97 prices).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 1999 |title=Vanguard Class Ballistic Missile Submarine |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123230232/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |archive-date=23 November 2010 |access-date=16 January 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref> Thatcher's preference for defence ties with the US was demonstrated in the ] of 1985–86 when she acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer ] to refuse a takeover offer from the Italian firm ] in favour of the management's preferred option, a link with ]. Defence Secretary ], who had supported the Agusta deal, resigned from the government in protest.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=419}}
Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond warmly to reformist Soviet leader ]. Following Reagan–Gorbachev summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, Thatcher declared in November 1988, "We're not in a Cold War now" but rather in a "new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was".<ref name="reforms1988">{{Cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DC1738F93BA25752C1A96E948260|title= Gorbachev Policy Has Ended The Cold War, Thatcher Says|date=18 November 1988|agency=Associated Press|work=The New York Times |accessdate=30 October 2008}}</ref>


In April 1986 she permitted US ] to use ] bases for the ] in retaliation for the ],<ref name="Cannon">{{Cite news |last=Cannon |first=Lou |author-link=Lou Cannon |date=15 April 1986 |title=Reagan Acted Upon 'Irrefutable' Evidence |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/reagan-acted-upon-irrefutable-evidence/61170c59-b355-4e0a-8ab5-411bba4879e8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906092229/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/reagan-acted-upon-irrefutable-evidence/61170c59-b355-4e0a-8ab5-411bba4879e8/ |archive-date=6 September 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> citing the right of self-defence under ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Riddell |first=Peter |date=16 April 1986 |title=Thatcher Defends US Use Of British Bases in Libya bombing raid |work=Financial Times |page=1}}</ref>{{refn|<q>The United States has more than 330,000&nbsp;members of her forces in Europe to defend our liberty. Because they are here, they are subject to terrorist attack. It is inconceivable that they should be refused the right to use American aircraft and American pilots in the inherent right of self-defence, to defend their own people.</q><ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Engagements |house=House of Commons |date=15 April 1986 |volume=95 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1986/apr/15/engagements |access-date=22 October 2020 |pages=723–728}}</ref>|group=nb}} Polls suggested that fewer than one in three British citizens approved of her decision.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lejeune |first=Anthony |date=23 May 1986 |title=A friend in need |work=National Review |page=27 |volume=38 |issue=1}}</ref>
On 2 April 1982, the ruling military junta in Argentina invaded the British overseas territories of ] and South Georgia, triggering the ].<ref name="global">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/malvinas.htm|title=Falklands/Malvinas War|accessdate=29 October 2008|date=27 April 2007|publisher=GlobalSecurity.org}}</ref> The subsequent crisis was "a defining moment of her premiership".<ref name="Jackling 2005 230">{{Harvnb|Jackling|2005|p=230}}</ref> At the suggestion of ] and ],<ref name="Jackling 2005 230"/> she set up and chaired a small War Cabinet (formally called ODSA, Overseas and Defence committee, South Atlantic) to take charge of the conduct of the war,<ref>{{Harvnb|Hastings and Jenkins|1983|pp=80–81}}</ref> which by 5–6&nbsp;April had authorised and despatched a naval task force to retake the islands.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hastings and Jenkins|1983|p=95}}</ref> Argentina surrendered on 14&nbsp;June and the operation was hailed a success, notwithstanding the deaths of 255 British servicemen and three Falkland Islanders. Argentinian deaths totalled 649, half of them after the nuclear submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} sank the cruiser ] by torpedo on 2&nbsp;May.<ref name=liberation>'The Falklands: 25 years since the Iron Lady won her war; Liberation Day', ''The Times'' (15 June 2007), p. 32</ref> Thatcher was criticised for the original neglect of the Falklands' defence that led to the war, and for the decision to escalate the war by sinking the ''Belgrano'' (notably by ] in parliament), but overall was regarded as a highly talented and committed war leader.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hastings and Jenkins|1983|pp=335–6}}</ref> The "Falklands factor", an economic recovery beginning early in 1982, and a bitterly divided Labour opposition contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in ].<ref>David Sanders, Hugh Ward, and David Marsh (with Tony Fletcher), "Government Popularity and the Falklands War: A Reassessment", ''British Journal of Political Science'', Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul., 1987), p. 28</ref>


Thatcher was in the US on a state visit when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ] in August 1990.<ref name="gw-pbs">{{Cite web |title=Oral History: Margaret Thatcher |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202075000/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=PBS}}</ref> During her talks with President ], who succeeded Reagan in 1989, she recommended intervention,{{r|gw-pbs}} and put pressure on Bush to deploy troops in the Middle East to drive the ] out of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Lewis |date=7 August 1992 |title=Abroad at Home; Will Bush Take Real Action? |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9113AF934A3575BC0A964958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173131/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/07/opinion/abroad-at-home-will-bush-take-real-action.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Bush was apprehensive about the plan, prompting Thatcher to remark to him during a telephone conversation: "This was no time to go wobbly!"<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 August 1990 |title=Gulf War: Bush–Thatcher phone conversation (no time to go wobbly) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420093131/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711 |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tisdall |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Tisdall |date=8 April 2013 |title=No-nonsense Iron Lady punched above UK's weight on world stage |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-iron-lady-world-stage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731063611/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-iron-lady-world-stage |archive-date=31 July 2017 |access-date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher's government supplied military forces to the international coalition in the build-up to the ], but she had resigned by the time hostilities began on 17&nbsp;January 1991.{{sfnp|Aitken|2013|pp=600–601}}<ref name="grice">{{Cite news |last=Grice |first=Andrew |date=13 October 2005 |title=Thatcher reveals her doubts over basis for Iraq war |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/thatcher-reveals-her-doubts-over-basis-for-iraq-war-319542.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025132508/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/thatcher-reveals-her-doubts-over-basis-for-iraq-war-319542.html |archive-date=25 October 2017 |access-date=22 September 2016 |work=The Independent}}</ref> She applauded the coalition victory on the backbenches, while warning that "the victories of peace will take longer than the battles of war".<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=The Gulf |house=House of Commons |date=28 February 1991 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/feb/28/the-gulf#column_1120 |column=1120 |access-date=28 October 2020}}</ref> It was disclosed in 2017 that Thatcher had suggested threatening Saddam with ]s after the invasion of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 July 2017 |title=Margaret Thatcher suggested threatening Saddam with chemical weapons |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40667031 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722005112/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40667031 |archive-date=22 July 2017 |access-date=22 July 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mance |first=Henry |date=20 July 2017 |title=Thatcher wanted to threaten Saddam with chemical weapons |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e2d78a20-6bcd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170720180853/https://www.ft.com/content/e2d78a20-6bcd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |archive-date=20 July 2017 |access-date=31 July 2017 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>
Thatcher's antipathy towards ] became more pronounced during her premiership, particularly after her third election victory in 1987. In a speech at ] in 1988, she outlined her opposition to proposals from the European Community, forerunner of the ], for a federal structure and increased centralisation of decision-making.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=31&nbsp;October 2008 |date=20&nbsp;September 1988 |title=Speech to the College of Europe ("The Bruges Speech")}}</ref> Though she had supported British membership of the EC, Thatcher believed that the role of the organisation should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition, and feared that the EC approach to governing was at odds with her views on smaller government and deregulatory trends;<ref name="Senden-p9"/> in 1988, she remarked, "We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels".<ref name="Senden-p9">Senden, Linda (2004), p. 9</ref>


====Crisis in the South Atlantic====
Thatcher was firmly opposed to the UK joining the ], a precursor to European monetary union, believing that it would constrain the British economy,<ref name="ecc">{{cite news |title=Thatcher stands firm against full EMS role |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106969 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=8&nbsp;October 2008 |last=Riddell |first=Peter |date=23&nbsp;November 1987 |newspaper=Financial Times}}</ref> despite the urging of her Chancellor of the Exchequer ] and Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe,<ref>Thatcher, Margaret (1993), p. 712</ref> but she was persuaded by John Major to join it in October 1990 at what proved in retrospect to be too high a rate.<ref>Marr, 2007, p. 484</ref>
{{See also|Rejoice (Margaret Thatcher)|label1="Rejoice"|Sinking of the ARA General Belgrano|label2=sinking of the ARA ''General Belgrano''|Diana Gould–Margaret Thatcher exchange|label3=the Diana Gould exchange}}
On 2&nbsp;April 1982, the ruling ] ordered the invasion of the ] of the ] and ], ].{{sfnp|Smith|1989|p=21}} The ] was "a defining moment of {{interp|Thatcher's}} premiership".{{sfnp|Jackling|2005|p=230}} At the suggestion of Harold Macmillan and ],{{sfnp|Jackling|2005|p=230}} she set up and chaired a small ] (formally called ODSA, Overseas and Defence committee, South Atlantic) to oversee the conduct of the war,{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=80–81}} which by 5–6&nbsp;April had authorised and dispatched ] to retake the islands.{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=95}} Argentina ] and ''Operation Corporate'' was hailed a success, notwithstanding the deaths of 255&nbsp;British servicemen and three Falkland Islanders. Argentine fatalities totalled 649, half of them after the nuclear-powered submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} torpedoed and sank the cruiser {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano}} on 2&nbsp;May.<ref name="liberation">{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Michael |date=15 June 2007 |title=The Falklands: 25 years since the Iron Lady won her war |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-falklands-25-years-since-the-iron-lady-won-her-war-v3dp2zx3h5h |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210913174010/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-falklands-25-years-since-the-iron-lady-won-her-war-v3dp2zx3h5h |archive-date=13 September 2021 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Times}}</ref>


Thatcher was criticised for the neglect of the Falklands' defence that led to the war, and especially by Labour MP ] in Parliament for the decision to torpedo the ''General Belgrano'', but overall, she was considered a competent and committed war leader.{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=335–336}} The "]", an economic recovery beginning early in 1982, and a bitterly divided opposition all contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in ].{{sfnp|Sanders|Ward|Marsh|1987}} Thatcher frequently referred after the war to the "Falklands spirit";<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Jenkins |date=1 April 2012 |title=Falklands war 30 years on and how it turned Thatcher into a world celebrity |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/01/falklands-war-thatcher-30-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905232855/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/01/falklands-war-thatcher-30-years |archive-date=5 September 2017 |access-date=26 May 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> {{harvtxt|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=329}} suggests that this reflected her preference for the streamlined decision-making of her War Cabinet over the painstaking deal-making of peacetime ].
Thatcher initially opposed ], telling Premier Gorbachev that "this would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security". She expressed concern that a united Germany would align itself more closely with the Soviet Union and move away from NATO.<ref>Görtemaker, Manfred (2006), p. 198</ref>


====Negotiating Hong Kong====
During Iraqi leader ]'s invasion of neighbouring Kuwait in August 1990, Thatcher was visiting the US.<ref name="gw-pbs">{{cite web |publisher=PBS |title=Oral History: Margaret Thatcher |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref> When she met with US President ], who had succeeded Reagan in 1989, she recommended intervention<ref name="gw-pbs"/> and put pressure on Bush to deploy troops in the Middle East to drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9113AF934A3575BC0A964958260 |title=Abroad at Home; Will Bush Take Real Action?|late=Lewis |first=Anthony |date=7&nbsp;August 1992 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref> Bush was somewhat apprehensive about the plan, prompting Thatcher to remark to him during a telephone conversation that "This was no time to go wobbly!"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711|title=Gulf War: Bush-Thatcher phone conversation (no time to go wobbly) |date=26&nbsp;August 1990 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref> Thatcher's government provided military forces to the international coalition in the build-up to the ]; by the time hostilities started she had resigned.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ |title=The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm|publisher=CNN In-Depth Specials|year=2001|accessdate=5&nbsp;April 2008 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080317110507/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ |archivedate=17&nbsp;March 2008}}</ref>
In September 1982, she visited China to discuss with ] the ] after 1997. China was the first communist state Thatcher had visited as prime minister, and she was the first British prime minister to visit China. Throughout their meeting, she sought the PRC's agreement to a continued British presence in the territory. Deng insisted that the PRC's sovereignty over Hong Kong was non-negotiable but stated his willingness to settle the sovereignty issue with the British government through formal negotiations. Both governments promised to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.{{sfnp|Yahuda|1996|page=155}} After the two-year negotiations, Thatcher conceded to the PRC government and signed the ] in Beijing in 1984, agreeing to hand over Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=116}}


===Industrial relations=== ====Apartheid in South Africa====
Despite saying that she was in favour of "peaceful negotiations" to end ],<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Engagements |house=House of Commons |date=25 February 1988 |volume=128 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1988/feb/25/engagements#S6CV0128P0_19880225_HOC_113 |column=437 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=South Africa |house=Written Answers HC Deb |date=11 July 1988 |volume=137 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/11/south-africa#S6CV0137P0_19880711_CWA_21 |column_start=3 |column_end=4W |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> Thatcher opposed ] by the Commonwealth and the ] (EEC).{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=322}} She attempted to preserve trade with South Africa while persuading its government to abandon apartheid. This included "asting herself as ]'s candid friend" and inviting him to visit the UK in 1984,<ref name="Hanning">{{Cite news |last=Hanning |first=James |date=8 December 2013 |title=The 'terrorist' and the Tories: What did Nelson Mandela really think of Margaret Thatcher? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-terrorist-and-the-tories-what-did-nelson-mandela-really-think-of-margaret-thatcher-8990872.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208093841/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-terrorist-and-the-tories-what-did-nelson-mandela-really-think-of-margaret-thatcher-8990872.html |archive-date=8 December 2013 |access-date=24 October 2017 |work=The Independent}}</ref> despite the "inevitable demonstrations" against his government.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=325}} Alan Merrydew of the Canadian broadcaster ] asked Thatcher what her response was "to a reported ANC statement that they will target British firms in South Africa?" to which she later replied: " when the ANC says that they will target British companies This shows what a typical terrorist organisation it is. I fought terrorism all my life and if more people fought it, and we were all more successful, we should not have it and I hope that everyone in this hall will think it is right to go on fighting terrorism."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plaut |first=Martin |date=29 August 2018 |title=Did Margaret Thatcher really call Nelson Mandela a terrorist? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/08/did-margaret-thatcher-really-call-nelson-mandela-terrorist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906233752/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/08/did-margaret-thatcher-really-call-nelson-mandela-terrorist |archive-date=6 September 2018 |access-date=6 September 2018 |magazine=New Statesman}}</ref> During his visit to Britain five months after his release from prison, ] praised Thatcher: "She is an enemy of apartheid We have much to thank her for."{{r|Hanning}}
Thatcher was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions, whose leadership she accused of undermining parliamentary democracy and economic performance through strike action.<ref>Thatcher, Margaret (1993), pp. 97–98</ref> Several unions launched strikes in response to legislation introduced to curb their power, but resistance eventually collapsed.<ref name="thatcher-cw">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/thatcher/ |title=Margaret Thatcher |accessdate=29&nbsp;October 2008 |publisher=CNN |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080703072749/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/thatcher/ |archivedate=3&nbsp;July 2008}}</ref> Only 39% of union members voted for Labour in the 1983 general election.<ref>{{cite news |last=Revzin |first=Philip |title=British Labor Unions Begin to Toe the Line, Realizing That the Times Have Changed |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=23&nbsp;November 1984}}</ref> According to the BBC, Thatcher "managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation".<ref name="bbcstrike">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3067563.stm|title=Enemies within: Thatcher and the unions |accessdate=29 October 2008 |date=5 March 2004|last=Wilenius|first=Paul|work=BBC News}}</ref>


====Europe====
The number of stoppages across the UK peaked at 4,583 in 1979, with over 29&nbsp;million working days lost. In 1984, the great year of industrial confrontation with the ] (NUM), there were 1,221 stoppages and over 27&nbsp;million working days lost. Stoppages then fell steadily through the rest of Thatcher's premiership, to 630 by 1990, with under 2&nbsp;million working days lost, and continued to fall thereafter.<ref name=ButlerButlerP375>{{Harvnb|Butler|Butler|1994|p=375}}</ref> Trade union membership also fell, from 13.5&nbsp;million in 1979 to less than 10&nbsp;million by the time she left office in 1990.<ref name=EvansP40>{{Harvnb|Evans|2004|p=40}}</ref>
{{See also|Bruges speech}}
{{External media |topic=1988 speech to the ] |video1={{Cite speech |title=Speech to the College of Europe'' ('The Bruges Speech')'' |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/113688 |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}<ref name="Bruges" />}}


Thatcher and her party supported British membership of the EEC in the ]<ref name="upi19750604">{{Cite news |date=4 June 1975 |title=Conservatives favor remaining in market |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031074621/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |access-date=26 December 2011 |work=Wilmington Morning Star |page=5 |agency=United Press International}}</ref> and the ] of 1986, and obtained the ] on contributions,<ref name="kuper20190620">{{Cite news |last=Kuper |first=Simon |date=20 June 2019 |title=How Oxford university shaped Brexit – and Britain's next prime minister |url=https://www.ft.com/content/85fc694c-9222-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621101919/https://www.ft.com/content/85fc694c-9222-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> but she believed that the role of the organisation should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition, and feared that the EEC approach was at odds with her views on smaller government and deregulation.{{sfnp|Senden|2004|p=9}} Believing that the single market would result in political integration,{{r|kuper20190620}} Thatcher's opposition to further ] became more pronounced during her premiership and particularly after her third government in 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pylas |first=Pan |date=23 January 2020 |title=Britain's EU Journey: When Thatcher turned all euroskeptic |url=https://apnews.com/64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030173846/https://apnews.com/64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=Associated Press News}}</ref> In her Bruges speech in 1988, Thatcher outlined her opposition to proposals from the EEC,<ref name="Bruges">{{Cite web |date=20 September 1988 |title=Speech to the College of Europe ('The Bruges Speech') |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513020525/http://margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |archive-date=13 May 2012 |access-date=31 October 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> forerunner of the ], for a federal structure and increased centralisation of decision-making:{{blockquote |We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.{{sfnp|Senden|2004|p=9}}}}
The ] was the biggest confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government. In March 1984<ref name="thatcher-num">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3537463.stm |title=Iron Lady versus union baron |accessdate=20 November 2008 |date=6 March 2004 |last=Hannan|first=Patrick|work=BBC News}}</ref> two-thirds of the country's miners downed tools<ref name=Glass/><ref name=Jones>Alan Jones, "A History of the Miners' Strike", ''Press Association National Newswire'' (3 March 2009)</ref> led by the NUM under ], in protest against the ] (NCB)'s proposals to close 20 of the 174&nbsp;state-owned mines and cut 20,000&nbsp;jobs out of 187,000.<ref name=Glass>Robert Glass, The Uncivilized Side of Britain Rears its Ugly Head, ''The Record'' (Hackensack, New
Jersey, 16 December 1984), p. 37</ref><ref name=Black>{{cite news |last-Black |first=Dave |title=Still unbowed, ex-miners to mark 25&nbsp;years since the start of the strike |newspaper=The Journal |date=21&nbsp;February 2009 |page=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3514549.stm |title=Watching the pits disappear |date=5 March 2004|work=BBC News}}</ref> Thatcher refused to meet the union's demands and compared the miners' dispute with the Falklands conflict two years earlier, declaring in a speech delivered in 1984: "We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty."<ref>{{Harvnb|Khabaz|2007|p=226}}</ref>


Sharing the concerns of French president ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blitz |first=James |date=9 September 2009 |title=Mitterrand feared emergence of 'bad' Germans |url=https://www.ft.com/content/886192ba-9d7d-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131042253/https://www.ft.com/content/886192ba-9d7d-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=31 January 2019 |access-date=14 May 2017 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> Thatcher was initially opposed to ],{{refn|She was decidedly cool towards reunification prior to 1990, but made no attempt to block it.{{sfnp|Ratti|2017|loc=chpt.&nbsp;4}}|group=nb}} telling Gorbachev that it "would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security". She expressed concern that a united Germany would align itself more closely with the Soviet Union and move away from NATO.{{sfnp|Görtemaker|2006|p=198}}
After a year out on strike, in March 1985, the NUM leadership conceded without a deal. The cost to the economy was estimated to be at least £1.5&nbsp;billion. and the strike was blamed for much of the pound's fall against the US dollar.<ref name=Harper>{{cite news |last=Harper |first=Timothy |title=Miners return to work today. Bitter coal strike wrenched British economy, society |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |date=5&nbsp;March 1985 |page=8}}</ref> The government proceeded to close 25&nbsp;unprofitable pits in 1985; by 1992, a total of 97&nbsp;pits had been closed,<ref name="pits-closed"/> with the remaining being sold off and privatised in 1994.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3531819.stm |title=UK Coal sees loss crumble to �1m|accessdate=20 November 2008 |date=4 March 2004|work=BBC News}}</ref> The eventual closure of 150 collieries, not all of which were losing money, resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and devastated entire communities.<ref name="pits-closed">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3514549.stm |title=Watching the pits disappear |accessdate=20 November 2008 |date=5 March 2004|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name=Lee>{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Adrian |title=King Coal |newspaper=The Daily Express |date=9&nbsp;December 2008 |pages=20–21}}</ref> Miners had helped bring down the Heath government, and Thatcher was determined to succeed where he had failed. Her strategy of preparing fuel stocks, appointing a union-busting NCB leader in ], and ensuring police were adequately trained and equipped with riot gear, contributed to her victory.<ref>Marr, 2007, p. 411</ref>


In March 1990, Thatcher held a Chequers seminar on the subject of German reunification that was attended by members of her cabinet and historians such as ], ], ] and ]. During the seminar, Thatcher described "what Urban called 'saloon bar ]s' about the German character, including '], aggressiveness, ], bullying, ], ] {{interp|and}} ]{{'"}}. Those present were shocked to hear Thatcher's utterances and "appalled" at how she was "apparently unaware" about the post-war ] and Germans' attempts to ].{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=634}} The words of the meeting were leaked by her foreign-policy advisor ] and, subsequently, her comments were met with fierce backlash and controversy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Low |first=Valentine |date=30 December 2016 |title=Germans seen as self-pitying, egotistical and bullying race |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/germans-seen-as-self-pitying-egotistical-and-bullying-race-chl0zfqtd |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210821212858/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/germans-seen-as-self-pitying-egotistical-and-bullying-race-chl0zfqtd |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=The Times}}</ref>
===Privatisation===
The policy of ] has been called "a crucial ingredient of Thatcherism".<ref>Seldon, Anthony and Collings, Daniel (2000), p. 27</ref> After the 1983 election the sale of state utilities to private companies accelerated;<ref>{{Harvnb|Feigenbaum|Henig|Hamnett|1998|p=71}}</ref> more than £29&nbsp;billion was raised from the sale of industries, and another £18&nbsp;billion from the sale of council houses.<ref>{{Harvnb|Marr|2007|p=428}}</ref>


