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Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG OM (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician, the first woman to become leader of the British Conservative Party and the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a position she held from 1979 to 1990. Early in her tenure she was called The Iron
Lady by Radio Moscow, an appelation which stuck.
Family life
Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts in the town of Grantham. Her father was Alfred Roberts who ran a grocers' shop in the town and was active in local
politics, serving as an Alderman (while officially described as 'Liberal Independent', in practice he supported the local Conservatives). When the Labour Party won control of Grantham Council in 1945, Alfred Roberts was not re-elected as an Alderman, a decision which affected Thatcher deeply.
Early career
She did well at school, going on to a girls' grammar school and then
to Somerville College, Oxford from 1944 where she
studied chemistry. She became Chairman of Oxford University Conservative
Association in 1946, the third woman to hold the post. She obtained a good degree and
worked as a research chemist for British Xylonite and then Lyons & Company, where she helped develop methods for preserving
ice cream.
In the election of 1950 she was the youngest woman Conservative candidate but fought in
the safe Labour seat of Dartford. She fought the seat again in the 1951
election. Her activity in the Conservative Party in Kent brought her into contact with
Denis Thatcher; they fell in love and were married later in 1951. Denis Thatcher was a wealthy businessman and funded his wife to read for the Bar. She qualified as a Barrister in 1953, the same year that her twin children, Carol and Mark were born. On returning to work, she specialised in tax
issues.
In Parliament
Thatcher had begun to look for a safe Conservative seat, and was narrowly rejected as candidate for Orpington in 1954. She had several other rejections before being
selected for Finchley in April 1958. She
easily won the seat in the 1959 election and took her seat in the House of Commons. Unusually, her maiden speech was made in support of her Private Member's Bill to force local councils to hold meetings in public. The Bill succeeded
and received Royal Assent.
She was given an early promotion to the front bench as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance in September 1961, keeping the post until the Conservatives lost power in the 1964
election. When Sir Alec Douglas-Home stepped down,
Thatcher voted for Edward Heath in the leadership election over Reginald Maudling, and was rewarded with the job of Conservative
spokesman on Housing and Land. She moved to the Shadow Treasury Team after
1966.
Thatcher was one of few Conservative MPs to support the Bill to decriminalise male homosexuality, and she voted in favour of the principle of David Steel's Bill to legalise abortion. However she was opposed
to the abolition of capital punishment. She made her mark as a
conference speaker in 1966 with a strong attack on the taxation policy of the Labour Government as being steps "not only towards Socialism, but towards Communism". She won promotion to the
Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Fuel Spokesman in 1967, and was then promoted to shadow Transport and finally Education before the 1970 general election.
In Heath's cabinet
When the Conservatives won the election, Thatcher became Secretary of State for Education and Science. In her first months in office, forced to
administer a cut in the Education budget, she decided that abolishing free milk in schools would be less harmful than other measures. Nevertheless, this provoked a storm of
public protest, earning her the nickname "Maggie Thatcher, milk snatcher", coined by The Sun. Her term was marked by many proposals for more local education authorities to adopt comprehensive secondary education, of which she approved 96%.
Thatcher also defended the budget of the Open University from
attempts to cut it.
After the Conservative defeat in February 1974, she was again promoted to be Shadow Environment Secretary. In this job she promoted a policy of abolishing the
rating system that paid for local government services, which proved
a popular policy within the Conservative Party. However she agreed with Sir
Keith Joseph that the Heath Government had lost control of monetary policy. After Heath lost the second election that year,
Joseph and other right-wingers declined to challenge his leadership but
Thatcher decided that she would. Unexpectedly she outpolled him on the first ballot and won the job on the second, in February
1975. She appointed Heath's preferred successor William Whitelaw as her Deputy.
As leader of the opposition
On 19 January 1976 she made a speech
at Kensington containing a scathing attack on the Soviet Union. She
declared that "The Russians are bent on world dominance" and that they "put guns before butter". In response,
the Soviet Defence Ministry newspaper Red Star gave her the nickname The Iron Lady. She took delight in
the name and it soon became associated with her image as an unwavering and steadfast character. She acquired many other nicknames
such as The Great She-Elephant, Attilla the Hen, and The Grocer's Daughter (due to her father's
profession, but coined at a time when she was considered as Edward Heath's
ally; he had been nicknamed The Grocer).
