Famous Politicians > Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born October 13, 1925) is a British politician and the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a position she held from 1979 to 1990. She is a member of the Conservative Party and still the figurehead for a brand of politics known as Thatcherism involving reduced government spending and privatization of government owned industries. Even before coming to power she was nicknamed The Iron Lady in Soviet propaganda, an appellation which stuck.

Thatcher served as Education Secretary in the government of Edward Heath from 1970 to 1974, and successfully challenged Heath for the Conservative leadership in 1975. She was undefeated at the polls, winning the 1979, 1983 and 1987 general elections, and became the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century. However, Thatcher was a divisive leader and broke the power of the trade unions in the miners' strike of 1984-5.

In foreign relations, Thatcher maintained the special relationship with the United States, and formed a close bond with Ronald Reagan. When Argentina invaded Falkland Islands in 1982, Thatcher dispatched a Royal Navy task force to retake the islands in the Falklands War, a policy that proved hugely popular at home.

Period in Office:
May 4, 1979 –
November 28, 1990
PM Predecessor: James Callaghan
PM Successor: John Major
Date of Birth: October 13, 1925
Place of Birth: Grantham, England
Political Party: Conservative
Retirement
honour: Knighthood of the
Garter Life Barony (Thatcher)

Her popularity finally declined when she introduced a new tax to pay for local government which opponents called the poll tax, and the Conservative Party began to split over her sceptical approach to European Economic and Monetary Union. Her leadership was challenged from within and she was forced to resign in 1990. Since 1992 she has been known as Baroness Thatcher, with her direct political work limited to membership of the House of Lords and as head of the Thatcher Foundation.
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).
"Every Prime Minister needs a Willie" (a reference to her Deputy Prime Minister William Whitelaw; Mrs Thatcher was deaf to any more euphemistic interpretation).
"We have become a grandmother" (March 3, 1989, on the birth of her first grandchild; this was controversial for her apparent use of the Royal we).

Books

Statecraft: Strategies for Changing World by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 2002) ISBN 0060199733
The Collected Speeches of Margaret Thatcher by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1999) ISBN 0060187344
The Collected Speeches of Margaret Thatcher by Margaret Thatcher, Robin Harris (editor) (HarperCollins, 1997) ISBN 0002557037
The Path to Power by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1995) ISBN 0002550504
The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher (HarperCollins, 1993) ISBN 0002553546
Biographies
Memories of Maggie Edited by Iain Dale (Politicos, 2000) ISBN 190230151X
Britain Under Thatcher by Anthony Seldon & Daniel Collings (Longman, 1999) ISBN 0582317142
Thatcher for Beginners by Peter Pugh and Paul Flint (Icon Books, 1997) ISBN 1874166536
One of Us: Life of Margaret Thatcher by Hugo Young (Macmillan, 1989) ISBN 0333344391
The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher by Hugo Young (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1989) ISBN 0374226512
Margaret, daughter of Beatrice by Leo Abse (Jonathan Cape, 1989) ISBN 0224027263
Mrs.Thatcher's Revolution: Ending of the Socialist Era by Peter Jenkins (Jonathan Cape, 1987) ISBN 0224025163
The Thatcher Phenomenon by Hugo Young (BBC, 1986) ISBN 0563204729