During the same month, German chancellor ] reassured Thatcher that he would keep her "informed of all his intentions about unification",<ref name="Bowcott">{{Cite web |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=30 December 2016 |title=Kohl offered Thatcher secret access to reunification plans |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/helmut-kohl-margaret-thatcher-reunification-plans-national-archives-files |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517040338/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/helmut-kohl-margaret-thatcher-reunification-plans-national-archives-files |archive-date=17 May 2019 |access-date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> and that he was prepared to disclose "matters which even his cabinet would not know".{{r|Bowcott}}
The process of privatisation, especially the preparation of nationalised industries for privatisation, was associated with marked improvements in performance, particularly in terms of ],<ref name=ParkerMartin>{{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=David |last2=Martin |first2=Stephen |title=The impact of UK privatisation on labour and total factor productivity |journal=Scottish Journal of Political Economy |volume=42 |issue=2 |date=May 1995 |pages=216–217}}</ref> although it is not clear how far this can be attributed to the merits of privatisation itself. ] ] believed that the "productivity miracle" observed in British industry under Thatcher was achieved not so much by increasing the overall productivity of labour as by reducing workforces and increasing unemployment.<ref>{{Harvnb|Glyn|1992|p=81}}</ref> A number of the privatised industries including gas, water, and electricity, were ] for which privatisation involved little increase in competition. The privatised industries that demonstrated improvement often did so while still under state ownership. ], for instance, made great gains in profitability while still a nationalised industry under the government-appointed chairmanship of Ian MacGregor, who faced down trade-union opposition to close plants and reduce the workforce by half.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kirby |first=M. W. |year=2006 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/69687 |contribution=MacGregor, Sir Ian Kinloch (1912–1998)] {{ODNBsub}} |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=online |accessdate=24&nbsp;November 2009}}</ref> Regulation was also significantly expanded to compensate for the loss of direct government control, with the foundation of regulatory bodies like ], ] and the ].<ref>Cento Veljanovski, 'The Political Economy of Regulation', in Patrick Dunleavy, Andrew Gamble and Gillian Peele (eds.), ''Developments in British Politics 3'', Basingstoke: Macmillan (1990), pp. 291–304</ref> Overall there was no clear pattern to the degree of competition, regulation and performance among the privatised industries.<ref name=ParkerMartin/>


===Challenges to leadership and resignation===
The privatisation of public assets was combined with financial deregulation in an attempt to fuel economic growth. In 1979, Geoffrey Howe abolished Britain's exchange controls to allow more capital to be invested in foreign markets, and the ] of 1986 removed many restrictions on the activities of the ]. The Thatcher government encouraged growth in the finance and service sectors to replace Britain's ailing manufacturing industry. Political economist ] called this new financial growth model "casino capitalism", reflecting her view that speculation and financial trading were becoming a more important part of the economy than industry.<ref>Andrew Gamble, ''The Spectre at the Feast'' p. 16</ref>
{{Main|1989 Conservative Party leadership election|1990 Conservative Party leadership election}}
] in 1990]]


During her premiership, Thatcher had the second-lowest average approval rating (40%) of any post-war prime minister. Since Nigel Lawson's resignation as chancellor in October 1989,{{sfnp|Crewe|1991}} polls consistently showed that she was less popular than her party.<ref name="ridley">{{Cite news |last=Ridley |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Ridley |date=25 November 1990 |title=Et Tu, Heseltine?; Unpopularity Was a Grievous Fault, and Thatcher Hath Answered for It |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1160505.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831000325/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1160505.html |archive-date=31 August 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> A self-described conviction politician, Thatcher always insisted that she did not care about her poll ratings and pointed instead to her unbeaten election record.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The poll tax incubus |date=24 November 1990 |page=13 |issue=63872 |department=Editorials/Leaders}}</ref>
In most cases privatisation benefitted consumers in terms of lower prices and improved efficiency, but the results overall were "mixed". Some privatised companies, such as ], were successfully transformed, but ''The Economist'' considered ]'s privatisation, for instance, to have been "a disaster".<ref>{{Harvnb|McAleese|2004|pp=169–170}}</ref>


In December 1989, Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP ].<ref name="89election">{{Cite news |title=5 December 1989: Thatcher beats off leadership rival |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_2528000/2528339.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307113658/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_2528000/2528339.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> Of the 374 Conservative MPs eligible to vote, 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Meyer. Her supporters in the party viewed the result as a success and rejected suggestions that there was discontent within the party.{{r|89election}}
===Northern Ireland===
]
In 1981, ] and ] prisoners in Northern Ireland's ] began ] in an effort to regain the status of political prisoners that had been removed five years earlier under the preceding Labour government.<ref name="strike"/> ] began the strike, saying that he would fast until death unless prison inmates won concessions over their living conditions.<ref name="strike">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2451000/2451503.stm |year=2008 |title=3 October 1981: IRA Maze hunger strikes at an end |publisher=BBC|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for the prisoners, declaring "Crime is crime is crime; it is not political".<ref name="strike"/> Despite this public stance, the British government made private contact with republican leaders in a bid to bring the hunger strikes to an end.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6036723.ece|title=Was Gerry Adams complicit over hunger strikers? |accessdate=20 April 2009 |date=5 April 2009 |newspaper=The Sunday Times|last=Clarke|first=Liam|location=London}}</ref> After Sands and nine more men had died and the strike had ended, some rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, though official recognition of political status was not granted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5397 |title=Maze hunger strike called off |date=3&nbsp;October 1981 |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008 |publisher=History}}</ref> Violence in Northern Ireland significantly escalated during the hunger strike; ] politician ] described her as "the biggest bastard we have ever known" in 1982.<ref>{{Harvnb|English|2005|pp=207–208}}</ref>


Opinion polls in September 1990 reported that Labour had established a 14% lead over the Conservatives,{{r|howe}} and by November, the Conservatives had been trailing Labour for 18&nbsp;months.{{r|ridley}} These ratings, together with Thatcher's combative personality and tendency to override collegiate opinion, contributed to further discontent within her party.{{r|resign-nyt}}
Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in a PIRA ] early in the morning of 12&nbsp;October 1984.<ref name="bbc-bomb">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2531000/2531583.stm |publisher=BBC |accessdate=29 October 2008 |year=2008 |title=12 October 1984: Tory Cabinet in Brighton bomb blast|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> Five people were killed, including the wife of Cabinet Minister ]. Thatcher was staying at the hotel to attend the Conservative Party Conference, and insisted that the event open as scheduled the following day.<ref name="bbc-bomb"/> She delivered her speech as planned,<ref>{{Harvnb|Thatcher|1993|pp=379–83}}</ref> a gesture which won widespread approval across the political spectrum, and enhanced her personal popularity with the public.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lanoue |first1=David J. |last2=Headrick |first2=Barbara |title=Short-Term Political Events and British Government Popularity: Direct and Indirect Effects |journal=Polity |volume=30 |issue=3 |date=Spring 1998 |pages=423, 427, 431, 432}}</ref>


In July 1989, Thatcher removed Geoffrey Howe as ] after he and Lawson had forced her to agree to a plan for Britain to join the ] (ERM). Britain joined the ERM in October 1990.
On 6 November 1981 Thatcher and Irish ] ] had established the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council, a forum for meetings between the two governments.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/hstrike/chronology.htm|title=The Hunger Strike of 1981&nbsp;– A Chronology of Main Events |publisher=CAIN |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref> On 15&nbsp;November 1985, Thatcher and FitzGerald signed the Hillsborough ], the first time a British government gave the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland. The ] movement attracted 100,000 to a rally in Belfast protesting against the agreement.<ref></ref> ] resigned as ] in the ] over the signing,<ref>{{cite news |title=15 November 1985: Anglo-Irish agreement signed |year=2008 |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_2539000/2539849.stm |accessdate=4 May 2010|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Moloney|2002|p=336}}</ref> and all fifteen Unionist MPs resigned their Westminster seats in protest. All but one were returned in the resulting by-elections on 23&nbsp;January 1986.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cochrane|2001|p=143}}</ref>


On 1&nbsp;November 1990, Howe, by then the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet, resigned as ], ostensibly over her open hostility to moves towards ].<ref name="howe">{{Cite news |title=1 November 1990: Howe resigns over Europe policy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/1/newsid_2513000/2513953.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307114118/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/1/newsid_2513000/2513953.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Millership |first=Peter |date=1 November 1990 |title=Thatcher's Deputy Quits in Row over Europe |agency=Reuters}}</ref> In his resignation speech on 13&nbsp;November, which was instrumental in Thatcher's downfall,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Sir Geoffrey Howe's resignation was fatal blow in Mrs Thatcher's political assassination |date=5 December 1990 |page=12 |issue=63881 |department=News |last=Walters |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Walters}}</ref> Howe attacked Thatcher's openly dismissive attitude to the government's proposal for a new European currency competing against existing currencies (a "]"):
===Resignation===
{{See also|Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 1990}}
]
Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by virtually unknown backbench MP Sir ] in the ].<ref name="89election">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_2528000/2528339.stm |accessdate=1 November 2008 |year=2008 |title=5 December 1989: Thatcher beats off leadership rival |publisher=BBC|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> Of the 374&nbsp;Conservative MPs eligible to vote 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Meyer.<ref name="89election"/> Her supporters in the Party viewed the result as a success, and rejected suggestions that there was discontent within the party.<ref name="89election"/>


{{blockquote|How on earth are the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England, commending the hard ECU as they strive to, to be taken as serious participants in the debate against that kind of background noise? I believe that both the Chancellor and the Governor are cricketing enthusiasts, so I hope that there is no monopoly of cricketing metaphors. It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find, the moment the first balls are bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Personal Statement |house=House of Commons |date=13 November 1990 |volume=180 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1990/nov/13/personal-statement |column_start=461 |column_end=465 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Sir Geoffrey Howe savages Prime Minister over European stance in resignation speech |date=14 November 1990 |page=3 |issue=63863 |department=Politics and Parliament}}</ref>}}
During her premiership Thatcher had the second-lowest average approval rating, at 40%, of any post-war Prime Minister. Polls consistently showed that she was less popular than her party.<ref name="ridley">{{cite news |last=Ridley |first=Matt |title=Et Tu, Heseltine?; Unpopularity Was a Grievous Fault, and Thatcher Hath Answered for It |periodical=Washington Post |date=25&nbsp;November 1990 |page=2}}</ref> A self-described conviction politician, Thatcher always insisted that she did not care about her poll ratings, pointing instead to her unbeaten election record.<ref>{{cite news |title=The poll tax incubus |newspaper=The Times |date=24&nbsp;November 1990}}</ref>


On 14&nbsp;November, Michael Heseltine mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Frankel |first=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Frankel |date=15 November 1990 |title=Heseltine challenges Thatcher for her job |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/15/heseltine-challenges-thatcher-for-her-job/13f1b56b-2db0-44c8-b75d-8b2a31a16a07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810172436/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/15/heseltine-challenges-thatcher-for-her-job/13f1b56b-2db0-44c8-b75d-8b2a31a16a07/ |archive-date=10 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=473}} Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Poll swing followed downturn by Tories; Conservative Party leadership |date=21 November 1990 |page=2 |issue=63869 |department=News |last=Lipsey |first=David |author-link=David Lipsey, Baron Lipsey}}</ref> Although Thatcher led on the first ballot with the votes of 204 Conservative MPs (54.8%) to 152 votes (40.9%) for Heseltine, with 16 abstentions, she was four votes short of the required 15% majority. A second ballot was therefore necessary.{{sfnp|Williams|1998|page=66}} Thatcher initially declared her intention to "fight on and fight to win" the second ballot, but consultation with her cabinet persuaded her to withdraw.<ref name="resign-nyt">{{Cite news |last=Whitney |first=Craig R. |date=23 November 1990 |title=Change in Britain; Thatcher Says She'll Quit; 11½ Years as Prime Minister Ended by Party Challenge |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DB1438F930A15752C1A966958260&sec=&spon= |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="resign-bbc">{{Cite news |title=22 November 1990: Thatcher quits as prime minister |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307114202/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> After holding an audience with the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech,<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 November 1990 |title=HC S: |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108256 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407102050/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108256 |archive-date=7 April 2017 |access-date=21 March 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> on 28&nbsp;November she left Downing Street in tears. She reportedly regarded her ousting as a betrayal.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=474}} Her resignation was a shock to many outside Britain, with such foreign observers as ] and Gorbachev expressing private consternation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=30 December 2016 |title=Margaret Thatcher's resignation shocked politicians in US and USSR, files show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/margaret-thatcher-resignation-shocked-us-ussr-files |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108115705/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/margaret-thatcher-resignation-shocked-us-ussr-files |archive-date=8 November 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
Opinion polls in September 1990 reported that Labour had established a 14% lead over the Conservatives,<ref name="howe"/> and by November the Conservatives had been trailing Labour for 18&nbsp;months.<ref name="ridley"/> These ratings, together with Thatcher's combative personality and willingness to override colleagues' opinions, contributed to discontent within the Conservative party.<ref name="resign-nyt"/>


Chancellor John Major replaced Thatcher as head of government and party leader, whose lead over Heseltine in the second ballot was sufficient for Heseltine to drop out. Major oversaw an upturn in Conservative support in the 17&nbsp;months leading to the ] and led the party to a fourth successive victory on 9&nbsp;April 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kettle |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Kettle |date=4 April 2005 |title=Pollsters taxed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/electionspast.past3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109160116/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/electionspast.past3 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |access-date=23 January 2011 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher had lobbied for Major in the leadership contest against Heseltine, but her support for him waned in later years.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 October 1999 |title=Major attacks 'warrior' Thatcher |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/463873.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031011111013/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/463873.stm |archive-date=11 October 2003 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
On 1&nbsp;November 1990 Geoffrey Howe, the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet, resigned from his position as Deputy Prime Minister over her refusal to agree to a timetable for Britain to join the single currency.<ref name="howe">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/1/newsid_2513000/2513953.stm|publisher=BBC |year=2008 |accessdate=1 November 2008 |title=1 November 1990: Howe resigns over Europe policy|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref><ref>Peter Millership, "Thatcher's Deputy Quits in Row over Europe", ''Reuters News'' (1 November 1990)</ref> In his resignation speech on 13&nbsp;November, Howe commented on Thatcher's European stance: "It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find the moment that the first balls are bowled that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain."<ref>"Sir Geoffrey Howe savages Prime Minister over European stance in Resignation speech", ''The Times'' (14 November 1990).</ref> His resignation was fatal to Thatcher's premiership.<ref>Alan Walters, "Sir Geoffrey Howe's resignation was fatal blow in Mrs Thatcher's political assassination", ''The Times'', 5 December 1990</ref>


==Later life==
The next day, ] mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party.<ref>Marr, 2007, p. 473</ref> Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Lipsey |title=Poll swing followed downturn by Tories; Conservative Party leadership |newspaper=The Times |date=21&nbsp;November 1990}}</ref> Heseltine attracted sufficient support from Conservative MPs in the first round of voting to force the contest to a second ballot.<ref name="MT biography"/> Although Thatcher initially stated that she intended to contest the second ballot,<ref name="MT biography"/> after consultation with her Cabinet she decided to withdraw.<ref name="resign-nyt">{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DB1438F930A15752C1A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 |title=Change in Britain; Thatcher Says She'll Quit; 11½ Years as Prime Minister Ended by Party Challenge |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008 |date=23&nbsp;November 1990 |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Whitney, Craig R}}</ref><ref name="number-10">{{cite web |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/margaret-thatcher |title=Margaret Thatcher, 10 Downing Street |accessdate=18&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref><ref name="resign-bbc">{{cite news |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm |title=22 November 1990: Thatcher quits as prime minister |year=2008 |accessdate=1 November 2008|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref> After seeing the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech, she left Downing Street in tears. She regarded her ousting as a betrayal.<ref>{{Harvnb|Marr|2007|p=474}}</ref>


=== Return to backbenches (1990–1992) ===
Thatcher was replaced as Prime Minister and party leader by her Chancellor ], who oversaw an upturn in Conservative support in the 17&nbsp;months leading up to the ] and led the Conservatives to their fourth successive general election victory on 9&nbsp;April 1992.<ref>{{cite web |last=Spanton |first=Tim |url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/article2409712.ece |title=30 ways that Margaret Thatcher made Britain Great &#124; The Sun &#124;Features |publisher=The Sun |date=4&nbsp;April 2009 |accessdate=10&nbsp;September 2010}}</ref> Thatcher favoured Major over Heseltine in the leadership contest, but her support for him weakened in later years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/463873.stm |title=Major attacks 'warrior' Thatcher |accessdate=1 November 2008 |date=3 October 1999|work=BBC News}}</ref> Despite being Britain's first woman Prime Minister, Thatcher had done "little to advance the political cause of women".<ref name=EvansP25>{{Harvnb|Evans|1994|p=25}}</ref>
After leaving the premiership, Thatcher returned to the backbenches as a constituency parliamentarian.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=118}} Her domestic approval rating recovered after her resignation, though public opinion remained divided on whether her government had been good for the country.{{sfnp|Crewe|1991}}<ref name="Ipsos">{{Cite web |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) |url=https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/margaret-thatcher-1925-2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722003205/https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/margaret-thatcher-1925-2013 |archive-date=22 July 2017 |access-date=25 May 2017 |publisher=] |quote=At the time of her resignation 52% of the public said that they thought her government had been good for the country and 40% that it had been bad.}}</ref> Aged 66, she retired from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election, saying that leaving the Commons would allow her more freedom to speak her mind.<ref name="lords">{{Cite news |title=30 June 1992: Thatcher takes her place in Lords |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2523000/2523395.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307130818/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2523000/2523395.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>


===Post-Commons (1992–2003)===
==Later years==
On leaving the Commons, Thatcher became the first former British prime minister to set up a foundation;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thatcher Archive |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/thatcher-archive.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926225828/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/thatcher-archive.asp |archive-date=26 September 2013 |access-date=26 August 2013 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> the British wing of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation was dissolved in 2005 due to financial difficulties.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barkham |first=Patrick |date=11 May 2005 |title=End of an era for Thatcher foundation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/may/11/conservatives.politics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928211215/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/may/11/conservatives.politics |archive-date=28 September 2013 |access-date=27 April 2013 |work=The Guardian |quote=Mystery surrounds the future of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation after it emerged that the British wing of the high-profile organisation set up by the former prime minister in 1991 was formally dissolved at Companies House two days before the general election.}}</ref> She wrote two volumes of memoirs, '']'' (1993) and '']'' (1995). In 1991, she and her husband Denis moved to a house in ], a residential garden square in central London's ] district.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Matthew |date=9 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher's estate still a family secret |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-estate-family-secret |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928211300/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-estate-family-secret |archive-date=28 September 2013 |access-date=14 April 2013 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
Thatcher returned to the backbenches as MP for Finchley for two years after leaving the premiership.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reitan|2003|p=118}}</ref> She retired from the House at the 1992 election, aged 66, saying that leaving the Commons would allow her more freedom to speak her mind.<ref name="lords">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_2523000/2523395.stm |publisher=BBC |title=30 June 1992: Thatcher takes her place in Lords |year=2008 |accessdate=1 November 2008|work=On this day 1950–2005}}</ref>


Thatcher was hired by the tobacco company ] as a "geopolitical consultant" in July 1992 for $250,000 per year and an annual contribution of $250,000 to her foundation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 July 1992 |title=Tobacco Company Hires Margaret Thatcher as Consultant |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-19-mn-4763-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630132953/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-07-19/news/mn-4763_1_margaret-thatcher |archive-date=30 June 2017 |access-date=25 May 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Thatcher earned $50,000 for each speech she delivered.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=John |author-link=John Harris (critic) |date=3 February 2007 |title=Into the void |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/feb/03/past.conservatives?INTCMP=SRCH |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225054519/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/feb/03/past.conservatives?INTCMP=SRCH |archive-date=25 December 2013 |access-date=16 January 2011 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
===Post-Commons===
After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher became the first former Prime Minister to set up a foundation; it closed down in 2005 because of financial difficulties.<ref name="historyandpolicy">{{cite web |url=http://www.historyandpolicy.org/papers/policy-paper-101.html|title=What next for Gordon Brown? |last=Theakston |first=Kevin |date=May 2010 |work=History & Policy|publisher=History & Policy |accessdate=9&nbsp;December 2010}}</ref> She wrote two volumes of memoirs, ''The Downing Street Years'' (1993) and ''The Path to Power'' (1995).


Thatcher became an advocate of ] and ] independence.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 December 1991 |title=TV Interview for HRT (Croatian radiotelevision) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111358 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701055009/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111358 |archive-date=1 July 2011 |access-date=21 March 2011 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> Commenting on the ], in a 1991 interview for ], she was critical of Western governments for not recognising the breakaway republics of Croatia and Slovenia as independent and for not supplying them with arms after the Serbian-led ] attacked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Whitney |first=Craig R. |date=24 November 1991 |title=Thatcher Close to Break With Her Replacement |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5D7123DF937A15752C1A967958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173134/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/24/world/thatcher-close-to-break-with-her-replacement.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=21 March 2011 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> In August 1992, she called for NATO to stop the Serbian assault on ] and ] to end ] during the ], comparing the ] to "the ]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret |date=6 August 1992 |title=Stop the Excuses. Help Bosnia Now |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DE1731F935A3575BC0A964958260&sec=&spon= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173132/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/06/opinion/stop-the-excuses-help-bosnia-now.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=2 December 2007 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
In July 1992 she was hired by the tobacco company ] as a "geopolitical consultant" for $250,000 per year and an annual contribution of $250,000 to her foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1992-07-19/news/mn-4763_1_margaret-thatcher |title=Tobacco Company Hires Margaret Thatcher as Consultant |date=19&nbsp;July 1992 |publisher=LA Times |accessdate=16&nbsp;January 2011}}</ref> She also earned $50,000 a time making speeches.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/feb/03/past.conservatives?INTCMP=SRCH |title=Into the void |date=3&nbsp;February 2007 |accessdate=16&nbsp;January 2011 |last=Harris |first=John |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>


In August 1992 Thatcher called for ] to stop the Serbian assault on ] and ] to end ] during the ]. She compared the situation in Bosnia to "the worst excesses of the ]s", and warned that there could be a "holocaust".<ref>{{cite news |date=6&nbsp;August 1992 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DE1731F935A3575BC0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 |title=Stop the Excuses. Help Bosnia Now|newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=2&nbsp;December 2007 |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret}}</ref> She made a series of speeches in the Lords criticising the ],<ref name="lords"/> describing it as "a treaty too far" and stated "I could never have signed this treaty".<ref>{{cite web |title=House of Lords European Communities (Amendment) Bill Speech |date=7&nbsp;June 1993 |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108314 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=9&nbsp;April 2007}}</ref> She cited ] when stating that as all three main parties were in favour of revisiting the treaty, the people should have their say.<ref>{{cite web |title=House of Commons European Community debate |date=20&nbsp;November 1991 |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108291 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=9&nbsp;April 2007}}</ref> She made a series of speeches in the Lords criticising the ],{{r|lords}} describing it as "a treaty too far" and stated: "I could never have signed this treaty."<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 June 1993 |title=House of Lords European Communities (Amendment) Bill Speech |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108314 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513085456/http://margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108314 |archive-date=13 May 2012 |access-date=9 April 2007 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> She cited ] when arguing that, as all three main parties were in favour of the treaty, the people should have their say in a referendum.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 November 1991 |title=House of Commons European Community debate |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108291 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195136/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108291 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=9 April 2007 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>


Thatcher served as honorary ] in Virginia from 1993 to 2000,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chancellor's Robe |url=http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/chancellor/robe/index.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119054532/http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/chancellor/robe/index.php |archive-date=19 January 2012 |access-date=18 January 2010 |publisher=College of William & Mary}}</ref> while also serving as chancellor of the private ] from 1992 to 1998,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oulton |first=Charles |date=1 October 1992 |title=Thatcher installed as chancellor of private university |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/thatcher-installed-as-chancellor-of-private-university-charles-oulton-reports-on-a-day-of-mixed-emotions-for-the-former-prime-minister-1554652.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128210133/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/thatcher-installed-as-chancellor-of-private-university-charles-oulton-reports-on-a-day-of-mixed-emotions-for-the-former-prime-minister-1554652.html |archive-date=28 January 2012 |access-date=12 January 2010 |work=The Independent}}</ref><ref name="Kealey">{{Cite web |last=Kealey |first=Terence |author-link=Terence Kealey |date=8 April 2013 |title=University mourns death of Lady Thatcher |url=https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/university-mourns-death-of-lady-thatcher |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819022057/https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/latest-news/university-mourns-death-of-lady-thatcher |archive-date=19 August 2013 |access-date=25 May 2017 |publisher=University of Buckingham}}</ref> a university she had formally opened in 1976 as the former education secretary.{{r|Kealey}}
] (left) and ] (centre) at Reagan's funeral.]]