Thatcher had to act cautiously in converting the Conservative Party to her monetarist beliefs, due to the presence of many Heath supporters in the Shadow Cabinet. She reversed Heath's
support for devolution to Scotland. An interview she gave to Granada
Television's World in Action programme in 1978 spoke of her concern of immigrants "swamping" Britain aroused particular controversy. Most opinion polls
showed that voters preferred James Callaghan as Prime Minister even
when the Conservative Party was in the lead, but the Labour Government's severe difficulties with the Trades Unions over the winter of 1978–1979 (dubbed the 'Winter of Discontent') put the
Conservatives well ahead in the 1979 election and
Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister.
First term as Prime Minister
She formed a government on 4 May 1979, with a
mandate to reverse Britain's perceived economic decline and to reduce the extent of the state. Thatcher was incensed by one
contemporary view within the Civil Service that its job was to manage
Britain's decline from the days of Empire, and wanted the country to
punch above its weight in international affairs. She was a philosophic soulmate
with Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980
in the United States, and to a lesser extent Brian Mulroney, who was elected around the same time in Canada. It seemed for a time that conservatism might be the dominant political philosophy in the major
English-speaking nations for the era.
Thatcher began by increasing interest rates to drive down inflation. This move
hit businesses, especially in the manufacturing sector, and unemployment rose sharply. However her early tax policy reforms were arguably based
on supply-side economics. There was a severe recession in
the early 1980s, and the Government's economic policy was widely blamed. Political
commentators harked back to the Heath Government's "U-turn" and speculated that Mrs Thatcher would follow suit, but she
repudiated this approach at the 1980 Conservative Party conference, telling the party "You
turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning". That she meant what she said was confirmed in the 1981 budget, when despite an open letter from 364 economists, taxes were increased in the middle of a recession.
Though unemployment reached 3 million in January 1982, the inflation rate dropped to low single figures and interest rates were able to fall. By the time of the 1983 election the
economy was recovering well.
On 2 April 1982, Argentinian forces invaded the Falkland
Islands, a British colony claimed by Argentina (see History of the Falkland Islands). Thatcher
immediately sent a naval task force to the Falklands which defeated the
Argentineans, resulting in a wave of patriotic enthusiasm for her personally.
The landslide victory of the Conservatives in the June 1983 general election is often ascribed to the 'Falklands Effect'. Her policy of allowing
residents of council housing to buy their homes at a discount did
much to increase her popularity in working-class areas.
Second term as Prime Minister
Thatcher was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions but
unlike the Heath government, proceeded by way of incremental change rather than a single Act. Several unions decided to launch
strikes which were wholly or partly aimed at damaging her politically, in
particular the National Union of
Mineworkers. Thatcher had made preparations for the strike by building up coal stocks
and there were no power cuts, and picket line violence combined with the fact that the NUM had not held a ballot to approve action to swing
public opinion on her side. The Miners'
Strike lasted a full year (1984–1985)
before the miners were forced to give in and go back to work without a deal. After this strike, trade union resistance to reform
was much reduced and a succession of changes were made.
During the middle of the strike, on 11 October 1984, Thatcher miraculously escaped injury from a bomb planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Brighton's Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party conference. Five people died in the attack, including the
wife of Government Chief Whip, John Wakeham. A prominent member of the Cabinet,
Norman Tebbit, was injured, along with his wife, Margaret, who was left
paralyzed. Thatcher insisted that the Conference open on time the next day and made her speech as planned.
Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasised free markets and
entrepreneurialism. In her first term, she had experimented in selling off
a small nationalised industry to the public, with a surprisingly
large response. In the second term, the Government became bolder and sold off most of the large utilities which had been in
public ownership since the late 1940s. Many in the public took advantage of share offers, although many sold their shares immediately for a quick profit. The policy of
privatization became synonymous with Thatcherism.