After ]'s ] in 1994, Thatcher praised Blair as "probably the most formidable ] since ]", adding: "I see a lot of socialism behind their front bench, but not in Mr Blair. I think he genuinely has moved."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Castle |first=Stephen |date=28 May 1995 |title=Thatcher praises 'formidable' Blair |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/thatcher-praises-formidable-blair-1621354.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228232439/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/thatcher-praises-formidable-blair-1621354.html |archive-date=28 December 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Independent}}</ref> Blair responded in kind: "She was a thoroughly determined person, and that is an admirable quality."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Woodward |first=Robert |author-link=Bob Woodward |date=15 March 1997 |title=Thatcher seen closer to Blair than Major |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gaZNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6603%2C5897694 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173046/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gaZNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6603%2C5897694 |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=25 May 2017 |work=The Nation |location=London, UK |agency=Reuters}}</ref>
Lady Thatcher was honorary ] of the ] in Virginia (1993–2000)<ref>{{cite web |title=Chancellor's Robe |url=http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/chancellor/robe/index.php |publisher=College of William and Mary |accessdate=18&nbsp;January 2010}}</ref> and also of the ] (1992–1999), the UK's first private university, which she had opened in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thatcher installed as chancellor of private university |date=1&nbsp;October 1992 |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/thatcher-installed-as-chancellor-of-private-university-charles-oulton-reports-on-a-day-of-mixed-emotions-for-the-former-prime-minister-1554652.html |publisher=The Independent |accessdate=12&nbsp;January 2010}}</ref>


In 1998, Thatcher called for the release of former Chilean dictator ] when ] and sought to try him for human rights violations. She cited the help he gave Britain during the Falklands War.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 October 1998 |title=Pinochet&nbsp;– Thatcher's ally |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/198604.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110132525/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/198604.stm |archive-date=10 November 2011 |access-date=15 January 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In 1999, she visited him while he was under house arrest near London.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 March 1999 |title=Thatcher stands by Pinochet |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/304516.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217081915/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/304516.stm |archive-date=17 February 2010 |access-date=15 January 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Pinochet was released in March 2000 on medical grounds by Home Secretary ].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 March 2000 |title=Pinochet set free |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/663170.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016002953/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/663170.stm |archive-date=16 October 2009 |access-date=15 January 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
After ]'s ] in 1994, Thatcher praised Blair in an interview as "probably the most formidable Labour leader since ]. I see a lot of socialism behind their front bench, but not in Mr Blair. I think he genuinely has moved."<ref>{{cite news |last=Castle |first=Stephen |title=Thatcher praises 'formidable' Blair |newspaper=The Independent |date=28&nbsp;May 1995}}</ref>


] in 2001]]
In 1998 Thatcher called for the release of former Chilean dictator ] when Spain ] for human rights violations, citing the help he gave Britain during the Falklands War.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pinochet - Thatcher's ally |date=22 October 1998|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/198604.stm |accessdate=15 January 2010|work=BBC News}}</ref> In 1999 she visited him while he was under house arrest near London.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thatcher stands by Pinochet |date=26 March 1999 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/304516.stm |accessdate=15 January 2010|work=BBC News}}</ref> Pinochet was released in March 2000 on medical grounds by the Home Secretary ], without facing trial.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pinochet set free |date=2 March 2000 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/663170.stm |accessdate=15 January 2010|work=BBC News}}</ref>
At the ], Thatcher supported the Conservative campaign, as she had done in 1992 and 1997, and in the ] following its defeat, she endorsed ] over ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 August 2001 |title=Letter supporting Iain Duncan Smith for the Conservative leadership published in the ''Daily Telegraph'' |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108390 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218065601/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108390 |archive-date=18 February 2012 |access-date=9 April 2007 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> In 2002 she encouraged ] to aggressively tackle the "unfinished business" of Iraq under Saddam Hussein,<ref name="Thatcher NYT">{{Cite news |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret |date=11 February 2002 |title=Advice to a Superpower |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/11/opinion/11THAT.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016012202/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/11/opinion/11THAT.html |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=11 October 2015 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> and praised Blair for his "strong, bold leadership" in standing with Bush in the ].<ref name="Thatcher Blair Iraq">{{Cite news |last=Harnden |first=Toby |author-link=Toby Harnden |date=11 December 2002 |title=Thatcher praises Blair for standing firm with US on Iraq |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/1415788/Thatcher-praises-Blair-for-standing-firm-with-US-on-Iraq.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210913173639/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/1415788/Thatcher-praises-Blair-for-standing-firm-with-US-on-Iraq.html |archive-date=13 September 2021 |access-date=11 October 2015 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>


She broached the same subject in her '']'', which was published in April 2002 and dedicated to Ronald Reagan, writing that there would be no peace in the Middle East until ] was toppled. Her book also said that Israel must trade ] and that the European Union (EU) was a "fundamentally unreformable", "classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure".{{sfnp|Glover|Economides|2010|page=20}} She argued that Britain should renegotiate its terms of membership or else ] and join the ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Wintour |date=18 March 2002 |title=Britain must quit EU, says Thatcher |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/mar/18/uk.eu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512213313/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/mar/18/uk.eu |archive-date=12 May 2014 |access-date=8 May 2014 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>
In the ] she supported the Conservative general election campaign, but did not endorse ] as she had done for John Major and William Hague. In the ] shortly after, she supported Smith over Kenneth Clarke.<ref>{{cite web |title=Letter supporting Iain Duncan Smith for the Conservative leadership published in the ''Daily Telegraph'' |date=21&nbsp;August 2001 |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108390 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=9&nbsp;April 2007}}</ref>


Following several small strokes, her doctors advised her not to engage in further public speaking.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Statement from the office of the Rt Hon Baroness Thatcher LG OM FRS |date=22 March 2002 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=109305 |access-date=9 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007032938/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=109305 |archive-date=7 October 2008}}</ref> In March 2002 she announced that, on doctors' advice, she would cancel all planned speaking engagements and accept no more.{{sfnp|Campbell|2003|pp=796–798}}
In March 2002 her book '']'', dedicated to Ronald Reagan, was released. In it, she claimed there would be no peace in the Middle East until Saddam Hussein was toppled and said if he was found to be involved in the attacks on 11 September 2001, war was right. She also said Israel must trade land for peace as part of an equitable settlement. She wrote that the European Union was "fundamentally unreformable" and "a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure". She argued that Britain should renegotiate its terms of membership or else leave the EU and join the ]. The book was serialised in ''The Times'' on 18 March. On 23 March she announced that on the advice of her doctors she would cancel all planned speaking engagements and accept no more.<ref>{{Harvnb|Campbell|2003|pp=796–798}}</ref>


{{quote box
===Since 2003===
|title = Extract from '']''
Sir Denis Thatcher died on 26 June 2003 and was cremated on 3 July.<ref>{{cite news|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3041546.stm|title=Lady Thatcher bids Denis farewell|date=3 July 2003|accessdate=20 January 2011}}</ref> She had paid tribute to him in ''The Downing Street Years'', writing "Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be: you cannot lead from the crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend".<ref>{{Harvnb|Thatcher|1993|p=23}}</ref>
|quote = <q>Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be: you cannot lead from the crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend.</q>
|author = {{harvtxt|Thatcher|1993|p=23}}
|align = right
|salign = right
|width = 25em
|bgcolor= whitesmoke
}}


On 26&nbsp;June 2003, Thatcher's husband, Sir Denis, died aged 88;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tempest |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Tempest |date=26 June 2003 |title=Sir Denis Thatcher dies aged 88 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/26/obituaries.politics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808194009/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jun/26/obituaries.politics |archive-date=8 August 2017 |access-date=8 August 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> his body was cremated on 3&nbsp;July at ] in London.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 July 2003 |title=Lady Thatcher bids Denis farewell |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3041546.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808195919/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3041546.stm |archive-date=8 August 2017 |access-date=20 January 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
On 11 June 2004 Thatcher attended the state funeral service for former US President Ronald Reagan.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Thatcher: 'Reagan's life was providential' |publisher=CNN |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008|date=11&nbsp;June 2004 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/11/thatcher.transcript/}}</ref> She delivered her ] via videotape; in view of her failing mental faculties following several small strokes, the message had been pre-recorded several months earlier.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thatcher's final visit to Reagan |accessdate=1 November 2008 |date=10 June 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3793565.stm|work=BBC News}}</ref> Thatcher then flew to California with the Reagan entourage, and attended the memorial service and interment ceremony for the president at the ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3800315.stm |accessdate=1 November 2008|date=12 June 2004 |title=Private burial for Ronald Reagan|work=BBC News}}</ref>


===Final years (2003–2013)===
], pictured with ] and his wife]]
]
Thatcher marked her 80th birthday with a celebration at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, London on 13&nbsp;October 2005, where the guests included the Queen, ], ] and Tony Blair.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4329132.stm |title=Thatcher marks 80th with a speech |accessdate=1 November 2008 |date=13 October 2005 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Also present was Geoffrey Howe, then Lord Howe of Aberavon, who said of his former boss: "Her real triumph was to have transformed not just one party but two, so that when Labour did eventually return, the great bulk of Thatcherism was accepted as irreversible."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4337404.stm |accessdate=1 November 2008 |date=13 October 2005 |title=Birthday tributes to Thatcher|work=BBC News}}</ref>
On 11&nbsp;June 2004, Thatcher (against doctors' orders) attended the ].<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 June 2004 |title=Thatcher: 'Reagan's life was providential' |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/11/thatcher.transcript |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109022946/http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/11/thatcher.transcript/ |archive-date=9 November 2017 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> She delivered her eulogy via videotape; in view of her health, the message had been pre-recorded several months earlier.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 June 2004 |title=Thatcher's final visit to Reagan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3793565.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330090938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3793565.stm |archive-date=30 March 2012 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Russell |first1=Alec |author-link1=Alec Russell |last2=Sparrow |first2=Andrew |name-list-style=amp |date=7 June 2004 |title=Thatcher's taped eulogy at Reagan funeral |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1463874/Thatchers-taped-eulogy-at-Reagan-funeral.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707040239/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1463874/Thatchers-taped-eulogy-at-Reagan-funeral.html |archive-date=7 July 2016 |access-date=18 July 2016 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Thatcher flew to California with the Reagan entourage, and attended the memorial service and interment ceremony for the president at the ].<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 2004 |title=Private burial for Ronald Reagan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3800315.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016022432/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3800315.stm |archive-date=16 October 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>


In 2005, Thatcher criticised how Blair had decided to ] two years previously. Although she still supported the intervention to topple Saddam Hussein, she said that (as a scientist) she would always look for "facts, evidence and proof" before committing the armed forces.{{r|grice}} She celebrated her 80th birthday on 13&nbsp;October at the ] in ]; guests included the Queen, the ], ] and Tony Blair.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2005 |title=Thatcher marks 80th with a speech |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4329132.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208082439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4329132.stm |archive-date=8 February 2009 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> ], was also in attendance and said of his former leader: "Her real triumph was to have transformed not just one party but two, so that when Labour did eventually return, the great bulk of Thatcherism was accepted as irreversible."<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2005 |title=Birthday tributes to Thatcher |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4337404.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112154711/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4337404.stm |archive-date=12 November 2006 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
In 2006 Thatcher attended the official Washington, D.C. memorial service to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the ] on the US. She was a guest of the Vice President, ], and met with Secretary of State ] during her visit.<ref>{{cite web |title=9/11 Remembrance Honors Victims from More Than 90 Countries |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008 |publisher=United States Department of State |date=11&nbsp;September 2006 |url=http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/2006/06-334EN.shtml}}</ref>


{{multiple image
In February 2007 she became the first living Prime Minister of the UK to be honoured with a statue in the Houses of Parliament. The bronze statue stands opposite that of her political hero, Sir ],<ref name="bronze"/> and was unveiled on 21&nbsp;February 2007 with Lady Thatcher in attendance; she made a rare and brief speech in the members' lobby of the House of Commons, responding: "I might have preferred iron&nbsp;– but bronze will do&nbsp;... It won't rust."<ref name="bronze">{{cite news |date=21 February 2007 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6384029.stm |title=Iron Lady is honoured in bronze |accessdate=9 April 2007|work=BBC News}}</ref> The statue shows her addressing the House of Commons, with her right arm outstretched.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/2/21/195931.shtml?s=ic |title=Statue of Margaret Thatcher Unveiled |agency=Associated Press |date=21&nbsp;February 2007 |accessdate=1&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref>
|align=right
|direction=vertical
|title=In the US, 2006
|image1=Thatcher 2006 September 11 event.jpg
|alt1=Thatcher standing with Dick and Lynne Cheney
|caption1=Thatcher (''left''{{--)}} at a Washington memorial service on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
|image2=Margaret Thatcher 060912-F-0193C-006.jpg
|alt2=Thatcher sharing a laugh with Donald Rumsfeld and Peter Pace
|caption2=With ] and ] at the Pentagon
}}
In 2006, Thatcher attended the ] to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the ] on the US. She was a guest of Vice&nbsp;President ] and met Secretary of State ] during her visit.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2006 |title=9/11 Remembrance Honors Victims from More Than 90 Countries |url=http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/2006/06-334EN.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922193936/http://montevideo.usembassy.gov/usaweb/paginas/2006/06-334EN.shtml |archive-date=22 September 2006 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=US Department of State}}</ref> In February 2007 Thatcher became the first living British prime minister to be honoured with ] in the ]. The bronze statue stood opposite ],{{r|bronze}} and was unveiled on 21&nbsp;February 2007 with Thatcher in attendance; she remarked in the ] of the Commons: "I might have preferred iron – but bronze will do It won't rust."<ref name="bronze">{{Cite news |date=21 February 2007 |title=Iron Lady is honoured in bronze |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6384029.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307201021/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6384029.stm |archive-date=7 March 2009 |access-date=9 April 2007 |work=BBC News}}</ref>


Thatcher was a public supporter of the ] and the resulting Prague Process and sent a public letter of support to its preceding conference.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism |date=9 June 2008 |publisher=] |url=http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/media/article.php?article=3850 |access-date=24 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518124148/http://victimsofcommunism.org/media/article.php?article=3850 |archive-date=18 May 2011}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=October 2024}}
Lady Thatcher was invited back to 10 Downing Street in late November 2009 to attend the unveiling of an official portrait by the artist Richard Stone,<ref name=ThatcherReturns>{{cite news |title=Margaret Thatcher returns to Downing Street |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=23&nbsp;November 2009 |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6636644/Margaret-Thatcher-returns-to-Downing-Street.html |accessdate=23&nbsp;November 2009}}</ref> an unusual honour for a living ex-Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite news |title=Brown bans cameras from No10 portrait unveiling&nbsp;... |newspaper=Daily Mail |date=23&nbsp;November 2009 |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229921/Brown-bans-cameras-No10-portrait-unveiling--After-Thatcher-win-votes.html |accessdate=23&nbsp;November 2009 |first1=Simon |last1=Walters |first2=Glen |last2=Owen}}</ref> Stone had previously painted portraits of the Queen and the Queen Mother.<ref name=ThatcherReturns/>


After collapsing at a ] dinner, Thatcher, suffering ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Charles |date=9 March 2008 |title=Thatcher risks becoming a national treasure |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581197/Thatcher-risks-becoming-a-national-treasure.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020135223/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1581197/Thatcher-risks-becoming-a-national-treasure.html |archive-date=20 October 2017 |access-date=31 May 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> was admitted to ] in central London on 7&nbsp;March 2008 for tests. In 2009 she was hospitalised again when she fell and broke her arm.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 June 2009 |title=Lady Thatcher treated after fall |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8097018.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173140/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8097018.stm |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=20 April 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Thatcher returned to 10 Downing Street in late November 2009 for the unveiling of ] by artist ],<ref name="ThatcherReturns">{{Cite news |date=23 November 2009 |title=Margaret Thatcher returns to Downing Street |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6636644/Margaret-Thatcher-returns-to-Downing-Street.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126182445/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6636644/Margaret-Thatcher-returns-to-Downing-Street.html |archive-date=26 November 2009 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> an unusual honour for a living former prime minister. Stone was previously commissioned to paint portraits of the Queen and ].{{r|ThatcherReturns}}
Thatcher suffered several small strokes in 2002 and was advised by her doctors not to engage in any more public speaking.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Statement from the office of the Rt Hon Baroness Thatcher LG OM FRS |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |date=22&nbsp;March 2002|url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=109305 |accessdate=9&nbsp;November 2008}}</ref> After collapsing at a House of Lords dinner, she was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in central London on 7&nbsp;March 2008 for tests.<ref name="ill08">{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-528755/Immaculate-Baroness-Thatcher-leaves-hospital-collapsing-fruit-jelly.html |title=Immaculate as ever, Baroness Thatcher leaves hospital after collapsing over the fruit jelly |accessdate=9&nbsp;November 2008 |date=8&nbsp;March 2008 |last=Walters |first=Simon |newspaper=The Daily Mail}}</ref> Her daughter Carol has recounted ongoing memory loss.<ref name="dem-cbs">{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/25/health/main4380977.shtml|title=Book Recounts Margaret Thatcher's Decline |accessdate=20&nbsp;November 2008 |date=25&nbsp;August 2008 |publisher=CBS |agency=Associated Press|author=Satter, Raphael G}}</ref> In November 2009, a text message from the ] about the death of a pet cat called 'Thatcher' almost caused a diplomatic incident.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8358544.stm |title='Thatcher dead' text sparks fears|accessdate=13 November 2009|date=13 November 2009|work=BBC News}}</ref>


On 4&nbsp;July 2011, Thatcher was to attend a ceremony for the unveiling of a {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}} statue of Ronald Reagan outside the ], but was unable to attend due to her frail health.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 July 2011 |title=Ronald Reagan statue unveiled at US Embassy in London |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14009137 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111215743/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14009137 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> She last attended a sitting of the House of Lords on 19&nbsp;July 2010,{{sfnp|''Journals of the House of Lords''|2012|ps=, <q>Thatcher, B.</q>}} and on 30&nbsp;July 2011 it was announced that her office in the Lords had been closed.<ref name=telegraph8671195>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Tim |date=30 July 2011 |title=Baroness Thatcher's office is closed |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8671195/Baroness-Thatchers-office-is-closed.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110731185910/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8671195/Baroness-Thatchers-office-is-closed.html |archive-date=31 July 2011 |access-date=21 August 2011 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Earlier that month, Thatcher was named the most competent prime minister of the past 30 years in an ] poll.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stacey |first=Kiran |date=3 July 2011 |title=Thatcher heads poll of most competent PMs |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4e23a0c-a3f9-11e0-8b4f-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712002740/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d4e23a0c-a3f9-11e0-8b4f-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=12 July 2012 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>
At the Conservative Party conference in 2010, the new Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he would invite Lady Thatcher back to 10 Downing Street on her 85th birthday for a party to be attended by past and present ministers. Lady Thatcher was forced to pull out of the celebration at the last minute after being taken ill with a bout of flu.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/14/lady-thatcher-pulls-out-85th-birthday-party-no-10 |title=Lady Thatcher pulls out of 85th birthday party at No 10 for health reasons |accessdate=16 October 2010 |date=14 October 2010 |newspaper=guardian.co.uk|agency=Press Association|location=London|publisher=Guardian News and Media}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11579988|title=BBC News&nbsp;–Baroness Thatcher admitted to hospital |date=19&nbsp;October 2010 |work=] |publisher=BBC |accessdate=19&nbsp;October 2010}}</ref>

Thatcher's daughter Carol ] that her mother had ] in 2005,{{r|Langley}} saying "Mum doesn't read much any more because of her memory loss". In her 2008 memoir, Carol wrote that her mother "could hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end".<ref name="Langley">{{Cite news |last=Langley |first=William |date=30 August 2008 |title=Carol Thatcher, daughter of the revolution |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2652365/Profile-Carol-Thatcher-daughter-of-the-revolution.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112112840/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/profiles/2652365/Profile-Carol-Thatcher-daughter-of-the-revolution.html |archive-date=12 November 2012 |access-date=11 February 2013 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> She later recounted how she was first struck by her mother's dementia when, in conversation, Thatcher confused the Falklands and Yugoslav conflicts; she recalled the pain of needing to tell her mother repeatedly that her husband Denis was dead.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Francis |date=25 August 2008 |title=Margaret Thatcher's struggle with dementia revealed in daughter's memoir |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111317 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531035605/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111317 |archive-date=31 May 2017 |access-date=7 July 2017 |work=The Times |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>

===Death and funeral (2013)===
{{Main|Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher}}
{{multiple image
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|image1=Margaret Thatcher coffin at St. Pauls X8A2604.jpg
|alt1=photograph
|caption1=Thatcher's coffin being carried up the steps of ]
|image2=MTgrave1.jpeg
|alt2=photograph
|caption2=Plaques on the graves of Margaret and Denis Thatcher at the ]
}}

<!--Please add tributes from around the world to ] rather than this article-->
Thatcher died on 8&nbsp;April 2013, at the age of 87, after suffering a stroke. She had been staying at a suite in ] in London since December 2012 after having difficulty with stairs at her Chester Square home in Belgravia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swinford |first=Steven |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: final moments in hotel without her family by her bedside |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9980269/Margaret-Thatcher-final-moments-in-hotel-without-her-family-by-her-bedside.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130113809/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9980269/Margaret-Thatcher-final-moments-in-hotel-without-her-family-by-her-bedside.html |archive-date=30 November 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Her death certificate listed the primary causes of death as a "cerebrovascular accident" and "repeated ]";<ref name="Mason">{{Cite news |last=Mason |first=Rowena |date=16 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher described as 'retired stateswoman' on death certificate |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9997368/Margaret-Thatcher-described-as-retired-stateswoman-on-death-certificate.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419013555/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9997368/Margaret-Thatcher-described-as-retired-stateswoman-on-death-certificate.html |archive-date=19 April 2013 |access-date=11 January 2021 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> secondary causes were listed as a "] of the bladder" and dementia.{{r|Mason}}

] were mixed across the UK, ranging from tributes lauding her as Britain's greatest-ever peacetime prime minister to public celebrations of her death and expressions of hatred and personalised vitriol.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Burns |first1=John F. |author-link1=John Fisher Burns |last2=Cowell |first2=Alan |author-link2=Alan Cowell |name-list-style=amp |date=10 April 2013 |title=Parliament Debates Thatcher Legacy, as Vitriol Flows Online and in Streets |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/world/europe/british-lawmakers-margaret-thatcher-legacy.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420131956/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/world/europe/british-lawmakers-margaret-thatcher-legacy.html |archive-date=20 April 2013 |access-date=25 April 2013 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Details of Thatcher's funeral had been agreed upon with her in advance.<ref name="Independent, 12 April 2013">{{Cite news |last=Wright |first=Oliver |date=8 April 2013 |title=Funeral will be a 'ceremonial' service in line with Baroness Thatcher's wishes |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/funeral-will-be-a-ceremonial-service-in-line-with-baroness-thatchers-wishes-8565093.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412095123/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/funeral-will-be-a-ceremonial-service-in-line-with-baroness-thatchers-wishes-8565093.html |archive-date=12 April 2013 |access-date=12 April 2013 |work=The Independent}}</ref> She received a ], including full military honours, with a church service at ] on 17&nbsp;April.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=Ex-Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher dies, aged 87 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22067155 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031074659/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22067155 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="BBC News, 9 April 2013">{{Cite news |date=9 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher funeral set for next week |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22079749 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021081324/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22079749 |archive-date=21 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended her funeral,<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: Queen leads mourners at funeral |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22177366 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504194758/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22177366 |archive-date=4 May 2013 |access-date=4 May 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref> marking only the second and final time in the Queen's reign that she attended the funeral of any of ], after ], who received a ] in 1965.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=10 April 2013 |title=Queen made personal decision to attend Lady Thatcher's funeral |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/10/queen-decision-lady-thatcher-funeral |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109155827/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/10/queen-decision-lady-thatcher-funeral |archive-date=9 November 2013 |access-date=3 May 2013 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

After the service at St&nbsp;Paul's, Thatcher's body was cremated at Mortlake, where her husband's had been cremated. On 28&nbsp;September, a service for Thatcher was held in the All Saints Chapel of the ]'s Margaret Thatcher Infirmary. In a private ceremony, Thatcher's ashes were interred in the hospital's grounds, next to her husband's.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 September 2013 |title=Baroness Thatcher's ashes laid to rest |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10341402/Baroness-Thatchers-ashes-laid-to-rest.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413185023/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/10341402/Baroness-Thatchers-ashes-laid-to-rest.html |archive-date=13 April 2019 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref><ref name="BBC-intere">{{Cite news |date=28 September 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher's ashes laid to rest at Royal Hospital Chelsea |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24316701 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924105909/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24316701 |archive-date=24 September 2017 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref>


==Legacy== ==Legacy==

===Political impact===
{{Thatcherism}} {{Thatcherism}}
Thatcher remains identified with her remarks to the reporter Douglas Keay, for '']'' magazine in September 1987:


Thatcherism represented a systematic and decisive overhaul of the ], whereby the major political parties largely agreed on the central themes of ], the ], nationalised industry, and close regulation of the economy, and high taxes. Thatcher generally supported the welfare state while proposing to rid it of abuses.{{refn|{{harvtxt|Moore|2013|p=87}}: <q>Neither at the beginning of her career nor when she was prime minister, did Margaret Thatcher ever reject the wartime foundations of the welfare state, whether in health, social policy or education. In this she was less radical than her critics or some of her admirers supposed. Her concern was to focus more on abuse of the system, on bureaucracy and union militancy, and on the growth of what later came to be called the dependency culture, rather than on the system itself.</q>|group=nb}}
{{quote|I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand "I have a problem, it is the Government's job to cope with it!" or "I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!" "I am homeless, the Government must house me!" and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour and life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interview for Woman's Own ("no such thing as society") with journalist Douglas Keay |date=23&nbsp;September 1987 |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |accessdate=10&nbsp;April 2007}}</ref>}}


She promised in 1982 that the highly popular ] was "safe in our hands".{{sfnp|Klein|1985}} At first, she ignored the question of privatising nationalised industries; heavily influenced by right-wing think tanks, and especially by ],{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=358}} Thatcher broadened her attack. Thatcherism came to refer to her policies as well as aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including ], ], ], and an uncompromising approach to achieving political goals.<ref name="eb">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Margaret Thatcher profile |encyclopedia=] |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590098/Margaret-Thatcher |access-date=30 October 2008 |last=Young |first=Hugo |date=n.d. |author-link=Hugo Young |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031211708/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590098/Margaret-Thatcher |archive-date=31 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bootle |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Bootle |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: the economic achievements and legacy of Thatcherism |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9979362/Margaret-Thatcher-the-economic-achievements-and-legacy-of-Thatcherism.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704110154/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9979362/Margaret-Thatcher-the-economic-achievements-and-legacy-of-Thatcherism.html |archive-date=4 July 2017 |access-date=24 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>{{refn|{{harvtxt|Lawson|1992|p=64}} lists the Thatcherite ideals as "a mixture of free markets, financial discipline, firm control over public expenditure, tax cuts, nationalism, 'Victorian values' (of the ] self-help variety), privatisation and a dash of populism".|group=nb}}
To her supporters, Margaret Thatcher remains a figure who revitalised Britain's economy, impacted the trade unions, and re-established the nation as a world power.<ref name="legacy-bbc">{{cite news |title=Evaluating Thatcher's legacy |date=4 May 2004 |accessdate=1 November 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3681973.stm|work=BBC News}}</ref> She oversaw an increase from 7% to 25% of adults owning shares, and more than a million families bought their council houses, giving an increase from 55% to 67% in owner-occupiers. Total personal wealth rose by 80%.<ref>{{Harvnb|Marr|2007|p=430}}</ref>


Thatcher defined her political philosophy, in a major and controversial break with the ]{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|pages=530–532}} of her predecessor Edward Heath, in a 1987 interview published in '']'' magazine:
Andy Beckett has commented that social mobility declined under Thatcher, and inequality increased.{{#tag:ref|"Authorities on poverty rates and income distributions differ as to precisely when the optimum moment of equality in Britain came, but some statistics leap out. The ], a common measure of income inequality, reached its lowest level for British households in 1977. The proportion of individual Britons below the poverty line did the same in 1978. Social mobility, the likelihood of someone becoming part of a different class from their parents, peaked in the Callaghan era. The egalitarian Britain of the Callaghan years and its social trends were relentlessly reversed in the Thatcher years and beyond, so that Britain in the 1970s was probably more equal than it had ever been before, and certainly more than it has ever been since."<ref>{{Harvnb|Beckett|2010|pp=409–10}}</ref>|group=nb}} Thatcher's premiership was also marked by high unemployment and social unrest,<ref name="legacy-bbc"/> and many critics fault her economic policies for the unemployment level.<ref>{{Harvnb|Richards|2004|p=63}}</ref> Speaking in Scotland in April 2009, before the 30th anniversary of her election as Prime Minister, Thatcher declared: "I regret nothing", and insisted she "was right to introduce the poll tax and to close loss-making industries to end the country's 'dependency culture{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thatcher: I did right by Scots; Thatcher: I regret nothing.(News) |newspaper=Sunday Times |date=26&nbsp;April 2009 |page=1}}</ref>


{{blockquote|I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand "I have a problem, it is the Government's job to cope with it!" or "I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!" "I am homeless, the Government must house me!" and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour and life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 September 1987 |title=Interview for ''Woman's Own'' ('no such thing as society') with journalist Douglas Keay |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427052051/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 |archive-date=27 April 2006 |access-date=10 April 2007 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>}}
She often referred after the war to the "Falklands Spirit"; Hastings and Jenkins (1983) suggested that this reflected her preference for the streamlined decision-making of her ] over the painstaking deal-making of peace-time ].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hastings and Jenkins|1983|p=329}}</ref>


====Overview====
Critics have regretted her influence in the abandonment of ], poverty reduction and a consensual civility as bedrock policy objectives. Many recent biographers have been critical of aspects of the Thatcher years and ], writing in '']'' in February 2009, challenged the view that her reforms had brought a net benefit.<ref>"Who was it who first removed the seat belts and airbags from the safe-but-boring Volvo that the West built after 1945? 'Her freer, more promiscuous version of capitalism' in ]'s phrase is reaping a darker harvest." Michael White "The Making of Maggie" ''New Statesman'' 26 February 2009</ref>
The number of adults owning shares rose from 7 per cent to 25 per cent during her tenure, and more than a million families bought their council houses, increasing from 55 per cent to 67 per cent in ]s from 1979 to 1990. The houses were sold at a discount of 33–55 per cent, leading to large profits for some new owners. Personal wealth rose by 80 per cent in real terms during the 1980s, mainly due to rising house prices and increased earnings. Shares in the privatised utilities were sold below their market value to ensure quick and wide sales rather than maximise national income.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=430}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 April 2013 |title=What is Thatcherism? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22079683 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811054456/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22079683 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref>


The "Thatcher years" were also marked by periods of high unemployment and social unrest,<ref name="legacy-bbc">{{Cite news |date=4 May 2004 |title=Evaluating Thatcher's legacy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3681973.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209115746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3681973.stm |archive-date=9 February 2009 |access-date=11 April 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 April 2013 |title=The Thatcher years in statistics |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22070491 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224070722/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22070491 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and many critics on the left of the political spectrum fault her economic policies for the unemployment level; many of the areas affected by mass unemployment as well as her monetarist economic policies remained blighted for decades, by such social problems as ] and family breakdown.{{sfnp|Richards|2004|p=63}} Unemployment did not fall below its May 1979 level during her tenure,<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: How the economy changed |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22073527 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014025026/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22073527 |archive-date=14 October 2016 |access-date=5 November 2016 |work=BBC News}}</ref> only falling below its April 1979 level in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Denman |first1=James |last2=McDonald |first2=Paul |name-list-style=amp |date=January 1996 |title=Unemployment statistics from 1881 to the present day |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-trends--discontinued-/january-1996/unemployment-since-1881.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925103339/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-trends--discontinued-/january-1996/unemployment-since-1881.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=16 May 2017 |publisher=] |page=7}}</ref> The long-term effects of her policies on manufacturing remain contentious.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 April 2013 |title=Industrialists split over Thatcher legacy |url=https://www.ft.com/content/959ebdda-a2cf-11e2-bd45-00144feabdc0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210912185844/https://www.ft.com/content/959ebdda-a2cf-11e2-bd45-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=12 September 2021 |access-date=13 November 2016 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|page=79}}
The term "]" came to refer to her policies as well as aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including ], ], interest in the individual, and an uncompromising approach to achieving political goals.<ref name="EB"/> Thatcher and Thatcherism remain potent bywords in British political parlance, with both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown defining policies in post-Thatcherite terms, and ] saying after a dinner with Thatcher in February 2009: "You have got to do the right thing even if it is painful. Don't trim or track all over the place. Set your course and take the difficult decisions because that is what needs to be done&nbsp;... I think that influence, that character she had, that conviction she had, I think that will be very important."<ref>{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.economist.com/node/13570177|title=Thatcher's Britain: Passing the Baton|work=The Economist|date=30&nbsp;April 2009|accessdate=16&nbsp;January 2011}}</ref>


Speaking in Scotland in 2009, Thatcher insisted she had no regrets and was right to introduce the poll tax and withdraw subsidies from "outdated industries, whose markets were in terminal decline", subsidies that created "the culture of dependency, which had done such damage to Britain".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allardyce |first=Jason |date=26 April 2009 |title=Margaret Thatcher: I did right by Scots |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/margaret-thatcher-i-did-right-by-scots-bwjjcdbwbx9 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210912185513/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/margaret-thatcher-i-did-right-by-scots-bwjjcdbwbx9 |archive-date=12 September 2021 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Sunday Times}}</ref> Political economist ] termed the neoliberal financial growth model "casino capitalism", reflecting her view that speculation and financial trading were becoming more important to the economy than industry.{{sfnp|Gamble|2009|p=16}}
Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister was the longest since that of ], and the longest continuous period in office since ] in the early 19th century.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web |last=HM Government| first= |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1953/press.html |title=Margaret Thatcher, 10 Downing Street |accessdate=5&nbsp;January 2008}}</ref>


Critics on the left describe her as divisive<ref name="greatestpm">{{Cite news |date=16 September 2008 |title=Who has been UK's greatest post-war PM? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7593554.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906000712/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7593554.stm |archive-date=6 September 2017 |access-date=16 April 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and say she condoned greed and selfishness.{{r|legacy-bbc}} Leading Welsh politician ],<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: A 'Marmite' prime minister, says Rhodri Morgan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22072074 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609081401/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22072074 |archive-date=9 June 2013 |access-date=11 April 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> among others,{{sfnmp|1a1=West|1y=2012|1p=176|2a1=Blundell|2y=2013|2p=88}} characterised Thatcher as a "]" figure. Journalist ], writing in the aftermath of the ], challenged the view that her reforms were still a net benefit.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=White |first=Michael |date=26 February 2009 |title=The making of Maggie |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2009/02/margaret-thatcher-british |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412061634/http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2009/02/margaret-thatcher-british |archive-date=12 April 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 |magazine=New Statesman |quote=Her 'freer, more promiscuous version of capitalism' (in Hugo Young's phrase) is reaping a darker harvest.}}</ref> Others consider her approach to have been "a mixed bag"{{sfnp|Rothbard|1995|loc=chpt. 63}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Reenen |first=John |author-link=John Van Reenen (economist) |date=10 April 2013 |title=The economic legacy of Mrs. Thatcher is a mixed bag |url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-economic-legacy-of-mrs-thatcher-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412061433/http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-economic-legacy-of-mrs-thatcher-2/ |archive-date=12 April 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 |publisher=]}}</ref> and "{{interp|a}} ]".{{sfnp|Johnson|1991|loc=chpt. 8}}
===Honours===
Thatcher became a ] (PC) upon becoming Secretary of State for Education and Science in 1970;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gay |first1=O. |last2=Rees |first2=A. |title=The Privy Council |journal=House of Commons Library Standard Note|id= SN/PC/2708 |year=2005 |url=http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-3708.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=27&nbsp;February 2009}} {{Dead link|date=November 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> she is also a ] (OM),<ref name="OMBarontecy">{{London Gazette |issue=52360 |startpage=19066 |date=11&nbsp;December 1990 |accessdate=28&nbsp;February 2008}}</ref> a ] (FRS), and the first woman entitled to full membership rights as an honorary member of the ], a ].


Thatcher did "little to advance the political cause of women" within her party or the government.{{sfnp|Evans|2004|p=25}} Some ] regarded her as "an enemy".{{sfnp|Burns|2009|p=234}} ] in '']'' says that, although Thatcher had struggled laboriously against the sexist prejudices of her day to rise to the top, she made no effort to ease the path for other women.{{sfnp|Purvis|2013}} Thatcher did not regard ] as requiring particular attention as she did not, especially during her premiership, consider that women were being deprived of their rights. She had once suggested the shortlisting of women by default for all public appointments and proposed that those with young children should leave the workforce.{{sfnp|Gelb|1989|pages=58–59}}
], 1991]]
She became a peer in the House of Lords in 1992 with a ] as ''Baroness Thatcher'' of ] in the County of Lincolnshire.<ref name="lords"/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52943 |supp=yes |startpage=1 |date=5&nbsp;June 1992 |accessdate=28&nbsp;February 2008}} See also: {{London Gazette|issue=52978|startpage=11045|date=1 July 1992 |accessdate=28&nbsp;February 2008}}</ref> In 1995, she was appointed a Lady Companion of the ], the UK's highest order of ].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54017 |startpage=6023 |date=25&nbsp;April 1995 |accessdate=28&nbsp;February 2008}}</ref>


<!-- Please keep text relating to immigration in one paragraph. Discuss at talk if you would prefer to have this paragraph reduced. -->
In the Falkland Islands, Margaret Thatcher Day has been marked every 10&nbsp;January since 1992,<ref name="Reuters-January">"Falklands to make 10 January Thatcher Day&nbsp;– Newspaper", ''Reuters News'' (6 January 1992).</ref> commemorating her visit in 1983.<ref>Wheeler, Tony (2004), p. 171</ref><ref>Pat Roller, "Off the Record", ''Scottish Daily Record'' (10 January 2004), p. 10</ref> Thatcher Drive in ] is named for her, as is ] in ], where the task force troops first set foot on the Falklands.<ref name="Reuters-January"/>
Thatcher's stance on ] in the late 1970s was perceived as part of a rising racist public discourse,{{sfnp|Witte|2014|page=54}} which ] terms "]".{{sfnmp|Barker|1981|Chin|2009|2p=92}} In opposition, Thatcher believed that the National Front (NF) was winning over large numbers of Conservative voters with warnings against floods of immigrants. Her strategy was to undermine the NF narrative by acknowledging that many of ] had serious concerns in need of addressing. In 1978 she criticised Labour's immigration policy to attract voters away from the NF to the Conservatives.{{sfnp|Witte|2014|pages=53–54}} Her rhetoric was followed by increased Conservative support at the expense of the NF. Critics on the left accused her of ] to racism.{{sfnp|Friedman|2006|page=13}}{{refn|group=nb|{{harvtxt|Mitchell|Russell|1989}} posits that she had been misinterpreted and that ] was never a focus of Thatcherism. By the 1980s, both the Conservatives and Labour had taken similar positions on immigration policy;{{sfnmp|1a1=Ward|1y=2004|1p=128|2a1=Vinen|2y=2009|2pp=227, 279}} the ] was passed with cross-party support.{{sfnp|Hansen|2000|pages=207–208}} There were no policies passed or proposed by ministers to restrict legal immigration, nor would Thatcher highlight the subject of race in any of her later remarks.{{sfnp|Anwar|2001}}}}


Many Thatcherite policies influenced the Labour Party,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kampfner |first=John |author-link=John Kampfner |date=17 April 2008 |title=Margaret Thatcher, inspiration to New Labour |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/themargaretthatcheryears/1895878/Margaret-Thatcher-inspiration-to-New-Labour.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019082215/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/themargaretthatcheryears/1895878/Margaret-Thatcher-inspiration-to-New-Labour.html |archive-date=19 October 2018 |access-date=12 May 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>{{sfnp|Seldon|2007|page=14}} which returned to power in 1997 under Tony Blair. Blair rebranded the party "]" in 1994 with the aim of increasing its appeal beyond its traditional supporters,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Assinder |first=Nick |date=10 May 2007 |title=How Blair recreated Labour |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6129844.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312022307/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6129844.stm |archive-date=12 March 2017 |access-date=18 May 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and to attract those who had supported Thatcher, such as the "]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Jodie |date=30 March 2015 |title='Essex Man' 2015: Does the Thatcher-era stereotype still pack a political punch? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-31868550 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314025416/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-31868550 |archive-date=14 March 2017 |access-date=17 May 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Thatcher is said to have regarded the "New Labour" rebranding as her greatest achievement.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=McSmith |first1=Andy |author-link1=Andy McSmith |last2=Chu |first2=Ben |last3=Garner |first3=Richard |name-list-style=amp |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher's legacy: Spilt milk, New Labour, and the Big Bang – she changed everything |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatchers-legacy-spilt-milk-new-labour-and-the-big-bang-she-changed-everything-8564541.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230231827/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatchers-legacy-spilt-milk-new-labour-and-the-big-bang-she-changed-everything-8564541.html |archive-date=30 December 2016 |access-date=30 December 2016 |work=The Independent}}</ref> In contrast to Blair, the Conservative Party under ] attempted to distance himself and the party from Thatcher's economic policies in an attempt to gain public approval.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=790}}
Thatcher has been awarded the ], the highest civilian honour awarded by the US; the ], and the ]. She is a patron of the ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritage.org/About/Departments/trustees.cfm |title=Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees |publisher=heritage.org |accessdate=14&nbsp;June 2008}}</ref> which established the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title=Honoring the Iron Lady |author=Ileana Ros-Lehtinen |newspaper=The Washington Times |date=13&nbsp;September 2005}}</ref>


<!-- Please keep text relating to devolution in one paragraph. Discuss at talk if you would prefer to have this paragraph reduced. -->
===Media depictions===
Shortly after Thatcher died in 2013, Scottish first minister ] argued that her policies had the "unintended consequence" of encouraging Scottish devolution.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dinwoodie |first=Robbie |date=9 April 2013 |title=First Minister: Her policies made Scots believe that devolution was essential |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/political-news/first-minister-her-policies-made-scots-believe-that-devolution-was-essential.20640632 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109215642/http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/political-news/first-minister-her-policies-made-scots-believe-that-devolution-was-essential.20640632 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Herald}}</ref> ] agreed on '']'' that she had provided "the impetus" for devolution.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 April 2013 |title=Scotland Tonight |url=http://player.stv.tv/programmes/scotland-tonight/2013-04-08-2230 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411051526/http://player.stv.tv/programmes/scotland-tonight/2013-04-08-2230/ |archive-date=11 April 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |publisher=STV Player}}</ref> Writing for '']'' in 1997, Thatcher argued against devolution on the basis that it would eventually lead to ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 September 1997 |title=Article for the ''Scotsman'' (devolution referendum) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108373 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531035317/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108373 |archive-date=31 May 2017 |access-date=11 June 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>
] have featured in a number of television programmes, documentaries, films and plays; she was played by ] in '']'' (2002) and ] in '']'' (2009). She was also the inspiration for a number of ]s.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands/story/0,,2038047,00.html |title=Falklands focus for Thatcher&nbsp;— The Movie |accessdate=14&nbsp;June 2008 |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Duncan |last=Campbell |date=20&nbsp;March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7338433.stm |title=Duncan to take on Iron Lady role |accessdate=26 May 2008 |date=9 April 2008|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=guardian.co.uk |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/08/bbc.television?gusrc=rss&feed=media |title=BBC2 to paint dark portrait of Thatcher |accessdate=26 May 2008 |date=8 April 2008|last=Holmwood|first=Leigh|location=London|publisher=Guardian News and Media}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=West |first=Dave |title=Top UK actors cast in Thatcher drama |publisher=] |date=23&nbsp;July 2008 |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a114501/top-uk-actors-cast-in-thatcher-drama.html |accessdate=23&nbsp;July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Stellar cast to join Lindsay Duncan in Margaret |publisher=BBC |date=24&nbsp;July 2008 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/07_july/24/margaret.shtml |accessdate=24&nbsp;July 2008}}</ref>


====Reputation====
Thatcher was lampooned by satirist ] in multiple formats. Wells collaborated with ] on the spoof "]" letters which ran as a column in '']'' magazine, were published in book form and were then adapted into a West End stage revue as ''Anyone for Denis?'', starring Wells as Denis Thatcher. The stage show was followed by a ] directed by ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Anyone for Denis? |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/4789 |publisher=British Film Institute |accessdate=19&nbsp;January 2011}}</ref>
{{quote box
|quote = Margaret Thatcher was not merely the first woman and the longest-serving Prime Minister of modern times, but the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the second half of the twentieth century. To some she was the saviour of her country who created a vigorous enterprise economy which twenty years later was still outperforming the more regulated economies of the Continent. To others, she was a narrow ideologue whose hard-faced policies legitimised greed, deliberately increased inequality and destroyed the nation's sense of solidarity and civic pride. There is no reconciling these views: yet both are true.{{refn|group=nb|name=Campbell}}
|source = Biographer {{harvs |last=Campbell |first=John |author-link=John Campbell (biographer) |year=2011b |loc1={{p. |499}} |txt}}
|align = right
|salign = right
|width = 25em
|bgcolor= whitesmoke
}}


Thatcher's ] as British prime minister was the longest since ] in the late 19th century (13 years and 252 days, in three spells) and the longest continuous period in office since ] in the early 19th century (14 years and 305 days).{{sfnp|Gardiner|Thompson|2013|page=12}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mackay |first=Robert |date=28 December 1987 |title=Thatcher longest serving British prime minister |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/28/Thatcher-longest-serving-British-prime-minister/8486567666000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303004520/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/28/Thatcher-longest-serving-British-prime-minister/8486567666000 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=26 June 2017 |work=United Press International}}</ref>
==Titles==
The ]s and titles Thatcher has held from birth are:<ref name="MT biography">{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/essential/biography.asp|accessdate=9 December 2007|publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref><ref name="EB">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590098/Margaret-Thatcher|title=Margaret Thatcher|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=30&nbsp;October 2008}}</ref>


Having led the Conservative Party to victory in three consecutive general elections, twice in a landslide, she ranks among the most popular party leaders in British history regarding votes cast for the winning party; over 40&nbsp;million ballots were cast in total for the party under her leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kimber |first=Richard |date=n.d. |title=UK General Election May 1979: Results and statistics |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/results.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428175636/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/results.htm |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=19 March 2017 |website=Political Science Resources}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 June 1983 |title=General Election Results |url=https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m09.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029150237/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m09.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2016 |access-date=31 December 2016 |publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 June 1987 |title=General Election Results |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m11.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107031834/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m11.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2017 |access-date=31 December 2016 |publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref> Her electoral successes were dubbed a "historic ]" by the British press in 1987.<ref>{{YouTube |id=P0p5r_ibGT4 |title=UK General Election Results}}{{Retrieved|prepend=.{{sp}}|access-date=21 March 2017|note=Broadcast 12 June 1987}}</ref>
* Miss Margaret Roberts (13 October 1925&nbsp;– 13 December 1951)
* Mrs Denis Thatcher (13 December 1951&nbsp;– 8 October 1959)
* Mrs Denis Thatcher, MP (8 October 1959&nbsp;– 22 June 1970)
* '']'' Margaret Thatcher, MP, PC (22 June 1970&nbsp;– 7 December 1990)
* ''The Rt Hon.'' Margaret Thatcher, OM, MP, PC (7 December 1990&nbsp;– 4 February 1991)
* ''The Rt Hon.'' Lady Thatcher, OM, MP, PC (4 February 1991&nbsp;– 16 March 1992)
* ''The Rt Hon.'' Lady Thatcher, OM, PC (16 March 1992&nbsp;– 26 June 1992)
* ''The Rt Hon.'' The Baroness Thatcher, OM, PC (26 June 1992&nbsp;– 22 April 1995)
* ''The Rt Hon.'' The Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (since 22 April 1995)