United States forces were permitted by Mrs
Thatcher to station nuclear cruise missiles at British bases, arousing
mass protests by the Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament. She had no objections to the US bombing raid on Libya from bases
in Britain in 1986, and her liking for defence ties with the USA was demonstrated in the
Westland affair when she acted with colleagues to prevent the
helicopter manufacturer Westland (a vital defence contractor) from linking with the Italian firm Agusta in favour of a link with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of the USA. Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine, who had pushed the Agusta deal, resigned in protest at her style of leadership,
and thereafter became known as a potential leadership challenger.
In 1985, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for
education. [1] This award
had always previously been given to Prime Ministers who had been educated at Oxford. However during the second term, Thatcher had
two noted foreign policy successes. In 1984 she visited China and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with Deng Xiaoping on 19 December
stating the basic policies of the People's
Republic of China (PRC) regarding Hong Kong after the handover in 1997. At the Fontainebleau summit of 1984,
Thatcher argued that the UK paid far more to the EEC than it received in spending and
negotiated a budget rebate. She was widely
quoted as saying "We want our money back".
Third term as Prime Minister
By winning the 1987 general election she
became the only Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom in the 20th century, and the first since the Earl of
Liverpool (1770–1828, in office from
1812–1827) to serve for three consecutive
terms. Most United Kingdom newspapers supported
her, with the exception of The Daily Mirror and
The Guardian, and were rewarded with regular press briefings by
her press secretary, Bernard
Ingham. She was known as "Maggie" in the tabloids, which in turn led to the
well-known "Maggie Out!" protest song, sung
throughout that period by her opponents.
Thatcher started to become unpopular in 1989, as the economy suffered from high interest
rates imposed to stop an unsustainable boom (for which she blamed her
Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, who had been following an economic policy of
which she claimed not to have been told and did not approve). When Thatcher began to listen more to her adviser Sir Alan Walters, Lawson resigned. That
November, Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party, by Sir Anthony Meyer. As Meyer was a virtually
unknown backbench MP, he was viewed as a "stalking horse" candidate for more prominent members of the party. Thatcher easily defeated Meyer's
challenge, but there were a surprisingly large number of ballot papers either cast for Meyer or abstaining.
From 1989 in Scotland and 1990 in England and Wales,
Thatcher's new system to replace local government rates began. She replaced them with the "Community Charge" which applied at the
same amount to every individual resident, with only limited discounts for low earners. The indiscriminate nature of the charge
led to it being almost universally known as the Poll Tax, and it became very
unpopular across the political spectrum with protest marches being held even in safely Conservative areas.
On 31 March 1990 — the day before
the tax was introduced in England and Wales — a large London demonstration turned into a riot. Millions of people resisted
paying the tax, with up to 17,000,000 being behind with payments at one point. Opponents of the tax banded together to resist
bailiffs and disrupt court hearings of poll
tax debtors. Mrs Thatcher refused to compromise and change the tax (which was abolished by
her successor), and some believe the resistance to the poll tax was a major factor in Thatcher's downfall.
One of her final acts in office was to pressure US President George H. W. Bush to deploy troops to the Middle East
to drive Saddam Hussein's army out of Kuwait. Bush was somewhat apprehensive about the plan, but Thatcher famously told him that this was "no time to go
wobbly!"
Fall from power
By 1990 opposition to Thatcher's policies on taxation, her Government's handling of the
economy, her perceived arrogance and her reluctance to commit Britain to economic integration with Europe made her politically vulnerable. A challenge was precipitated by the resignation of Sir Geoffrey Howe on 1 November,
who had been sidelined and felt that she was taking a damaging approach on the European Union. Howe openly invited "others to consider their own response", which led Michael Heseltine to announce his challenge. In the first ballot,
Thatcher was two votes short of winning re-election, but on consulting with cabinet colleagues found a vast majority thought that
she could not win on the second ballot.
On 22 November, at just after 9:30 AM, Mrs Thatcher announced that she
would not be a candidate in the second ballot and therefore her term of office would come to an end. She supported John Major as her successor, and retired from Parliament at the 1992 election.