Thatcher ranked highest among living persons in the 2002 BBC poll '']''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Britons – Top 100 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021204214727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml |archive-date=4 December 2002 |access-date=11 April 2013 |magazine=]}}</ref> In 1999, ] deemed Thatcher one of the ].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Quittner |first=Joshua |author-link=Josh Quittner |date=14 April 1999 |title=Margaret Thatcher – Time 100 People of the Century |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26473,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308133259/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26473,00.html |archive-date=8 March 2013 |access-date=22 December 2012 |magazine=Time}}</ref> In 2015 she topped a poll by ], a major financial services company, as the most influential woman of the past 200 years;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boult |first=Adam |date=1 December 2015 |title=Margaret Thatcher voted most influential woman of past 200 years |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/12027994/Margaret-Thatcher-voted-most-influential-woman-of-past-200-years.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075046/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/12027994/Margaret-Thatcher-voted-most-influential-woman-of-past-200-years.html |archive-date=31 December 2016 |access-date=30 December 2016 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> and in 2016 topped ]'s ''] Power List'' of women judged to have had the biggest impact on female lives over the past 70 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Woman's Hour'' – The 7 women who've changed women's lives – BBC Radio 4 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/PnqpZRvgbvMFBCtrwHhhTZ/the-7-women-whove-changed-womens-lives |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173034/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/PnqpZRvgbvMFBCtrwHhhTZ/the-seven-women-whove-changed-womens-lives |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=15 December 2016 |publisher=BBC |quote=Topping the 2016 Power List – in our only ranked position – is the UK's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=14 December 2016 |title=Margaret Thatcher tops ''Woman's Hour Power List'' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38303886 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404063443/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38303886 |archive-date=4 April 2018 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In 2020, ''Time'' magazine included Thatcher's name on its list of 100 Women of the Year. She was chosen as the Woman of the Year in 1982 when the Falklands War began under her command, resulting in the British victory.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 March 2020 |title=1982: Margaret Thatcher |url=https://time.com/5793666/margaret-thatcher-100-women-of-the-year/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307064451/https://time.com/5793666/margaret-thatcher-100-women-of-the-year/ |archive-date=7 March 2020 |access-date=7 March 2020 |magazine=Time}}</ref>

In contrast to her relatively poor average approval rating as prime minister,{{r|Ipsos}} Thatcher has since ] and, according to ], is "see in overall positive terms" by the British public.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Matthew |date=10 August 2016 |title=David Cameron was the best Prime Minister since Thatcher |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/08/10/cameron-best-prime-minister-since-thatcher |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173134/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/08/10/cameron-best-prime-minister-since-thatcher |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=7 December 2018 |publisher=YouGov}}</ref> Just after her death in 2013, according to a poll by '']'', about half of the public viewed her positively while one third viewed her negatively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Tom |date=9 April 2013 |title=Opinion on Margaret Thatcher remains divided after her death, poll finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/opinion-sharply-divide-margaret-thatcher |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202174723/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/opinion-sharply-divide-margaret-thatcher |archive-date=2 December 2016 |access-date=5 December 2021 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> In a 2019 opinion poll by YouGov, most Britons rated her as Britain's greatest post-war leader (with Churchill coming second).<ref name="YouGov">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Matthew |date=3 May 2019 |title=Margaret Thatcher: the public view 40 years on |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/05/03/margaret-thatcher-public-view-40-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205080201/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/05/03/margaret-thatcher-public-view-40-years |archive-date=5 December 2021 |access-date=5 December 2021 |publisher=YouGov}}</ref> According to the poll, more than four in ten Britons (44%) think that Thatcher was a "good" or "great" prime minister, compared to 29% who think she was a "poor" or "terrible" one.<ref name="YouGov" /> She was voted the fourth-greatest British prime minister of the 20th century in a 2011 poll of 139 academics organised by ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rating British Prime Ministers |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=661 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912105223/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=661 |archive-date=12 September 2011 |access-date=24 August 2012 |publisher=Ipsos MORI}}</ref> In a 2016 ] survey of 82 academics specialising in post-1945 British history and politics, she was voted the second-greatest British prime minister after the Second World War.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cowburn |first=Ashley |date=13 October 2016 |title=David Cameron rated the third worst Prime Minister of the past 71 years |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-worst-prime-minister-ranking-third-since-ww2-a7358171.html |access-date=16 May 2022 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

===Cultural depictions===
{{Main|Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher}}

According to theatre critic ],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Events: Michael Billington: 'State of the Nation' |url=http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/id/3627 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207113843/http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/id/3627 |archive-date=7 February 2008 |access-date=8 June 2008}}</ref> Thatcher left an "emphatic mark" on the arts while prime minister.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Billington |first=Michael |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher casts a long shadow over theatre and the arts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-long-shadow-theatre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113085827/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-long-shadow-theatre |archive-date=13 January 2017 |access-date=8 May 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> One of the earliest satires of Thatcher as prime minister involved satirist ] (as writer and performer), actress ] (voicing Thatcher) and future '']'' producer ] (as co-producer), who in 1979 were teamed up by producer ] for the satirical audio album ], which consisted of skits and songs satirising Thatcher's rise to power. The album was released in September 1979.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 April 2013 |title='I'm There' song reissue mocks Margaret Thatcher on day of funeral |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/04/16/im-there-song-reissue-mocks-margaret-thatcher-on-day-of-funeral/2088929 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422071500/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/04/16/im-there-song-reissue-mocks-margaret-thatcher-on-day-of-funeral/2088929/ |archive-date=22 April 2013 |access-date=25 April 2013 |work=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Randy |date=16 April 2013 |title=Album skewering Margaret Thatcher to be reissued on April 17 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-margaret-thatcher-funeral-album-iron-lady-comedy-20130416,0,4237647.story |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420095346/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-margaret-thatcher-funeral-album-iron-lady-comedy-20130416,0,4237647.story |archive-date=20 April 2013 |access-date=25 April 2013 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Thatcher was heavily satirised on ''Spitting Image'', and '']'' labelled her "every stand-up's dream".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sherwin |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Sherwin |date=1 September 2012 |title=Margaret Thatcher: Let's hear it for the Iron Lady, comedy's greatest straight man |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/margaret-thatcher-lets-hear-it-for-the-iron-lady-comedys-greatest-straight-man-8100027.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929124047/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/margaret-thatcher-lets-hear-it-for-the-iron-lady-comedys-greatest-straight-man-8100027.html |archive-date=29 September 2019 |access-date=29 September 2019 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

Thatcher was the subject or the inspiration for 1980s ]s. Musicians ] and ] helped to form the ] collective to support Labour in opposition to Thatcher.<ref name="songs">{{Cite news |last=Heard |first=Chris |date=4 May 2004 |title=Rocking against Thatcher |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3682281.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311130019/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3682281.stm |archive-date=11 March 2009 |access-date=2 August 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Known as "Maggie" by supporters and opponents alike, the chant song "]" became a signature rallying cry among the left during the latter half of her premiership.{{sfnmp|1a1=Vinen|1y=2009|1pp=1947–1948|2a1=Barr|2y=2013|2pp=178, 235}}

Wells parodied Thatcher in several media. He collaborated with ] on the spoof "]" letters, which ran as a column in '']'' magazine; they were also published in book form and became a West End stage revue titled ''Anyone for Denis?'', with Wells in the role of Thatcher's husband. It was followed by ] directed by ], in which Thatcher was played by ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anyone for Denis? |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/4789 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724114429/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/4789 |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=19 January 2011 |publisher=]}}</ref>

Since her premiership, Thatcher has been portrayed in a number of television programmes, documentaries, films and plays.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chilton |first=Martin |date=8 February 2011 |title=People who have played Margaret Thatcher |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8311635/People-who-have-played-Margaret-Thatcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424160245/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8311635/People-who-have-played-Margaret-Thatcher.html |archive-date=24 April 2017 |access-date=15 April 2017 |work=The Telegraph |location=London, UK}}</ref> She was portrayed by ] in ]'s long unproduced '']'' (2002) and by ] in the TV film '']'' (2008). She is the protagonist in two films, played by ] in ] (2009) and by ] in ] (2011),<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2011 |title=Image of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher unveiled |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12393674 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209050448/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12393674 |archive-date=9 February 2011 |access-date=9 February 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> in which she is depicted as suffering from dementia or ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Julie |date=22 December 2011 |title='The Iron Lady' Draws Fire For Depicting Margaret Thatcher With Alzheimer's |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/12/22/the-iron-lady-draws-fire-for-depicting-thatcher-with-alzheimers |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108010000/https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/12/22/the-iron-lady-draws-fire-for-depicting-thatcher-with-alzheimers |archive-date=8 January 2012 |access-date=28 February 2012 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> She is a main character in the ] of '']'', played by ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |date=7 September 2019 |title=Gillian Anderson to play Thatcher in fourth series of ''The Crown'' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/sep/07/gillian-anderson-to-play-thatcher-fourth-series-the-crown-netflix |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216101144/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/sep/07/gillian-anderson-to-play-thatcher-fourth-series-the-crown-netflix |archive-date=16 December 2019 |access-date=16 December 2019 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher has a supporting role in the 2024 biographical film '']'', played by ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kay |first=Jeremy |date=11 November 2020 |title=Voltage Pictures' 'Reagan' finds its Margaret Thatcher (exclusive) |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/voltage-pictures-reagan-finds-its-margaret-thatcher-exclusive/5154845.article |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=Screen}}</ref>

==Titles, awards and honours==
{{Main|List of honours of Margaret Thatcher}}
] in 1991]]
Thatcher became a ] (PC) on becoming a secretary of state in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Gay |first1=Oonagh |last2=Rees |first2=Anwen |name-list-style=amp |date=5 July 2005 |title=The Privy Council |url=http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-3708.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227183508/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-3708.pdf |archive-date=27 December 2011 |access-date=27 February 2009 |publisher=Parliament and Constitution Centre |via=the ]}}</ref> She was the first woman entitled to full membership rights as an honorary member of the ] on becoming Conservative Party leader in 1975.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ungoed-Thomas |first=Jon |date=8 February 1998 |title=Carlton Club to vote on women |work=The Sunday Times}}</ref>

As prime minister, Thatcher received two honorary distinctions:
* {{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|df=y|1979|10|24}} |event=Honorary Fellowship (Hon.) of the ] (FRIC),<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 October 1979 |title=Speech to the Chemical Society and the Royal Institute of Chemistry (honorary fellowship) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104152 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530200036/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104152 |archive-date=30 May 2016 |access-date=25 April 2016 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> which was merged into the ] (FRSC) the following year;<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 March 2016 |title=Our origins |url=http://www.rsc.org/about-us/our-history/our-origins/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702064508/http://www.rsc.org/about-us/our-history/our-origins/ |archive-date=2 July 2018 |access-date=11 September 2018 |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry}}</ref>}}
* {{Timeline-event |date={{Start date|df=y|1983|7|1}} |event=] (FRS), a point of controversy among some of the then-existing Fellows.{{sfnmp|''New Scientist''|1983|Agar|2022}}}}

{{multiple image
| title = ]
| align = right
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 185
| image1 = Order of the Garter UK ribbon.svg
| alt1 = Ribbon of the Order of the Garter
| caption1 = {{awards|]|UK, 1995}}
| image2 = Ord.GoodHope-ribbon.gif
| alt2 = Ribbon of the Order of Good Hope
| caption2 = {{awards|]|{{abbr|RSA|Republic of South Africa}}, 1991}}
| image3 = Galó de l'Orde del Mèrit (UK).svg
| alt3 = Ribbon of the Order of Merit
| caption3 = {{awards|]|UK, 1990}}
| image4 = Order of St John (UK) ribbon -vector.svg
| alt4 = Ribbon of the Order of St John
| caption4 = {{awards|]|UK, 1991}}
| footer = Shown are the ribbons for each order bestowed on Thatcher.
}}

Two weeks after her resignation, Thatcher was appointed ] (OM) by the Queen. Her husband Denis was ] at the same time;<ref name="OMBarontecy">{{London Gazette |issue=52360 |date=11 December 1990 |page=19066 |nolink=yes}}</ref> as his wife, Thatcher was entitled to use the ] "Lady",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Family of a Baronet |url=http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/titles/baronet/family-baronet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315235601/http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/titles/baronet/family-baronet |archive-date=15 March 2015 |access-date=2 February 2015 |website=]}}</ref> an automatically conferred title that she declined to use.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tuohy |first=William |author-link=William Tuohy |date=8 December 1990 |title=It's Now 'Lady Thatcher', but She'll Stick With 'Mrs.' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-08-mn-5367-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306135614/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-12-08/news/mn-5367_1_lady-thatcher |archive-date=6 March 2017 |access-date=5 March 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times |location=London, UK}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 December 1990 |title=Headliners; Call Her Mrs. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/09/weekinreview/headliners-call-her-mrs.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304201415/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/09/weekinreview/headliners-call-her-mrs.html |archive-date=4 March 2019 |access-date=23 April 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Orth |first=Maureen |author-link=Maureen Orth |date=June 1991 |title=Maggie's Big Problem |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1991/06/thatcher199106 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104074036/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/1991/06/thatcher199106 |archive-date=4 November 2018 |access-date=11 April 2017 |magazine=Vanity Fair |quote=Since he was now a baronet, might she care to be known as Lady Thatcher?}}</ref> She would be made Lady Thatcher in her own right on her subsequent ] in the House of Lords.<ref name="Tuohy">{{Cite news |last=Tuohy |first=William |date=6 June 1992 |title='Iron Lady' Is Made Baroness Thatcher |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-06-mn-552-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412061757/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-06-06/news/mn-552_1_baroness-thatcher |archive-date=12 April 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 |work=Los Angeles Times |location=London, UK}}</ref>

In the Falklands, ] has been marked each 10&nbsp;January since 1992,<ref name="Reuters-January">{{Cite news |date=6 January 1992 |title=Falklands to make 10 January Thatcher Day |agency=Reuters}}</ref> commemorating her first visit to the Islands in January 1983, six months after the ] in June 1982.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 August 2014 |title=Margaret Thatcher in Falkland Islands after Argentina's surrender, 1983 |url=http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/margaret-thatcher-falkland-islands-argentina-surrender-1983 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016054413/http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/margaret-thatcher-falkland-islands-argentina-surrender-1983/ |archive-date=16 October 2016 |access-date=9 October 2016 |website=Rare Historical Photos}}</ref>

Thatcher became a ] in 1992 with a ]age as Baroness Thatcher, of ] in the ].{{r|lords}}<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=52978 |date=26 June 1992 |page=11045 |nolink=yes}}</ref> Subsequently, the ] granted her use of a ]; she was allowed to revise these arms on her appointment as ] (LG) in 1995, the highest order of ].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54017 |date=25 April 1995 |page=6023 |nolink=yes}}</ref>

{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size:small; margin:auto; text-align:center;"
|+ class=nowrap style="background:whitesmoke; border:1px solid lightgrey; font-weight:bold; padding:0 1em;" | Coats of arms of Baroness Thatcher
|-
| Pre–Garter appointment|| style="width:.2em;"|
| colspan=2|Post–Garter appointment
|-
| style="border:1px solid lightgrey; padding:.7em;"|]||
| colspan=2 style="border:1px solid lightgrey; padding:.7em;"|]{{pad|.7em}}]
|-
| 1992–1995||
| ]: 1995–2013
| ]: 1995–2013
|}

In the US, Thatcher received the ] from the ] in 1998;<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ronald Reagan Freedom Award |url=https://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs-events/the-ronald-reagan-freedom-award/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104052308/https://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs-events/the-ronald-reagan-freedom-award/ |archive-date=4 January 2018 |access-date=19 July 2017 |publisher=]}}</ref> she was designated a patron of ] in 2006,<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/04/demint-on-lady-thatcher-freedoms-champion |title=Jim DeMint on Lady Thatcher |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |access-date=27 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630181752/http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/04/demint-on-lady-thatcher-freedoms-champion |archive-date=30 June 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Baroness Thatcher |url=http://www.heritage.org/about-heritage/staff/leadership/nonstaff/t/baroness-thatcher |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625154102/http://www.heritage.org/about/staff/nonstaff/t/baroness-thatcher |archive-date=25 June 2013 |access-date=20 July 2017 |publisher=The Heritage Foundation}}</ref> where she established the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ros-Lehtinen |first=Ileana |author-link=Ileana Ros-Lehtinen |date=13 September 2006 |title=Honoring the Iron Lady |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/sep/13/20060913-085945-8112r/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423033402/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/sep/13/20060913-085945-8112r/ |archive-date=23 April 2018 |access-date=22 April 2018 |work=The Washington Times}}</ref>

==Published works==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret |title=The Downing Street Years |title-link=The Downing Street Years |date=1993 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-00-255049-9 |ref=none |author-mask=0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret |title=The Path to Power |title-link=The Path to Power (Thatcher book) |date=1995 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-00-255050-5 |ref=none |author-mask=0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret |title=Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World |title-link=Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World |date=2003 |publisher=Harper Perennial |isbn=978-0-06-095912-8 |ref=none |author-mask=0}}
{{refend}}

==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
==References== ==References==
;Notes
{{reflist|group=nb}}


=== Explanatory notes ===
;Footnotes
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}} {{Reflist|group=nb|30em|refs=
{{refn|group=nb|name=Campbell|{{harvtxt|Campbell|2011a|p=800}} also writes about a third view that can be argued: Thatcher "achieved much less" than she and her "]" would claim; she failed to curb public spending, diminish or privatise the ], change fundamental attitudes of the general public, or "enhance" freedom where she had instead ] control over "many areas of national life".}}
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
}}


===Citations===
;Bibliography
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<ref name="PoliticalStuff.co.uk">{{Cite web |title=1979 Conservative Party General Election Manifesto |url=http://www.conservativemanifesto.com/1979/1979-conservative-manifesto.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022052434/http://www.conservativemanifesto.com/1979/1979-conservative-manifesto.shtml |archive-date=22 October 2019 |access-date=28 July 2009 |website=PoliticalStuff.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="Heffer">{{Cite magazine |last=Heffer |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Heffer |date=29 October 2019 |title=The rats and cowards who brought down a Titan |url=https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/november-2019/the-rats-and-cowards-who-brought-down-a-titan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803214158/https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/november-2019/the-rats-and-cowards-who-brought-down-a-titan/ |archive-date=3 August 2020 |access-date=18 July 2020 |magazine=]}}</ref>
*{{Cite book |title=Margaret Thatcher |first=Clare |last=Beckett |publisher=Haus Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-904950-71-4}}
}}
*{{Cite book |title=Margaret Thatcher: a portrait of the Iron Lady |first=John |last=Blundell |publisher=Algora |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-87586-630-7}}

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| name-list-style=amp
| year=2005
| title=The Falklands Conflict Twenty Years On: Lessons for the Future
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{{Refend}} {{Refend}}


===Further reading=== ==External links==
{{Sister project links|s=Author:Margaret Thatcher}}
{{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{Webarchive|title=Margaret Thatcher Centre |url=//web.archive.org/web/20200205104344/http://www.thatchercentre.com/margaret-thatcher/ |date=dmy }}
* {{official website|url=//margaretthatcher.org/essential/biography.asp|name=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}, with thousands of online documents and primary sources
* {{Hansard-contribs|mrs-margaret-thatcher|Margaret Thatcher}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Margaret Thatcher}}
* {{Library resources about}}
* {{Librivox author|id=3625}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{C-SPAN|2071}}
* {{IMDb name}}
* {{Guardian topic}}
* {{New York Times topic|new_id=person/margaret-thatcher}}
* {{NPG name|05827}}
* {{Webarchive|nolink=1|title=Obituary (BBC News Online) |url=//web.archive.org/web/20130408204606/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10364876 |date=dmy }}
* {{Webarchive|nolink=1|title=History of Baroness Margaret Thatcher (Gov.uk) |url=//web.archive.org/web/20131005092036/https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/margaret-thatcher |date=dmy }}


{{Navboxes
;Biographies
|title=Offices and distinctions
*{{Cite book |title=Margaret, daughter of Beatrice |first=Leo |last=Abse|authorlink=Leo Abse |publisher=Jonathan Cape |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-224-02726-7}}
|state=expanded
*{{Cite book |title=Memories of Maggie |editor1-first=Iain |editor1-last=Dale |authorlink=Iain Dale |publisher=Politicos |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-902301-51-8}}
|list1=
*{{Cite book |title=Thatcher for Beginners |first=Peter |last=Pugh |coauthors=Carl Flint |publisher=Icon Books |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-874166-53-5}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for ]|years=]–]}}
{{s-aft|after=]}}


{{s-off}}
; Political analysis
{{s-bef|before=]}}
*{{Cite book |title=Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: Ending of the Socialist Era |first=Peter |last=Jenkins |authorlink=Peter Jenkins (journalist) |publisher=Jonathan Cape |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-674-58833-2}}
{{s-ttl|title=]|years=1967–1970}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Anatomy of Thatcherism |first=Shirley Robin |last=Letwin |publisher=Flamingo |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-00-686243-7}}
{{s-aft|after=]}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Thatcher Phenomenon |first=Hugo |last=Young |publisher=BBC |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-563-20473-2}}


{{s-bef|before=]}}
;Books by Thatcher
{{s-ttl|title=]|years=1970–1974}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Collected Speeches of Margaret Thatcher |last1=Thatcher |first1=Margaret |last2=Harris |first2=Robin |authorlink2=Robin Harris (author) |editor-last=Harris |editor-first=Robin Harris |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-06-018734-7}}
{{s-aft|after=]}}
*{{Cite book |title=Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World |last=Thatcher |first=Margaret |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-06-019973-9}}


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*{{Cite book |title=Conflict of Loyalty |authorlink=Geoffrey Howe |first=Geoffrey |last=Howe |publisher=Macmillan |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-333-59283-0}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Autobiography |authorlink=John Major |first=John |last=Major |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-00-653074-9}}
*{{Cite book |title=Right at the Centre |authorlink=Cecil Parkinson |first=Cecil |last=Parkinson |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-297-81262-3}}
*{{Cite book |title='My Style of Government': The Thatcher Years |authorlink=Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale |first=Nicholas |last=Ridley |publisher=Hutchinson |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-09-175051-0}}
*{{Cite book |title=Upwardly Mobile |authorlink=Norman Tebbit |first=Norman |last=Tebbit |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-297-79427-1}}


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==External links==
{{Sister project links}}
*
* {{hansard-contribs | mrs-margaret-thatcher | Margaret Thatcher }}
* on the Downing Street website.
*
* - Profile of Thatcher's post-Premiership from '']'', June 1991
* Public policy center dedicated to advancing the ideas of Thatcher
* {{NRA|P39142}}
* , digitised files from the Prime Minister's Office, covering from the 1979 general election to December 1979.

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{{Persondata
|NAME=Thatcher, Margaret Hilda, Baroness Thatcher
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Roberts, Margaret Hilda
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=] (1979–1990)
|DATE OF BIRTH=13 October 1925
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Latest revision as of 19:22, 5 January 2025

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 "Iron Lady" redirects here. For other uses, see Iron Lady (disambiguation) and Margaret Thatcher (disambiguation).

The Right HonourableThe Baroness ThatcherLG OM DStJ PC FRS HonFRSC
Thatcher in a half-length portrait photograph, wearing a black suit and pearlsStudio portrait, c. 1995–96
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
4 May 1979 – 28 November 1990
MonarchElizabeth II
DeputyGeoffrey Howe (1989–90)
Preceded byJames Callaghan
Succeeded byJohn Major
Leader of the Opposition
In office
11 February 1975 – 4 May 1979
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime Minister
DeputyWilliam Whitelaw
Preceded byEdward Heath
Succeeded byJames Callaghan
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
11 February 1975 – 28 November 1990
DeputyThe Viscount Whitelaw
Chairman See list
Preceded byEdward Heath
Succeeded byJohn Major
Ministerial portfolios
Secretary of State for Education and Science
In office
20 June 1970 – 4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
Preceded byEdward Short
Succeeded byReg Prentice
Parliamentary Secretary
1961–1964Ministry for Pensions
Shadow portfolios
Shadow Secretary of State
1967–1970Education and Science
1974–1975Environment
Shadow Minister
1967–1968Fuel and Power
1968–1969Transport
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
30 June 1992 – 8 April 2013
Member of Parliament
for Finchley
In office
8 October 1959 – 16 March 1992
Preceded byJohn Crowder
Succeeded byHartley Booth
Personal details
BornMargaret Hilda Roberts
(1925-10-13)13 October 1925
Grantham, Lincolnshire, England
Died8 April 2013(2013-04-08) (aged 87)
London, England
Resting placeRoyal Hospital Chelsea
51°29′21″N 0°09′22″W / 51.489057°N 0.156195°W / 51.489057; -0.156195
Political partyConservative
Spouse Denis Thatcher ​ ​(m. 1951; died 2003)​
Children
Parent
Alma mater
Occupation
AwardsFull list
SignatureCursive signature in ink
WebsiteFoundation
Nickname"Iron Lady"
Margaret Thatcher's voice Joint Statement for the 10th G7 summit
Recorded 9 June 1984
This article is part of
a series aboutMargaret Thatcher
Secretary of State for Education and Science
Leader of the Opposition
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Policies Appointments
Articles by ministry and term: 1979–1983 1983–1987 1987–1990
Post-premiership
Publications

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (née Roberts; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013), was a British stateswoman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the position. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.

Thatcher studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist before becoming a barrister. She was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her secretary of state for education and science in his 1970–1974 government. In 1975, she defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become leader of the opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the UK.

On becoming prime minister after winning the 1979 general election, Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an oncoming recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised greater individual liberty, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Her popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment. Victory in the 1982 Falklands War and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her landslide re-election in 1983. She survived an assassination attempt by the Provisional IRA in the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing and achieved a political victory against the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1984–85 miners' strike. In 1986, Thatcher oversaw the deregulation of UK financial markets, leading to an economic boom, in what came to be known as the Big Bang.

Thatcher was re-elected for a third term with another landslide in 1987, but her subsequent support for the Community Charge (also known as the "poll tax") was widely unpopular, and her increasingly Eurosceptic views on the European Community were not shared by others in her cabinet. She resigned as prime minister and party leader in 1990, after a challenge was launched to her leadership, and was succeeded by John Major, her chancellor of the Exchequer. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher (of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. In 2013, she died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel, London, at the age of 87.

A polarising figure in British politics, Thatcher is nonetheless viewed favourably in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a realignment towards neoliberal policies in Britain; the complex legacy attributed to this shift continues to be debated into the 21st century.

Early life and education

Birthplace in GranthamThe corner of a terraced suburban street. The lower storey is a corner shop, now advertising as a chiropractic clinic. The building is two storeys high, with some parts three storeys high. It was formerly Alfred Roberts's shop.2009 photograph of her father's former shopA plaque reading "Birth place of the Rt.Hon. Margaret Thatcher, M.P. First woman prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".Commemorative plaqueMargaret and her elder sister were raised in the bottom of two flats on North Parade.

Family and childhood (1925–1943)

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Her parents were Alfred Roberts (1892–1970), from Northamptonshire, and Beatrice Ethel Stephenson (1888–1960), from Lincolnshire. Her father's maternal grandmother, Catherine Sullivan, was born in County Kerry, Ireland.

Roberts spent her childhood in Grantham, where her father owned a tobacconist's and a grocery shop. In 1938, before the Second World War, the Roberts family briefly gave sanctuary to a teenage Jewish girl who had escaped Nazi Germany. With her pen-friending elder sister Muriel, Margaret saved pocket money to help pay for the teenager's journey.

Alfred was an alderman and a Methodist local preacher. He brought up his daughter as a strict Wesleyan Methodist, attending the Finkin Street Methodist Church, but Margaret was more sceptical; the future scientist told a friend that she could not believe in angels, having calculated that they needed a breastbone 6 feet (1.8 m) long to support wings. Alfred came from a Liberal family but stood (as was then customary in local government) as an Independent. He served as Mayor of Grantham from 1945 to 1946 and lost his position as alderman in 1952 after the Labour Party won its first majority on Grantham Council in 1950.

Margaret Roberts, 13, in a black-and-white portrait photograph
1938–39 portrait, aged 13

Roberts attended Huntingtower Road Primary School and won a scholarship to Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, a grammar school. Her school reports showed hard work and continual improvement; her extracurricular activities included the piano, field hockey, poetry recitals, swimming and walking. She was head girl in 1942–43, and outside school, while the Second World War was ongoing, she voluntarily worked as a fire watcher in the local ARP service. Other students thought of Roberts as the "star scientist", although mistaken advice regarding cleaning ink from parquetry almost caused chlorine gas poisoning. In her upper sixth year, Roberts was accepted for a scholarship to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, a women's college, starting in 1944. After another candidate withdrew, Roberts entered Oxford in October 1943.

Oxford (1943–1947)

The Hall and Maitland Building of Somerville College, Oxford, in 2006
Roberts studied chemistry at Somerville College (pictured) from 1943 to 1947.

Following her arrival at Oxford, Roberts began studies under X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Hodgkin, the tutor in chemistry for Somerville College since 1934. Hodgkin considered Roberts a "good" student, and later recalled: "One could always rely on her producing a sensible, well-read essay." She opted to read for a classified honours degree, entailing an additional year of supervised research. As her thesis supervisor, Hodgkin assigned Roberts to work with Gerhard Schmidt, a researcher in Hodgkin's lab, to determine the structure of the antibiotic peptide gramicidin S. Although the research made some progress, the peptide's structure proved more complex than anticipated, and Schmidt would only determine its full structure much later; Roberts (by then Thatcher) learned this in the 1960s while visiting the Weizmann Institute, where her former research partner was then working.

Roberts graduated in 1947 with a second-class honours degree in chemistry, and in 1950 also received the degree of Master of Arts (as an Oxford BA, she was entitled to the degree 21 terms after her matriculation). Although Hodgkin would later be critical of her former student's politics, they continued to correspond into the 1980s, and Roberts in her memoirs would describe her mentor as "ever-helpful", "a brilliant scientist and a gifted teacher". As prime minister, she would keep a portrait of Hodgkin at 10 Downing Street. Later in life, she was reportedly prouder of becoming the first prime minister with a science degree than becoming the first female prime minister. While prime minister she attempted to preserve Somerville as a women's college. Twice a week outside study she worked in a local forces canteen.

During her time at Oxford, Roberts was noted for her isolated and serious attitude. Her first boyfriend, Tony Bray (1926–2014), recalled that she was "very thoughtful and a very good conversationalist. That's probably what interested me. She was good at general subjects".

Roberts's coursework involved subjects beyond chemistry as she was already contemplating an entry into law and politics. Her enthusiasm for politics as a girl made Bray think of her as "unusual" and her parents as "slightly austere" and "very proper". Roberts became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1946. She was influenced at university by political works such as Friedrich Hayek's The Road to Serfdom (1944), which condemned economic intervention by government as a precursor to an authoritarian state.

Post-Oxford career (1947–1951)

After graduating, Roberts secured a position as a research chemist for British Xylonite (BX Plastics) following a series of interviews arranged by Oxford; she subsequently moved to Colchester in Essex to work at the firm. Little is known about her brief time there. By her own account, she was initially enthusiastic about the position, as she had been intended to function as a personal assistant to the company's head of research and development, providing opportunities to learn about operations management: "But on my arrival it was decided that there was not enough to do in that capacity." Instead, she seems to have researched methods of attaching polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to metals. While with the firm, she joined the Association of Scientific Workers. In 1948, she applied for a job at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) but was rejected after the personnel department assessed her as "headstrong, obstinate and dangerously self-opinionated". Jon Agar in Notes and Records argues that her understanding of modern scientific research later impacted her views as prime minister.

Roberts joined the local Conservative Association and attended the party conference at Llandudno, Wales, in 1948, as a representative of the University Graduate Conservative Association. Meanwhile, she became a high-ranking affiliate of the Vermin Club, a group of grassroots Conservatives formed in response to a derogatory comment made by Aneurin Bevan. One of her Oxford friends was also a friend of the Chair of the Dartford Conservative Association in Kent, who were looking for candidates. Officials of the association were so impressed by her that they asked her to apply, even though she was not on the party's approved list; she was selected in January 1950 (aged 24) and added to the approved list post ante.

At a dinner following her formal adoption as Conservative candidate for Dartford in February 1949, she met divorcé Denis Thatcher, a successful and wealthy businessman, who drove her to her Essex train. After their first meeting, she described him to Muriel as "not a very attractive creature – very reserved but quite nice". In preparation for the election, Roberts moved to Dartford, while she supported herself by working as a research chemist for J. Lyons and Co. in Hammersmith, reportedly as part of a team developing emulsifiers for ice cream. As the work was more theoretical in nature than during her prior role with BX Plastics, Roberts found it "more satisfying". While at Lyons, she worked under the supervision of Hans Jellinek, who headed the company's physical chemistry section. Jellinek assigned her to research the saponification of α-monostearin (glycerol monostearate), which has properties as an emulsifier, stabiliser and food preservative. Agar has noted the research may have been connected with the emulsification of ice cream, but only as a possibility. In September 1951, their research was published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, a recently launched publication of the Society of Chemical Industry, as "The saponification of α-monostearin in a monolayer". This would be Roberts's sole scientific publication. In 1979, following his former assistant's election as prime minister, Jellinek, by then a professor of physical chemistry at Clarkson University in the United States, said she had done "a very good job" on the project, "showing great determination". She sent Jellinek a congratulatory letter upon his retirement in 1984, and another letter shortly before his death two years later.

Roberts married at Wesley's Chapel and her children were baptised there, but she and her husband began attending Church of England services and would later convert to Anglicanism.

Early political career

In the 1950 and 1951 general elections, Roberts was the Conservative candidate for the Labour seat of Dartford. The local party selected her as its candidate because, though not a dynamic public speaker, Roberts was well-prepared and fearless in her answers. A prospective candidate, Bill Deedes, recalled: "Once she opened her mouth, the rest of us began to look rather second-rate." She attracted media attention as the youngest and the only female candidate; in 1950, she was the youngest Conservative candidate in the country. She lost on both occasions to Norman Dodds but reduced the Labour majority by 6,000 and then a further 1,000. During the campaigns, she was supported by her parents and by her future husband Denis Thatcher, whom she married in December 1951. Denis funded his wife's studies for the bar; she qualified as a barrister in 1953 and specialised in taxation. Later that same year their twins Carol and Mark were born, delivered prematurely by Caesarean section.

Member of Parliament (1959–1970)

In 1954, Thatcher was defeated when she sought selection to be the Conservative Party candidate for the Orpington by-election of January 1955. She chose not to stand as a candidate in the 1955 general election, in later years, stating: "I really just felt the twins were only two, I really felt that it was too soon. I couldn't do that." Afterwards, Thatcher began looking for a Conservative safe seat and was selected as the candidate for Finchley in April 1958 (narrowly beating Ian Montagu Fraser). She was elected as MP for the seat after a hard campaign in the 1959 election. Benefiting from her fortunate result in a lottery for backbenchers to propose new legislation, Thatcher's maiden speech was, unusually, in support of her private member's bill, the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public; the bill was successful and became law. In 1961 she went against the Conservative Party's official position by voting for the restoration of birching as a judicial corporal punishment.

On the frontbenches

Thatcher's talent and drive caused her to be mentioned as a future prime minister in her early 20s although she herself was more pessimistic, stating as late as 1970: "There will not be a woman prime minister in my lifetime – the male population is too prejudiced." In October 1961 she was promoted to the frontbench as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry for Pensions by Harold Macmillan. Thatcher was the youngest woman in history to receive such a post, and among the first MPs elected in 1959 to be promoted. After the Conservatives lost the 1964 election, she became spokeswoman on housing and land. In that position, she advocated her party's policy of giving tenants the right to buy their council houses. She moved to the Shadow Treasury team in 1966 and, as Treasury spokeswoman, opposed Labour's mandatory price and income controls, arguing they would unintentionally produce effects that would distort the economy.

Jim Prior suggested Thatcher as a Shadow Cabinet member after the Conservatives' 1966 defeat, but party leader Edward Heath and Chief Whip William Whitelaw eventually chose Mervyn Pike as the Conservative shadow cabinet's sole woman member. At the 1966 Conservative Party conference, Thatcher criticised the high-tax policies of the Labour government as being steps "not only towards Socialism, but towards Communism", arguing that lower taxes served as an incentive to hard work. Thatcher was one of the few Conservative MPs to support Leo Abse's bill to decriminalise male homosexuality. She voted in favour of David Steel's bill to legalise abortion, as well as a ban on hare coursing. She supported the retention of capital punishment and voted against the relaxation of divorce laws.

In the Shadow Cabinet

In 1967, the United States Embassy chose Thatcher to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Program (then called the Foreign Leader Program), a professional exchange programme that allowed her to spend about six weeks visiting various US cities and political figures as well as institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. Although she was not yet a Shadow Cabinet member, the embassy reportedly described her to the State Department as a possible future prime minister. The description helped Thatcher meet with prominent people during a busy itinerary focused on economic issues, including Paul Samuelson, Walt Rostow, Pierre-Paul Schweitzer and Nelson Rockefeller. Following the visit, Heath appointed Thatcher to the Shadow Cabinet as fuel and power spokeswoman. Before the 1970 general election, she was promoted to shadow transport spokeswoman and later to education.

In 1968, Enoch Powell delivered his "Rivers of Blood" speech in which he strongly criticised Commonwealth immigration to the United Kingdom and the then-proposed Race Relations Bill. When Heath telephoned Thatcher to inform her that he would sack Powell from the Shadow Cabinet, she recalled that she "really thought that it was better to let things cool down for the present rather than heighten the crisis". She believed that his main points about Commonwealth immigration were correct and that the selected quotations from his speech had been taken out of context. In a 1991 interview for Today, Thatcher stated that she thought Powell had "made a valid argument, if in sometimes regrettable terms".

Around this time, she gave her first Commons speech as a shadow transport minister and highlighted the need for investment in British Rail. She argued: "f we build bigger and better roads, they would soon be saturated with more vehicles and we would be no nearer solving the problem." Thatcher made her first visit to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1969 as the Opposition transport spokeswoman, and in October, delivered a speech celebrating her ten years in Parliament. In early 1970, she told The Finchley Press that she would like to see a "reversal of the permissive society".

Education Secretary (1970–1974)

Girls at Baldock County Council School in Hertfordshire enjoying a drink of milk during a break in the school day in 1944
Thatcher abolished free milk for children aged 7–11 (pictured) in 1971 as her predecessor had done for older children in 1968.

The Conservative Party, led by Edward Heath, won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education and Science. Thatcher caused controversy when, after only a few days in office, she withdrew Labour's Circular 10/65, which attempted to force comprehensivisation, without going through a consultation process. She was highly criticised for the speed at which she carried this out. Consequently, she drafted her own new policy (Circular 10/70), which ensured that local authorities were not forced to go comprehensive. Her new policy was not meant to stop the development of new comprehensives; she said: "We shall expect plans to be based on educational considerations rather than on the comprehensive principle."

Thatcher supported Lord Rothschild's 1971 proposal for market forces to affect government funding of research. Although many scientists opposed the proposal, her research background probably made her sceptical of their claim that outsiders should not interfere with funding. The department evaluated proposals for more local education authorities to close grammar schools and to adopt comprehensive secondary education. Although Thatcher was committed to a tiered secondary modern-grammar school system of education and attempted to preserve grammar schools, during her tenure as education secretary, she turned down only 326 of 3,612 proposals (roughly 9 per cent) for schools to become comprehensives; the proportion of pupils attending comprehensive schools consequently rose from 32 per cent to 62 per cent. Nevertheless, she managed to save 94 grammar schools.

During her first months in office, she attracted public attention due to the government's attempts to cut spending. She gave priority to academic needs in schools, while administering public expenditure cuts on the state education system, resulting in the abolition of free milk for schoolchildren aged seven to eleven. She held that few children would suffer if schools were charged for milk but agreed to provide younger children with 0.3 imperial pints (0.17 L) daily for nutritional purposes. She also argued that she was simply carrying on with what the Labour government had started since they had stopped giving free milk to secondary schools. Milk would still be provided to those children that required it on medical grounds, and schools could still sell milk. The aftermath of the milk row hardened her determination; she told the editor-proprietor Harold Creighton of The Spectator: "Don't underestimate me, I saw how they broke Keith [Joseph], but they won't break me."

Cabinet papers later revealed that she opposed the policy but had been forced into it by the Treasury. Her decision provoked a storm of protest from Labour and the press, leading to her being notoriously nicknamed "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher". She reportedly considered leaving politics in the aftermath and later wrote in her autobiography: "I learned a valuable lesson. I had incurred the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit."

Leader of the Opposition (1975–1979)

See also: Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher
External audio
1975 speech to the US National Press Club
Thatcher sitting in a black-and-white photographThatcher in late 1975
audio icon National Press Club Luncheon Speakers: Margaret Thatcher (Speech). (Starts at 7:39, finishes at 28:33.)

The Heath government continued to experience difficulties with oil embargoes and union demands for wage increases in 1973, subsequently losing the February 1974 general election. Labour formed a minority government and went on to win a narrow majority in the October 1974 general election. Heath's leadership of the Conservative Party looked increasingly in doubt. Thatcher was not initially seen as the obvious replacement, but she eventually became the main challenger, promising a fresh start. Her main support came from the parliamentary 1922 Committee and The Spectator, but Thatcher's time in office gave her the reputation of a pragmatist rather than that of an ideologue. She defeated Heath on the first ballot, and he resigned from the leadership. In the second ballot she defeated Whitelaw, Heath's preferred successor. Thatcher's election had a polarising effect on the party; her support was stronger among MPs on the right, and also among those from southern England, and those who had not attended public schools or Oxbridge.

Thatcher became Conservative Party leader and Leader of the Opposition on 11 February 1975; she appointed Whitelaw as her deputy. Heath was never reconciled to Thatcher's leadership of the party.

Television critic Clive James, writing in The Observer prior to her election as Conservative Party leader, compared her voice of 1973 to "a cat sliding down a blackboard". Thatcher had already begun to work on her presentation on the advice of Gordon Reece, a former television producer. By chance, Reece met the actor Laurence Olivier, who arranged lessons with the National Theatre's voice coach.

Thatcher began attending lunches regularly at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a think tank founded by Hayekian poultry magnate Antony Fisher; she had been visiting the IEA and reading its publications since the early 1960s. There she was influenced by the ideas of Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon and became the face of the ideological movement opposing the British welfare state. Keynesian economics, they believed, was weakening Britain. The institute's pamphlets proposed less government, lower taxes, and more freedom for business and consumers.

Thatcher sitting with Gerald FordWith President Ford in the Oval Office, 1975Thatcher sitting with Mohammad Reza PahlaviWith the Shah in the Niavaran Complex, 1978

Thatcher intended to promote neoliberal economic ideas at home and abroad. Despite setting the direction of her foreign policy for a Conservative government, Thatcher was distressed by her repeated failure to shine in the House of Commons. Consequently, Thatcher decided that as "her voice was carrying little weight at home", she would "be heard in the wider world". Thatcher undertook visits across the Atlantic, establishing an international profile and promoting her economic and foreign policies. She toured the United States in 1975 and met President Gerald Ford, visiting again in 1977, when she met President Jimmy Carter. Among other foreign trips, she met Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi during a visit to Iran in 1978. Thatcher chose to travel without being accompanied by her shadow foreign secretary, Reginald Maudling, in an attempt to make a bolder personal impact.

In domestic affairs, Thatcher opposed Scottish devolution (home rule) and the creation of a Scottish Assembly. She instructed Conservative MPs to vote against the Scotland and Wales Bill in December 1976, which was successfully defeated, and then when new Bills were proposed, she supported amending the legislation to allow the English to vote in the 1979 referendum on Scottish devolution.

Britain's economy during the 1970s was so weak that then Foreign Secretary James Callaghan warned his fellow Labour Cabinet members in 1974 of the possibility of "a breakdown of democracy", telling them: "If I were a young man, I would emigrate." In mid-1978, the economy began to recover, and opinion polls showed Labour in the lead, with a general election being expected later that year and a Labour win a serious possibility. Now prime minister, Callaghan surprised many by announcing on 7 September that there would be no general election that year and that he would wait until 1979 before going to the polls. Thatcher reacted to this by branding the Labour government "chickens", and Liberal Party leader David Steel joined in, criticising Labour for "running scared".

The Labour government then faced fresh public unease about the direction of the country and a damaging series of strikes during the winter of 1978–79, dubbed the "Winter of Discontent". The Conservatives attacked the Labour government's unemployment record, using advertising with the slogan "Labour Isn't Working". A general election was called after the Callaghan ministry lost a motion of no confidence in early 1979. The Conservatives won a 44-seat majority in the House of Commons, and Thatcher became the first female British prime minister.

"Iron Lady"

Main article: Britain Awake
External videos
1976 speech to Finchley Conservatives
video icon Speech to Finchley Conservatives (admits to being an "Iron Lady") (Speech) – via the Margaret Thatcher Foundation.

I stand before you tonight in my Red Star chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up and my fair hair gently waved, the Iron Lady of the Western world.

— Thatcher embracing her Soviet nickname in 1976

In 1976, Thatcher gave her "Britain Awake" foreign policy speech which lambasted the Soviet Union, saying it was "bent on world dominance". The Soviet Army journal Red Star reported her stance in a piece headlined "Iron Lady Raises Fears", alluding to her remarks on the Iron Curtain. The Sunday Times covered the Red Star article the next day, and Thatcher embraced the epithet a week later; in a speech to Finchley Conservatives she likened it to the Duke of Wellington's nickname "Iron Duke". The "Iron" metaphor followed her throughout ever since, and would become a generic sobriquet for other strong-willed female politicians.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–1990)

Main article: Premiership of Margaret Thatcher Further information: First Thatcher ministry, second Thatcher ministry, and third Thatcher ministry
External videos
1979 remarks on becoming prime minister
10 Downing Street, c. 1979
video icon Remarks on becoming Prime Minister (St Francis's prayer) (Speech) – via the Margaret Thatcher Foundation.

Thatcher became prime minister on 4 May 1979. Arriving at Downing Street she said, paraphrasing the Prayer of Saint Francis:

Where there is discord, may we bring harmony;
Where there is error, may we bring truth;
Where there is doubt, may we bring faith;
And where there is despair, may we bring hope.

In office throughout the 1980s, Thatcher was frequently referred to as the most powerful woman in the world.