Post-political career
In 1992 she become Baroness Thatcher and entered
the House of Lords. In addition, Denis Thatcher, her husband, was given
a Baronetcy (ensuring that their son, Mark, would inherit a title).
She wrote her memoirs in two volumes. Although she remained supportive in public, in private she made her displeasure with
many of John Major's policies plain, and her views were conveyed to the press and widely reported. Major later said he found her
behaviour in retrospect to have been intolerable. She publicly endorsed William Hague for the Conservative leadership in 1997.
She made many speaking engagements around the world, and actively supported the Conservative election campaign in 2001. However, on 22 March 2002 she was told by her doctors to make no more public speeches on health grounds, having suffered several
small strokes which left her in a very frail state. Since then she visited Mayor
Michael Bloomberg of New York (in 2003), and compared his offices to those of Winston Churchill's War Room.
Although she was able to attend the funeral in June 2004 of former US
President Ronald Reagan, her eulogy for him was pre-taped to prevent
undue stress.
She remains involved with various Thatcherite groups, including being president of the Conservative Way Forward group, and is honorary president
of the Bruges Group. She was widowed on 26 June 2003.
Legacy
Many United Kingdom citizens remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard that Margaret Thatcher had
resigned and what their reaction was. She brings out strong responses in people. Some people credit her with rescuing the British
economy from the stagnation of the 1970s and admire her committed radicalism on social issues; others see her as authoritarian, egotistical and responsible for the dismantling
of the Welfare State and the destruction of many manufacturing industries. Britain was widely seen as the "sick man of Europe" in the 1970s, and some argued that it would be the
first developed nation to return to the status of a developing country. By the late 1990s, Britain emerged with a comparatively healthy economy, at least by previous standards. Her supporters claim
that this was due to Margaret Thatcher's policies.
However, critics claim that the economic problems of the 1970s were exaggerated, and caused largely by factors outside of any
UK government's control, such as high oil prices caused by the oil crisis which caused high inflation and damaged the
economies of nearly all major industrial countries. Accordingly, they also argue that the economic downturn was not the result of
socialism and trades unions, as Thatcherite supporters claim. Critics also argue that the Thatcher period in
government co-incided with a general improvement in the world economy, and the buoyant tax
revenues from North Sea Oil,
which critics contend was the real cause of the improved economic environment of the 1980s and not Margaret Thatcher's policies.
Perceptions of Margaret Thatcher are mixed in the view of the British public. A clear illustration of the divisions of opinion
over Thatcher's leadership can be found in recent television polls: Thatcher appears at Number 16 in the 2002 List of "100 Greatest Britons"
(sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public), she also appears at Number 3 in the
2003 List of "100 Worst
Britons" (sponsored by Channel Four and also voted for by the public),
narrowly missing out on the top spot, which went to Tony Blair. In the end,
however, few could argue that there was a woman who played a more important role on the world stage in the Twentieth Century, and even the Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has implicitly and explicitly acknowledged her importance by continuing many of her economic
policies.
Quotes
- "If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."
- "There's no such thing as society, there are individual men and women and there are families." (in an interview for
Woman's Own magazine on
23 September 1987 at 10 Downing Street; see Wikiquote page for full quote and context).
Books
- The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1993)
- The Path to Power by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1995)
- Statecraft by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 2002)
- The Collected Speeches by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1997)
- Thatcher for Beginners by Peter Pugh and Paul Flint (Icon Books, 1997) ISBN 1874166536
- Britain Under Thatcher by Anthony Seldon & Daniel Collings (Longman, 1999)
- Margaret, daughter of Beatrice by Leo Abse (Jonathan Cape, 1989) ISBN 0224027263
- One of Us by Hugo Young (Macmillan, 1989)
- Mrs Thatcher's Revolution by Peter Jenkins (Jonathan Cape, 1987; Reissued Pan, 1989)
- Memories of Maggie Edited by Iain Dale (Politicos, 2000)
See also
External links
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