Domestic affairs

Minorities

Thatcher was the Opposition leader and prime minister at a time of increased racial tension in Britain. During the 1977 local elections, The Economist commented: "The Tory tide swamped the smaller parties – specifically the National Front [NF], which suffered a clear decline from last year." Her standing in the polls had risen by 11% after a 1978 interview for World in Action in which she said "the British character has done so much for democracy, for law and done so much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in", as well as "in many ways [minorities] add to the richness and variety of this country. The moment the minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened". In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives had attracted votes from the NF, whose support almost collapsed. In a July 1979 meeting with Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington and Home Secretary William Whitelaw, Thatcher objected to the number of Asian immigrants, in the context of limiting the total of Vietnamese boat people allowed to settle in the UK to fewer than 10,000 over two years.

The Queen

As prime minister, Thatcher met weekly with Queen Elizabeth II to discuss government business, and their relationship came under scrutiny. Campbell (2011a, p. 464) states:

One question that continued to fascinate the public about the phenomenon of a woman Prime Minister was how she got on with the Queen. The answer is that their relations were punctiliously correct, but there was little love lost on either side. As two women of very similar age – Mrs Thatcher was six months older – occupying parallel positions at the top of the social pyramid, one the head of government, the other head of state, they were bound to be in some sense rivals. Mrs Thatcher's attitude to the Queen was ambivalent. On the one hand she had an almost mystical reverence for the institution of the monarchy Yet at the same time she was trying to modernise the country and sweep away many of the values and practices which the monarchy perpetuated.

Michael Shea, the Queen's press secretary, in 1986 leaked stories of a deep rift to The Sunday Times. He said that she felt Thatcher's policies were "uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive". Thatcher later wrote: "I always found the Queen's attitude towards the work of the Government absolutely correct stories of clashes between 'two powerful women' were just too good not to make up."

Economy and taxation

See also: 1979 budget
Economic growth and public spending
% change in real terms: 1979/80 to 1989/90
Economic growth (GDP) +23.3
Total government spending +12.9
 Law and order +53.3
 Employment and training +33.3
 NHS +31.8
 Social security +31.8
 Education +13.7
 Defence +9.2
 Environment +7.9
 Transport −5.8
 Trade and industry −38.2
 Housing −67.0
Source: Stewart (2013, Appendix)

Thatcher's economic policy was influenced by monetarist thinking and economists such as Milton Friedman and Alan Walters. Together with her first chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, she lowered direct taxes on income and increased indirect taxes. She increased interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply, and thereby lower inflation; introduced cash limits on public spending and reduced expenditure on social services such as education and housing. Cuts to higher education led to Thatcher being the first Oxonian post-war prime minister without an honorary doctorate from Oxford University after a 738–319 vote of the governing assembly and a student petition.

Some Heathite Conservatives in the Cabinet, the so-called "wets", expressed doubt over Thatcher's policies. The 1981 England riots resulted in the British media discussing the need for a policy U-turn. At the 1980 Conservative Party conference, Thatcher addressed the issue directly with a speech written by the playwright Ronald Millar, that notably included the following lines:

To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the "U" turn, I have only one thing to say. "You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."

See also: 1981 budget

Thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23% by December 1980, lower than recorded for any previous prime minister. As the recession of the early 1980s deepened, she increased taxes, despite concerns expressed in a March 1981 statement signed by 364 leading economists, which argued there was "no basis in economic theory for the Government's belief that by deflating demand they will bring inflation permanently under control", adding that "present policies will deepen the depression, erode the industrial base of our economy and threaten its social and political stability".

photograph
Visiting Salford University in 1982

By 1982, the UK began to experience signs of economic recovery; inflation was down to 8.6% from a high of 18%, but unemployment was over 3 million for the first time since the 1930s. By 1983, overall economic growth was stronger, and inflation and mortgage rates had fallen to their lowest levels in 13 years, although manufacturing employment as a share of total employment fell to just over 30%, with total unemployment remaining high, peaking at 3.3 million in 1984.

During the 1982 Conservative Party Conference, Thatcher said: "We have done more to roll back the frontiers of socialism than any previous Conservative Government." She said at the Party Conference the following year that the British people had completely rejected state socialism and understood "the state has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money."

By 1987, unemployment was falling, the economy was stable and strong, and inflation was low. Opinion polls showed a comfortable Conservative lead, and local council election results had also been successful, prompting Thatcher to call a general election for 11 June that year, despite the deadline for an election still being 12 months away. The election saw Thatcher re-elected for a third successive term.

Thatcher had been firmly opposed to British membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM, a precursor to European Economic and Monetary Union), believing that it would constrain the British economy, despite the urging of both Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson and Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe; in October 1990 she was persuaded by John Major, Lawson's successor as chancellor, to join the ERM at what proved to be too high a rate.

Thatcher reformed local government taxes by replacing domestic rates (a tax based on the nominal rental value of a home) with the Community Charge (or poll tax) in which the same amount was charged to each adult resident. The new tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales the following year, and proved to be among the most unpopular policies of her premiership. Public disquiet culminated in a 70,000 to 200,000-strong demonstration in London in March 1990; the demonstration around Trafalgar Square deteriorated into riots, leaving 113 people injured and 340 under arrest. The Community Charge was abolished in 1991 by her successor, John Major. It has since transpired that Thatcher herself had failed to register for the tax and was threatened with financial penalties if she did not return her form.

Industrial relations

See also: GCHQ trade union ban and the GCHQ case

Thatcher believed that the trade unions were harmful to both ordinary trade unionists and the public. She was committed to reducing the power of the unions, whose leadership she accused of undermining parliamentary democracy and economic performance through strike action. Several unions launched strikes in response to legislation introduced to limit their power, but resistance eventually collapsed. Only 39% of union members voted Labour in the 1983 general election. According to the BBC's political correspondent in 2004, Thatcher "managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation". The miners' strike of 1984–85 was the biggest and most devastating confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government.

photograph
Pro-strike rally in London, 1984

In March 1984, the National Coal Board (NCB) proposed to close 20 of the 174 state-owned mines and cut 20,000 jobs out of 187,000. Two-thirds of the country's miners, led by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) under Arthur Scargill, went on strike in protest. However, Scargill refused to hold a ballot on the strike, having previously lost three ballots on a national strike (in January and October 1982, and March 1983). This led to the strike being declared illegal by the High Court of Justice.

Thatcher refused to meet the union's demands and compared the miners' dispute to the Falklands War, declaring in a speech in 1984: "We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty." Thatcher's opponents characterised her words as indicating contempt for the working class and have been employed in criticism of her ever since.

After a year out on strike in March 1985, the NUM leadership conceded without a deal. The cost to the economy was estimated to be at least £1.5 billion, and the strike was blamed for much of the pound's fall against the US dollar. Thatcher reflected on the end of the strike in her statement that "if anyone has won", it was "the miners who stayed at work" and all those "that have kept Britain going".

The government closed 25 unprofitable coal mines in 1985, and by 1992 a total of 97 mines had been closed; those that remained were privatised in 1994. The resulting closure of 150 coal mines, some of which were not losing money, resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and had the effect of devastating entire communities. Strikes had helped bring down Heath's government, and Thatcher was determined to succeed where he had failed. Her strategy of preparing fuel stocks, appointing hardliner Ian MacGregor as NCB leader and ensuring that police were adequately trained and equipped with riot gear contributed to her triumph over the striking miners.

The number of stoppages across the UK peaked at 4,583 in 1979, when more than 29 million working days had been lost. In 1984, the year of the miners' strike, there were 1,221, resulting in the loss of more than 27 million working days. Stoppages then fell steadily throughout the rest of Thatcher's premiership; in 1990, there were 630 and fewer than 2 million working days lost, and they continued to fall thereafter. Thatcher's tenure also witnessed a sharp decline in trade union density, with the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union falling from 57.3% in 1979 to 49.5% in 1985. In 1979 up until Thatcher's final year in office, trade union membership also fell, from 13.5 million in 1979 to fewer than 10 million.

Privatisation

The policy of privatisation has been called "a crucial ingredient of Thatcherism". After the 1983 election, the sale of state utilities accelerated; more than £29 billion was raised from the sale of nationalised industries, and another £18 billion from the sale of council houses. The process of privatisation, especially the preparation of nationalised industries for privatisation, was associated with marked improvements in performance, particularly in terms of labour productivity.

Some of the privatised industries, including gas, water, and electricity, were natural monopolies for which privatisation involved little increase in competition. The privatised industries that demonstrated improvement sometimes did so while still under state ownership. British Steel Corporation had made great gains in profitability while still a nationalised industry under the government-appointed MacGregor chairmanship, which faced down trade-union opposition to close plants and halve the workforce. Regulation was also significantly expanded to compensate for the loss of direct government control, with the foundation of regulatory bodies such as Oftel (1984), Ofgas (1986), and the National Rivers Authority (1989). There was no clear pattern to the degree of competition, regulation, and performance among the privatised industries.

In most cases, privatisation benefited consumers in terms of lower prices and improved efficiency but results overall have been mixed. Not all privatised companies have had successful share price trajectories in the longer term. A 2010 review by the IEA states: "t does seem to be the case that once competition and/or effective regulation was introduced, performance improved markedly But I hasten to emphasise again that the literature is not unanimous."

Thatcher always resisted privatising British Rail and was said to have told Transport Secretary Nicholas Ridley: "Railway privatisation will be the Waterloo of this government. Please never mention the railways to me again." Shortly before her resignation in 1990, she accepted the arguments for privatisation, which her successor John Major implemented in 1994.

The privatisation of public assets was combined with financial deregulation to fuel economic growth. Chancellor Geoffrey Howe abolished the UK's exchange controls in 1979, which allowed more capital to be invested in foreign markets, and the Big Bang of 1986 removed many restrictions on the London Stock Exchange.

Northern Ireland

Margaret and Denis Thatcher on a visit to Northern Ireland
Visiting Northern Ireland in 1982

In 1980 and 1981, Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison carried out hunger strikes to regain the status of political prisoners that had been removed in 1976 by the preceding Labour government. Bobby Sands began the 1981 strike, saying that he would fast until death unless prison inmates won concessions over their living conditions. Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for the prisoners, having declared "Crime is crime is crime; it is not political". Nevertheless, the British government privately contacted republican leaders in a bid to bring the hunger strikes to an end. After the deaths of Sands and nine others, the strike ended. Some rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but not official recognition of political status. Violence in Northern Ireland escalated significantly during the hunger strikes.

Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in an IRA assassination attempt at a Brighton hotel early in the morning on 12 October 1984. Five people were killed, including the wife of minister John Wakeham. Thatcher was staying at the hotel to prepare for the Conservative Party conference, which she insisted should open as scheduled the following day. She delivered her speech as planned, though rewritten from her original draft, in a move that was supported across the political spectrum and enhanced her popularity with the public.

On 6 November 1981, Thatcher and Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Garret FitzGerald had established the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council, a forum for meetings between the two governments. On 15 November 1985, Thatcher and FitzGerald signed the Hillsborough Anglo-Irish Agreement, which marked the first time a British government had given the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland. In protest, the Ulster Says No movement led by Ian Paisley attracted 100,000 to a rally in Belfast, Ian Gow, later assassinated by the PIRA, resigned as Minister of State in HM Treasury, and all 15 Unionist MPs resigned their parliamentary seats; only one was not returned in the subsequent by-elections on 23 January 1986.

Environment

Thatcher supported an active climate protection policy; she was instrumental in the passing of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the founding of the Hadley Centre for Climate Research and Prediction, the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the ratification of the Montreal Protocol on preserving the ozone.

Thatcher helped to put climate change, acid rain and general pollution in the British mainstream in the late 1980s, calling for a global treaty on climate change in 1989. Her speeches included one to the Royal Society in 1988, followed by another to the UN General Assembly in 1989.

Foreign affairs

Thatcher sitting with Jimmy CarterWith President Carter in the Oval Office, 1979Thatcher sitting with Ronald ReaganWith President Reagan in the Oval Office, 1988Thatcher standing with George H. W. BushWith President Bush in Aspen, Colorado, 1990

Thatcher appointed Lord Carrington, an ennobled member of the party and former Secretary of State for Defence, to run the Foreign Office in 1979. Although considered a "wet", he avoided domestic affairs and got along well with Thatcher. One issue was what to do with Rhodesia, where the white minority had determined to rule the prosperous, black-majority breakaway colony in the face of overwhelming international criticism. With the 1975 Portuguese collapse in the continent, South Africa (which had been Rhodesia's chief supporter) realised that their ally was a liability; black rule was inevitable, and the Thatcher government brokered a peaceful solution to end the Rhodesian Bush War in December 1979 via the Lancaster House Agreement. The conference at Lancaster House was attended by Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith, as well as by the key black leaders: Muzorewa, Mugabe, Nkomo and Tongogara. The result was the new Zimbabwean nation under black rule in 1980.

Cold War

Thatcher's first foreign-policy crisis came with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. She condemned the invasion, said it showed the bankruptcy of a détente policy and helped convince some British athletes to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics. She gave weak support to US president Jimmy Carter who tried to punish the USSR with economic sanctions. Britain's economic situation was precarious, and most of NATO was reluctant to cut trade ties. Thatcher nevertheless gave the go-ahead for Whitehall to approve MI6 (along with the SAS) to undertake "disruptive action" in Afghanistan. As well as working with the CIA in Operation Cyclone, they also supplied weapons, training and intelligence to the mujaheddin.

The Financial Times reported in 2011 that her government had secretly supplied Iraq under Saddam Hussein with "non-lethal" military equipment since 1981.

Having withdrawn formal recognition from the Pol Pot regime in 1979, the Thatcher government backed the Khmer Rouge keeping their UN seat after they were ousted from power in Cambodia by the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Although Thatcher denied it at the time, it was revealed in 1991 that, while not directly training any Khmer Rouge, from 1983 the Special Air Service (SAS) was sent to secretly train "the armed forces of the Cambodian non-communist resistance" that remained loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk and his former prime minister Son Sann in the fight against the Vietnamese-backed puppet regime.

Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond warmly to reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Following Reagan–Gorbachev summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, she declared in November 1988 that "e're not in a Cold War now" but rather in a "new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was". She went on a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1984 and met with Gorbachev and Council of Ministers chairman Nikolai Ryzhkov.

Ties with the US

photograph
Meeting Reagan's cabinet with ministers in the White House Cabinet Room, 1981

Despite opposite personalities, Thatcher bonded quickly with US president Ronald Reagan. She gave strong support to the Reagan administration's Cold War policies based on their shared distrust of communism. A sharp disagreement came in 1983 when Reagan did not consult with her on the invasion of Grenada.

During her first year as prime minister, she supported NATO's decision to deploy US nuclear cruise and Pershing II missiles in Western Europe, permitting the US to station more than 160 cruise missiles at RAF Greenham Common, starting in November 1983 and triggering mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She bought the Trident nuclear missile submarine system from the US to replace Polaris, tripling the UK's nuclear forces at an eventual cost of more than £12 billion (at 1996–97 prices). Thatcher's preference for defence ties with the US was demonstrated in the Westland affair of 1985–86 when she acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer Westland to refuse a takeover offer from the Italian firm Agusta in favour of the management's preferred option, a link with Sikorsky Aircraft. Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine, who had supported the Agusta deal, resigned from the government in protest.

In April 1986 she permitted US F-111s to use Royal Air Force bases for the bombing of Libya in retaliation for the Libyan bombing of a Berlin discothèque, citing the right of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter. Polls suggested that fewer than one in three British citizens approved of her decision.

Thatcher was in the US on a state visit when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990. During her talks with President George H. W. Bush, who succeeded Reagan in 1989, she recommended intervention, and put pressure on Bush to deploy troops in the Middle East to drive the Iraqi Army out of Kuwait. Bush was apprehensive about the plan, prompting Thatcher to remark to him during a telephone conversation: "This was no time to go wobbly!" Thatcher's government supplied military forces to the international coalition in the build-up to the Gulf War, but she had resigned by the time hostilities began on 17 January 1991. She applauded the coalition victory on the backbenches, while warning that "the victories of peace will take longer than the battles of war". It was disclosed in 2017 that Thatcher had suggested threatening Saddam with chemical weapons after the invasion of Kuwait.

Crisis in the South Atlantic

See also: "Rejoice", sinking of the ARA General Belgrano, and the Diana Gould exchange

On 2 April 1982, the ruling military junta in Argentina ordered the invasion of the British Overseas Territories of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, triggering the Falklands War. The subsequent crisis was "a defining moment of [Thatcher's] premiership". At the suggestion of Harold Macmillan and Robert Armstrong, she set up and chaired a small War Cabinet (formally called ODSA, Overseas and Defence committee, South Atlantic) to oversee the conduct of the war, which by 5–6 April had authorised and dispatched a naval task force to retake the islands. Argentina surrendered on 14 June and Operation Corporate was hailed a success, notwithstanding the deaths of 255 British servicemen and three Falkland Islanders. Argentine fatalities totalled 649, half of them after the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror torpedoed and sank the cruiser ARA General Belgrano on 2 May.

Thatcher was criticised for the neglect of the Falklands' defence that led to the war, and especially by Labour MP Tam Dalyell in Parliament for the decision to torpedo the General Belgrano, but overall, she was considered a competent and committed war leader. The "Falklands factor", an economic recovery beginning early in 1982, and a bitterly divided opposition all contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in 1983. Thatcher frequently referred after the war to the "Falklands spirit"; Hastings & Jenkins (1983, p. 329) suggests that this reflected her preference for the streamlined decision-making of her War Cabinet over the painstaking deal-making of peacetime cabinet government.

Negotiating Hong Kong

In September 1982, she visited China to discuss with Deng Xiaoping the sovereignty of Hong Kong after 1997. China was the first communist state Thatcher had visited as prime minister, and she was the first British prime minister to visit China. Throughout their meeting, she sought the PRC's agreement to a continued British presence in the territory. Deng insisted that the PRC's sovereignty over Hong Kong was non-negotiable but stated his willingness to settle the sovereignty issue with the British government through formal negotiations. Both governments promised to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. After the two-year negotiations, Thatcher conceded to the PRC government and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Beijing in 1984, agreeing to hand over Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997.

Apartheid in South Africa

Despite saying that she was in favour of "peaceful negotiations" to end apartheid, Thatcher opposed sanctions imposed on South Africa by the Commonwealth and the European Economic Community (EEC). She attempted to preserve trade with South Africa while persuading its government to abandon apartheid. This included "asting herself as President Botha's candid friend" and inviting him to visit the UK in 1984, despite the "inevitable demonstrations" against his government. Alan Merrydew of the Canadian broadcaster BCTV News asked Thatcher what her response was "to a reported ANC statement that they will target British firms in South Africa?" to which she later replied: " when the ANC says that they will target British companies This shows what a typical terrorist organisation it is. I fought terrorism all my life and if more people fought it, and we were all more successful, we should not have it and I hope that everyone in this hall will think it is right to go on fighting terrorism." During his visit to Britain five months after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela praised Thatcher: "She is an enemy of apartheid We have much to thank her for."

Europe

See also: Bruges speech
External videos
1988 speech to the College of Europe
video icon Speech to the College of Europe ('The Bruges Speech') (Speech) – via the Margaret Thatcher Foundation.

Thatcher and her party supported British membership of the EEC in the 1975 national referendum and the Single European Act of 1986, and obtained the UK rebate on contributions, but she believed that the role of the organisation should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition, and feared that the EEC approach was at odds with her views on smaller government and deregulation. Believing that the single market would result in political integration, Thatcher's opposition to further European integration became more pronounced during her premiership and particularly after her third government in 1987. In her Bruges speech in 1988, Thatcher outlined her opposition to proposals from the EEC, forerunner of the European Union, for a federal structure and increased centralisation of decision-making:

We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.

Sharing the concerns of French president François Mitterrand, Thatcher was initially opposed to German reunification, telling Gorbachev that it "would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security". She expressed concern that a united Germany would align itself more closely with the Soviet Union and move away from NATO.

In March 1990, Thatcher held a Chequers seminar on the subject of German reunification that was attended by members of her cabinet and historians such as Norman Stone, George Urban, Timothy Garton Ash and Gordon A. Craig. During the seminar, Thatcher described "what Urban called 'saloon bar clichés' about the German character, including 'angst, aggressiveness, assertiveness, bullying, egotism, inferiority complex [and] sentimentality'". Those present were shocked to hear Thatcher's utterances and "appalled" at how she was "apparently unaware" about the post-war German collective guilt and Germans' attempts to work through their past. The words of the meeting were leaked by her foreign-policy advisor Charles Powell and, subsequently, her comments were met with fierce backlash and controversy.

During the same month, German chancellor Helmut Kohl reassured Thatcher that he would keep her "informed of all his intentions about unification", and that he was prepared to disclose "matters which even his cabinet would not know".

Challenges to leadership and resignation

Main articles: 1989 Conservative Party leadership election and 1990 Conservative Party leadership election
Thatcher in a blue suit and hat, walking in front of troops
Reviewing the Royal Bermuda Regiment in 1990

During her premiership, Thatcher had the second-lowest average approval rating (40%) of any post-war prime minister. Since Nigel Lawson's resignation as chancellor in October 1989, polls consistently showed that she was less popular than her party. A self-described conviction politician, Thatcher always insisted that she did not care about her poll ratings and pointed instead to her unbeaten election record.

In December 1989, Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP Sir Anthony Meyer. Of the 374 Conservative MPs eligible to vote, 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Meyer. Her supporters in the party viewed the result as a success and rejected suggestions that there was discontent within the party.

Opinion polls in September 1990 reported that Labour had established a 14% lead over the Conservatives, and by November, the Conservatives had been trailing Labour for 18 months. These ratings, together with Thatcher's combative personality and tendency to override collegiate opinion, contributed to further discontent within her party.

In July 1989, Thatcher removed Geoffrey Howe as foreign secretary after he and Lawson had forced her to agree to a plan for Britain to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). Britain joined the ERM in October 1990.

On 1 November 1990, Howe, by then the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet, resigned as deputy prime minister, ostensibly over her open hostility to moves towards European monetary union. In his resignation speech on 13 November, which was instrumental in Thatcher's downfall, Howe attacked Thatcher's openly dismissive attitude to the government's proposal for a new European currency competing against existing currencies (a "hard ECU"):

How on earth are the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England, commending the hard ECU as they strive to, to be taken as serious participants in the debate against that kind of background noise? I believe that both the Chancellor and the Governor are cricketing enthusiasts, so I hope that there is no monopoly of cricketing metaphors. It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find, the moment the first balls are bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.

On 14 November, Michael Heseltine mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour. Although Thatcher led on the first ballot with the votes of 204 Conservative MPs (54.8%) to 152 votes (40.9%) for Heseltine, with 16 abstentions, she was four votes short of the required 15% majority. A second ballot was therefore necessary. Thatcher initially declared her intention to "fight on and fight to win" the second ballot, but consultation with her cabinet persuaded her to withdraw. After holding an audience with the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech, on 28 November she left Downing Street in tears. She reportedly regarded her ousting as a betrayal. Her resignation was a shock to many outside Britain, with such foreign observers as Henry Kissinger and Gorbachev expressing private consternation.

Chancellor John Major replaced Thatcher as head of government and party leader, whose lead over Heseltine in the second ballot was sufficient for Heseltine to drop out. Major oversaw an upturn in Conservative support in the 17 months leading to the 1992 general election and led the party to a fourth successive victory on 9 April 1992. Thatcher had lobbied for Major in the leadership contest against Heseltine, but her support for him waned in later years.

Later life

Return to backbenches (1990–1992)

After leaving the premiership, Thatcher returned to the backbenches as a constituency parliamentarian. Her domestic approval rating recovered after her resignation, though public opinion remained divided on whether her government had been good for the country. Aged 66, she retired from the House of Commons at the 1992 general election, saying that leaving the Commons would allow her more freedom to speak her mind.

Post-Commons (1992–2003)

On leaving the Commons, Thatcher became the first former British prime minister to set up a foundation; the British wing of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation was dissolved in 2005 due to financial difficulties. She wrote two volumes of memoirs, The Downing Street Years (1993) and The Path to Power (1995). In 1991, she and her husband Denis moved to a house in Chester Square, a residential garden square in central London's Belgravia district.

Thatcher was hired by the tobacco company Philip Morris as a "geopolitical consultant" in July 1992 for $250,000 per year and an annual contribution of $250,000 to her foundation. Thatcher earned $50,000 for each speech she delivered.

Thatcher became an advocate of Croatian and Slovenian independence. Commenting on the Yugoslav Wars, in a 1991 interview for Croatian Radiotelevision, she was critical of Western governments for not recognising the breakaway republics of Croatia and Slovenia as independent and for not supplying them with arms after the Serbian-led Yugoslav Army attacked. In August 1992, she called for NATO to stop the Serbian assault on Goražde and Sarajevo to end ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War, comparing the situation in Bosnia–Herzegovina to "the barbarities of Hitler's and Stalin's".

She made a series of speeches in the Lords criticising the Maastricht Treaty, describing it as "a treaty too far" and stated: "I could never have signed this treaty." She cited A. V. Dicey when arguing that, as all three main parties were in favour of the treaty, the people should have their say in a referendum.

Thatcher served as honorary chancellor of the College of William & Mary in Virginia from 1993 to 2000, while also serving as chancellor of the private University of Buckingham from 1992 to 1998, a university she had formally opened in 1976 as the former education secretary.

After Tony Blair's election as Labour Party leader in 1994, Thatcher praised Blair as "probably the most formidable Labour leader since Hugh Gaitskell", adding: "I see a lot of socialism behind their front bench, but not in Mr Blair. I think he genuinely has moved." Blair responded in kind: "She was a thoroughly determined person, and that is an admirable quality."

In 1998, Thatcher called for the release of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet when Spain had him arrested and sought to try him for human rights violations. She cited the help he gave Britain during the Falklands War. In 1999, she visited him while he was under house arrest near London. Pinochet was released in March 2000 on medical grounds by Home Secretary Jack Straw.

Thatcher in a red coat, standing in the Vehicle Assembly Building
Touring the Kennedy Space Center in 2001

At the 2001 general election, Thatcher supported the Conservative campaign, as she had done in 1992 and 1997, and in the Conservative leadership election following its defeat, she endorsed Iain Duncan Smith over Kenneth Clarke. In 2002 she encouraged George W. Bush to aggressively tackle the "unfinished business" of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and praised Blair for his "strong, bold leadership" in standing with Bush in the Iraq War.

She broached the same subject in her Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, which was published in April 2002 and dedicated to Ronald Reagan, writing that there would be no peace in the Middle East until Saddam was toppled. Her book also said that Israel must trade land for peace and that the European Union (EU) was a "fundamentally unreformable", "classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure". She argued that Britain should renegotiate its terms of membership or else leave the EU and join the North American Free Trade Area.

Following several small strokes, her doctors advised her not to engage in further public speaking. In March 2002 she announced that, on doctors' advice, she would cancel all planned speaking engagements and accept no more.

Extract from The Downing Street Years

Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be: you cannot lead from the crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend.

Thatcher (1993, p. 23)

On 26 June 2003, Thatcher's husband, Sir Denis, died aged 88; his body was cremated on 3 July at Mortlake Crematorium in London.

Final years (2003–2013)

Thatcher exiting a limousine on the ramp at Andrews Air Force Base
Arriving for the funeral of President Reagan in 2004

On 11 June 2004, Thatcher (against doctors' orders) attended the state funeral service for Ronald Reagan. She delivered her eulogy via videotape; in view of her health, the message had been pre-recorded several months earlier. Thatcher flew to California with the Reagan entourage, and attended the memorial service and interment ceremony for the president at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

In 2005, Thatcher criticised how Blair had decided to invade Iraq two years previously. Although she still supported the intervention to topple Saddam Hussein, she said that (as a scientist) she would always look for "facts, evidence and proof" before committing the armed forces. She celebrated her 80th birthday on 13 October at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, London; guests included the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra and Tony Blair. Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, was also in attendance and said of his former leader: "Her real triumph was to have transformed not just one party but two, so that when Labour did eventually return, the great bulk of Thatcherism was accepted as irreversible."

In the US, 2006Thatcher standing with Dick and Lynne CheneyThatcher (left) at a Washington memorial service on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacksThatcher sharing a laugh with Donald Rumsfeld and Peter PaceWith Donald Rumsfeld and General Pace at the Pentagon

In 2006, Thatcher attended the official Washington memorial service to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the US. She was a guest of Vice President Dick Cheney and met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit. In February 2007 Thatcher became the first living British prime minister to be honoured with a statue in the Houses of Parliament. The bronze statue stood opposite that of her political hero, Winston Churchill, and was unveiled on 21 February 2007 with Thatcher in attendance; she remarked in the Members' Lobby of the Commons: "I might have preferred iron – but bronze will do It won't rust."

Thatcher was a public supporter of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism and the resulting Prague Process and sent a public letter of support to its preceding conference.

After collapsing at a House of Lords dinner, Thatcher, suffering low blood pressure, was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital in central London on 7 March 2008 for tests. In 2009 she was hospitalised again when she fell and broke her arm. Thatcher returned to 10 Downing Street in late November 2009 for the unveiling of an official portrait by artist Richard Stone, an unusual honour for a living former prime minister. Stone was previously commissioned to paint portraits of the Queen and Queen Mother.

On 4 July 2011, Thatcher was to attend a ceremony for the unveiling of a 10 ft (3.0 m) statue of Ronald Reagan outside the US embassy in London, but was unable to attend due to her frail health. She last attended a sitting of the House of Lords on 19 July 2010, and on 30 July 2011 it was announced that her office in the Lords had been closed. Earlier that month, Thatcher was named the most competent prime minister of the past 30 years in an Ipsos MORI poll.

Thatcher's daughter Carol first revealed that her mother had dementia in 2005, saying "Mum doesn't read much any more because of her memory loss". In her 2008 memoir, Carol wrote that her mother "could hardly remember the beginning of a sentence by the time she got to the end". She later recounted how she was first struck by her mother's dementia when, in conversation, Thatcher confused the Falklands and Yugoslav conflicts; she recalled the pain of needing to tell her mother repeatedly that her husband Denis was dead.

Death and funeral (2013)

Main article: Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher photographThatcher's coffin being carried up the steps of St Paul's CathedralphotographPlaques on the graves of Margaret and Denis Thatcher at the Royal Hospital Chelsea

Thatcher died on 8 April 2013, at the age of 87, after suffering a stroke. She had been staying at a suite in the Ritz Hotel in London since December 2012 after having difficulty with stairs at her Chester Square home in Belgravia. Her death certificate listed the primary causes of death as a "cerebrovascular accident" and "repeated transient ischaemic attack"; secondary causes were listed as a "carcinoma of the bladder" and dementia.

Reactions to the news of Thatcher's death were mixed across the UK, ranging from tributes lauding her as Britain's greatest-ever peacetime prime minister to public celebrations of her death and expressions of hatred and personalised vitriol.

Details of Thatcher's funeral had been agreed upon with her in advance. She received a ceremonial funeral, including full military honours, with a church service at St Paul's Cathedral on 17 April.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended her funeral, marking only the second and final time in the Queen's reign that she attended the funeral of any of her former prime ministers, after that of Churchill, who received a state funeral in 1965.

After the service at St Paul's, Thatcher's body was cremated at Mortlake, where her husband's had been cremated. On 28 September, a service for Thatcher was held in the All Saints Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea's Margaret Thatcher Infirmary. In a private ceremony, Thatcher's ashes were interred in the hospital's grounds, next to her husband's.

Legacy

Political impact

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Thatcherism represented a systematic and decisive overhaul of the post-war consensus, whereby the major political parties largely agreed on the central themes of Keynesianism, the welfare state, nationalised industry, and close regulation of the economy, and high taxes. Thatcher generally supported the welfare state while proposing to rid it of abuses.

She promised in 1982 that the highly popular National Health Service was "safe in our hands". At first, she ignored the question of privatising nationalised industries; heavily influenced by right-wing think tanks, and especially by Sir Keith Joseph, Thatcher broadened her attack. Thatcherism came to refer to her policies as well as aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including moral absolutism, nationalism, liberal individualism, and an uncompromising approach to achieving political goals.

Thatcher defined her political philosophy, in a major and controversial break with the one-nation conservatism of her predecessor Edward Heath, in a 1987 interview published in Woman's Own magazine:

I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand "I have a problem, it is the Government's job to cope with it!" or "I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!" "I am homeless, the Government must house me!" and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour and life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations.

Overview

The number of adults owning shares rose from 7 per cent to 25 per cent during her tenure, and more than a million families bought their council houses, increasing from 55 per cent to 67 per cent in owner-occupiers from 1979 to 1990. The houses were sold at a discount of 33–55 per cent, leading to large profits for some new owners. Personal wealth rose by 80 per cent in real terms during the 1980s, mainly due to rising house prices and increased earnings. Shares in the privatised utilities were sold below their market value to ensure quick and wide sales rather than maximise national income.

The "Thatcher years" were also marked by periods of high unemployment and social unrest, and many critics on the left of the political spectrum fault her economic policies for the unemployment level; many of the areas affected by mass unemployment as well as her monetarist economic policies remained blighted for decades, by such social problems as drug abuse and family breakdown. Unemployment did not fall below its May 1979 level during her tenure, only falling below its April 1979 level in 1990. The long-term effects of her policies on manufacturing remain contentious.

Speaking in Scotland in 2009, Thatcher insisted she had no regrets and was right to introduce the poll tax and withdraw subsidies from "outdated industries, whose markets were in terminal decline", subsidies that created "the culture of dependency, which had done such damage to Britain". Political economist Susan Strange termed the neoliberal financial growth model "casino capitalism", reflecting her view that speculation and financial trading were becoming more important to the economy than industry.

Critics on the left describe her as divisive and say she condoned greed and selfishness. Leading Welsh politician Rhodri Morgan, among others, characterised Thatcher as a "Marmite" figure. Journalist Michael White, writing in the aftermath of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, challenged the view that her reforms were still a net benefit. Others consider her approach to have been "a mixed bag" and "[a] Curate's egg".

Thatcher did "little to advance the political cause of women" within her party or the government. Some British feminists regarded her as "an enemy". June Purvis in Women's History Review says that, although Thatcher had struggled laboriously against the sexist prejudices of her day to rise to the top, she made no effort to ease the path for other women. Thatcher did not regard women's rights as requiring particular attention as she did not, especially during her premiership, consider that women were being deprived of their rights. She had once suggested the shortlisting of women by default for all public appointments and proposed that those with young children should leave the workforce.

Thatcher's stance on immigration in the late 1970s was perceived as part of a rising racist public discourse, which Martin Barker terms "new racism". In opposition, Thatcher believed that the National Front (NF) was winning over large numbers of Conservative voters with warnings against floods of immigrants. Her strategy was to undermine the NF narrative by acknowledging that many of their voters had serious concerns in need of addressing. In 1978 she criticised Labour's immigration policy to attract voters away from the NF to the Conservatives. Her rhetoric was followed by increased Conservative support at the expense of the NF. Critics on the left accused her of pandering to racism.

Many Thatcherite policies influenced the Labour Party, which returned to power in 1997 under Tony Blair. Blair rebranded the party "New Labour" in 1994 with the aim of increasing its appeal beyond its traditional supporters, and to attract those who had supported Thatcher, such as the "Essex man". Thatcher is said to have regarded the "New Labour" rebranding as her greatest achievement. In contrast to Blair, the Conservative Party under William Hague attempted to distance himself and the party from Thatcher's economic policies in an attempt to gain public approval.

Shortly after Thatcher died in 2013, Scottish first minister Alex Salmond argued that her policies had the "unintended consequence" of encouraging Scottish devolution. Lord Foulkes of Cumnock agreed on Scotland Tonight that she had provided "the impetus" for devolution. Writing for The Scotsman in 1997, Thatcher argued against devolution on the basis that it would eventually lead to Scottish independence.

Reputation

Margaret Thatcher was not merely the first woman and the longest-serving Prime Minister of modern times, but the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the second half of the twentieth century. To some she was the saviour of her country who created a vigorous enterprise economy which twenty years later was still outperforming the more regulated economies of the Continent. To others, she was a narrow ideologue whose hard-faced policies legitimised greed, deliberately increased inequality and destroyed the nation's sense of solidarity and civic pride. There is no reconciling these views: yet both are true.

Biographer John Campbell (2011b, p. 499)

Thatcher's tenure of 11 years and 209 days as British prime minister was the longest since Lord Salisbury in the late 19th century (13 years and 252 days, in three spells) and the longest continuous period in office since Lord Liverpool in the early 19th century (14 years and 305 days).

Having led the Conservative Party to victory in three consecutive general elections, twice in a landslide, she ranks among the most popular party leaders in British history regarding votes cast for the winning party; over 40 million ballots were cast in total for the party under her leadership. Her electoral successes were dubbed a "historic hat trick" by the British press in 1987.

Thatcher ranked highest among living persons in the 2002 BBC poll 100 Greatest Britons. In 1999, Time deemed Thatcher one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2015 she topped a poll by Scottish Widows, a major financial services company, as the most influential woman of the past 200 years; and in 2016 topped BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Power List of women judged to have had the biggest impact on female lives over the past 70 years. In 2020, Time magazine included Thatcher's name on its list of 100 Women of the Year. She was chosen as the Woman of the Year in 1982 when the Falklands War began under her command, resulting in the British victory.

In contrast to her relatively poor average approval rating as prime minister, Thatcher has since ranked highly in retrospective opinion polling and, according to YouGov, is "see in overall positive terms" by the British public. Just after her death in 2013, according to a poll by The Guardian, about half of the public viewed her positively while one third viewed her negatively. In a 2019 opinion poll by YouGov, most Britons rated her as Britain's greatest post-war leader (with Churchill coming second). According to the poll, more than four in ten Britons (44%) think that Thatcher was a "good" or "great" prime minister, compared to 29% who think she was a "poor" or "terrible" one. She was voted the fourth-greatest British prime minister of the 20th century in a 2011 poll of 139 academics organised by MORI. In a 2016 University of Leeds survey of 82 academics specialising in post-1945 British history and politics, she was voted the second-greatest British prime minister after the Second World War.

Cultural depictions

Main article: Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher

According to theatre critic Michael Billington, Thatcher left an "emphatic mark" on the arts while prime minister. One of the earliest satires of Thatcher as prime minister involved satirist John Wells (as writer and performer), actress Janet Brown (voicing Thatcher) and future Spitting Image producer John Lloyd (as co-producer), who in 1979 were teamed up by producer Martin Lewis for the satirical audio album The Iron Lady, which consisted of skits and songs satirising Thatcher's rise to power. The album was released in September 1979. Thatcher was heavily satirised on Spitting Image, and The Independent labelled her "every stand-up's dream".

Thatcher was the subject or the inspiration for 1980s protest songs. Musicians Billy Bragg and Paul Weller helped to form the Red Wedge collective to support Labour in opposition to Thatcher. Known as "Maggie" by supporters and opponents alike, the chant song "Maggie Out" became a signature rallying cry among the left during the latter half of her premiership.

Wells parodied Thatcher in several media. He collaborated with Richard Ingrams on the spoof "Dear Bill" letters, which ran as a column in Private Eye magazine; they were also published in book form and became a West End stage revue titled Anyone for Denis?, with Wells in the role of Thatcher's husband. It was followed by a 1982 TV special directed by Dick Clement, in which Thatcher was played by Angela Thorne.

Since her premiership, Thatcher has been portrayed in a number of television programmes, documentaries, films and plays. She was portrayed by Patricia Hodge in Ian Curteis's long unproduced The Falklands Play (2002) and by Andrea Riseborough in the TV film The Long Walk to Finchley (2008). She is the protagonist in two films, played by Lindsay Duncan in Margaret (2009) and by Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady (2011), in which she is depicted as suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease. She is a main character in the fourth season of The Crown, played by Gillian Anderson. Thatcher has a supporting role in the 2024 biographical film Reagan, played by Lesley-Anne Down.

Titles, awards and honours

Main article: List of honours of Margaret Thatcher
Thatcher standing with George H. W. Bush
Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991

Thatcher became a privy counsellor (PC) on becoming a secretary of state in 1970. She was the first woman entitled to full membership rights as an honorary member of the Carlton Club on becoming Conservative Party leader in 1975.

As prime minister, Thatcher received two honorary distinctions:

Orders of chivalryRibbon of the Order of the GarterThe Garter
UK, 1995
Ribbon of the Order of Good HopeGood Hope
RSA, 1991
Ribbon of the Order of MeritMerit
UK, 1990
Ribbon of the Order of St JohnSaint John
UK, 1991
Shown are the ribbons for each order bestowed on Thatcher.

Two weeks after her resignation, Thatcher was appointed Member of the Order of Merit (OM) by the Queen. Her husband Denis was made a hereditary baronet at the same time; as his wife, Thatcher was entitled to use the honorific style "Lady", an automatically conferred title that she declined to use. She would be made Lady Thatcher in her own right on her subsequent ennoblement in the House of Lords.

In the Falklands, Margaret Thatcher Day has been marked each 10 January since 1992, commemorating her first visit to the Islands in January 1983, six months after the end of the Falklands War in June 1982.

Thatcher became a member of the House of Lords in 1992 with a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire. Subsequently, the College of Arms granted her use of a personal coat of arms; she was allowed to revise these arms on her appointment as Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter (LG) in 1995, the highest order of chivalry.

Coats of arms of Baroness Thatcher
Pre–Garter appointment Post–Garter appointment
illustration illustration illustration of variant
1992–1995 Lozenge: 1995–2013 Escutcheon: 1995–2013

In the US, Thatcher received the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award from the Reagan Presidential Foundation in 1998; she was designated a patron of the Heritage Foundation in 2006, where she established the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

Published works

See also

References

Explanatory notes

  1. On 30 July 2011 it was announced that her office in the Lords had been closed.
  2. LG, OM, DStJ, PC, FRS, HonFRSC
  3. In her foreword to the Conservative manifesto of 1979, she wrote of "a feeling of helplessness, that we are a once great nation that has somehow fallen behind".
  4. Winning support from a majority of her party in the first round of votes, Thatcher fell four votes short of the required 15% margin to win the contest outright. Her fall has been characterised as "a rare coup d'état at the top of the British politics: the first since Lloyd George sawed Asquith off at the knees in 1916."
  5. James (1977, pp. 119–120): The hang-up has always been the voice. Not the timbre so much as, well, the tone – the condescending explanatory whine which treats the squirming interlocutor as an eight-year-old child with personality deficiencies. It has been fascinating, recently, to watch her striving to eliminate this. BBC2 News Extra on Tuesday night rolled a clip from May 1973 demonstrating the Thatcher sneer at full pitch. (She was saying that she wouldn't dream of seeking the leadership.) She sounded like a cat sliding down a blackboard.
  6. Thatcher succeeded in completely suppressing her Lincolnshire dialect except when under stress, notably after provocation from Denis Healey in the Commons in 1983, when she accused the Labour frontbench of being frit.
  7. Cannadine (2017): In many ways they were very different figures: he was sunny, genial, charming, relaxed, upbeat, and with little intellectual curiosity or command of policy detail; she was domineering, belligerent, confrontational, tireless, hyperactive, and with an unrivalled command of facts and figures. But the chemistry between them worked. Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously; she agreed with him about the importance of creating wealth, cutting taxes, and building up stronger defences against Soviet Russia; and both believed in liberty and free-market freedom, and in the need to outface what Reagan would later call 'the evil empire'.
  8. The United States has more than 330,000 members of her forces in Europe to defend our liberty. Because they are here, they are subject to terrorist attack. It is inconceivable that they should be refused the right to use American aircraft and American pilots in the inherent right of self-defence, to defend their own people.
  9. She was decidedly cool towards reunification prior to 1990, but made no attempt to block it.
  10. Moore (2013, p. 87): Neither at the beginning of her career nor when she was prime minister, did Margaret Thatcher ever reject the wartime foundations of the welfare state, whether in health, social policy or education. In this she was less radical than her critics or some of her admirers supposed. Her concern was to focus more on abuse of the system, on bureaucracy and union militancy, and on the growth of what later came to be called the dependency culture, rather than on the system itself.
  11. Lawson (1992, p. 64) lists the Thatcherite ideals as "a mixture of free markets, financial discipline, firm control over public expenditure, tax cuts, nationalism, 'Victorian values' (of the Samuel Smiles self-help variety), privatisation and a dash of populism".
  12. Mitchell & Russell (1989) posits that she had been misinterpreted and that race was never a focus of Thatcherism. By the 1980s, both the Conservatives and Labour had taken similar positions on immigration policy; the British Nationality Act 1981 was passed with cross-party support. There were no policies passed or proposed by ministers to restrict legal immigration, nor would Thatcher highlight the subject of race in any of her later remarks.
  13. Campbell (2011a, p. 800) also writes about a third view that can be argued: Thatcher "achieved much less" than she and her "dries" would claim; she failed to curb public spending, diminish or privatise the welfare state, change fundamental attitudes of the general public, or "enhance" freedom where she had instead centralised control over "many areas of national life".

Citations

  1. ^ Walker, Tim (30 July 2011). "Baroness Thatcher's office is closed". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 July 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  2. "1979 Conservative Party General Election Manifesto". PoliticalStuff.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  3. Heffer, Simon (29 October 2019). "The rats and cowards who brought down a Titan". The Critic. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  4. Beckett (2006), p. 3.
  5. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1062417)". National Heritage List for England. Lincolnshire. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  6. Plaque #10728 on Open Plaques
  7. Beckett (2006), p. 1.
  8. O'Sullivan, Majella (10 April 2013). "Margaret Thatcher's Irish roots lie in Co Kerry". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. Campbell (2011a), pp. 38–39.
  10. ^ Beckett (2006), p. 8.
  11. Johnson, Maureen (28 May 1988). "Bible-Quoting Thatcher Stirs Furious Debate". Associated Press.
  12. Filby, Eliza (31 October 2015). "God and Mrs. Thatcher: The Battle for Britain's Soul". National Review. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  13. ^ Moore, Charles (19 April 2013). "A side of Margaret Thatcher we've never seen". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  14. Beckett (2006), p. 5.
  15. Beckett (2006), p. 6; Blundell (2008), pp. 21–22.
  16. "School aims". Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  17. Moore (2019), p. 929.
  18. Beckett (2006), p. 12; Blundell (2008), p. 23.
  19. Blundell (2008), pp. 25–27; Beckett (2006), p. 16; Agar (2022).
  20. "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin". Somerville College, Oxford. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  21. ^ Agar (2022).
  22. Campbell (2000), p. 65; Agar (2022).
  23. Whittaker, Freddie; Waite, Debbie & Culliford, Elizabeth (9 April 2013). "Thatcher: college will honour its former student". Oxford Mail. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  24. ^ Runciman, David (6 June 2013). "Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat". London Review of Books. Archived from the original on 9 March 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  25. Bowcott, Owen (30 December 2016). "Thatcher fought to preserve women-only Oxford college". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  26. Dougill (1987), p. 4.
  27. ^ "Tony Bray – obituary". The Telegraph. 5 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  28. Campbell (2000), p. 47.
  29. ^ Lecher, Colin (8 April 2013). "How Thatcher The Chemist Helped Make Thatcher The Politician". Popular Science. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  30. Beckett (2006), pp. 20–21; Blundell (2008), p. 28.
  31. Blundell (2008), p. 30.
  32. Reitan (2003), p. 17.
  33. Beckett (2006), p. 17; Agar (2011).
  34. ^ Agar (2011).
  35. "In quotes: Margaret Thatcher". BBC News. 8 April 2013. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
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General bibliography

Main article: Bibliography of Margaret Thatcher

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