130-515: New Romney is a market town in Kent , England, on the edge of Romney Marsh , an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports , was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea. It is the headquarters of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway . New Romney
260-547: A barrister in 1953 and specialised in taxation. Later that same year their twins Carol and Mark were born, delivered prematurely by Caesarean section. 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
390-533: A realignment towards neoliberal policies in Britain; the complex legacy attributed to this shift continues to be debated into the 21st century. 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,
520-487: 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
650-474: 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: "[I]f we build bigger and better roads, they would soon be saturated with more vehicles and we would be no nearer solving
780-542: 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
910-571: 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
1040-598: A higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide. The average hours worked per week by residents of Kent were 43.1 for males and 30.9 for females. Their industry of employment was 17.3% retail, 12.4% manufacturing, 11.8% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 8.9% construction, 8.2% transport and communications, 7.9% education, 6.0% public administration and defence, 5.6% finance, 4.8% other community and personal service activities, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 1.6% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 0.1% private households. This
1170-480: 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
1300-477: 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
1430-476: A precursor to an authoritarian state. 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
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#17327877544081560-760: 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
1690-589: 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
1820-552: A station at the extreme east of New Romney, which as well as being a major tourist attraction was also used by students travelling to school until 2015. The station is about three-quarters of a mile east of the historic town centre. New Romney was once serviced by the New Romney and Littlestone-On-Sea railway station which was part of the Lydd Line. The station was sited halfway between New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea. As built
1950-511: 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
2080-587: A view to forming a new unified authority for East Kent, although remaining within the auspices of Kent County Council. This idea was eventually dropped. For almost nine centuries, a small part of present-day East London (the North Woolwich , London E16 area), formed part of Kent. Kent is in the southeastern corner of England. It borders the Thames Estuary and the North Sea to the north, and
2210-429: 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
2340-497: Is England's second-oldest cathedral, the present building built in the Early English Style. These two dioceses ensured that every village had a parish church. Margaret Thatcher [REDACTED] 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
2470-402: Is a notable sector: "The Garden of England" is a nickname for the county, which has multiple orchards and allotments. In north-west Kent, industries include aggregate building material extraction, printing and scientific research. Coal mining has also played its part in the county's industrial heritage. The name is of Celtic origin, and dates back to at least the 4th century BC. It is one of
2600-403: Is a result of the effects of longshore drift , which disperses shingle and sand deposits, from west to east, with heavier stones accumulating in the area known as Greatstone, while far smaller shingle is to be found in great quantities at Littlestone. Very fine sand is found further east at neighbouring St Mary's Bay. In the latter part of the thirteenth century a series of severe storms weakened
2730-632: Is a rich sequence of Bronze Age , Celtic Iron Age , and Britto- Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley . Julius Caesar described the area as Cantium , or the home of the Cantiaci , in 51 BC. The extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by a Celtic Iron Age tribe known as
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#17327877544082860-537: 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. 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
2990-477: Is higher than the whole of England for construction and transport/communications and lower for manufacturing. Kent is sometimes known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards and hop gardens. In particular the county produces tree-grown fruits, strawberries and hazelnuts. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish. Kent
3120-515: Is not significantly different in age from the nearby village of Old Romney . However New Romney, now about a mile and a half from the seafront, was originally a harbour town at the mouth of the River Rother . The Rother estuary was always difficult to navigate, with many shallow channels and sandbanks. The names of two local settlements, Greatstone and Littlestone, are a reminder of these aids. Another possible explanation for these place-names
3250-486: Is the main area for hazelnut production in the UK. However, in recent years, there has been a significant drop in agriculture, and industry and services are increasing their utilisation of the area. This is illustrated by the following table of economic indicator gross value added (GVA) between 1995 and 2003 (figures are in £ millions): North Kent is heavily industrialised, with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton , brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on
3380-464: Is under Liberal Democrat control (Tunbridge Wells), and six are under no overall control and are administered by coalitions (Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone, Swale, Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone and Hythe). Notably, Thanet is the only council in the United Kingdom to have come under UK Independence Party (UKIP) control, which it did in 2015 . At the national level, Kent is represented in
3510-731: The Kentish Express (published by the KM Group ) is the only weekly newspaper for the Romney Marsh covering the town. There is also the Folkestone Herald (which incorporated the Romney Marsh Herald in 2014, published by Kent Regional News and Media). The local radio station for New Romney is KMFM Ashford which contains Marsh-based adverts amongst a county-wide station, and New Romney is also served by
3640-537: 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
3770-552: 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
3900-612: 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
4030-517: The County of London was created and took over responsibility for local administration of parts of north-west Kent. These included the towns of Greenwich , Woolwich , Plumstead , Deptford , Lee , Eltham , Charlton , and Kidbrooke . In 1900, however, Kent absorbed the district of Penge . Some of Kent is contiguous with the Greater London sprawl, notably parts of Dartford . Originally,
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4160-663: 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
4290-526: The House of Commons by eighteen Members of Parliament (MPs). The county has historically been dominated by the Conservative Party at general elections. Prior to 2024, the party had won a majority of Kentish seats in every election since the local government reforms of 1974, including during Labour's landslide victories of 1997 and 2001 . In both 2010 and 2015 , the Conservatives won every seat in
4420-773: The Local Government Act 1972 , Kent County Council has been under Conservative Party control; the exception was between 1993 and 1997 when the party came under no overall control with Labour Party leadership. At the most recent county council election in 2021 , the Conservatives won 62 out of 81 seats. Also elected were seven Labour councillors, six Liberal Democrats , four from the Green Party , one Swale Independent and one residents' association representative. Of Kent's thirteen districts, two are under Conservative control (Sevenoaks, Dartford), four are under Labour control (Gravesham, Medway, Thanet, Dover), one
4550-500: 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 . Thatcher's talent and drive caused her to be mentioned as a future prime minister in her early 20s although she herself
4680-555: The Regni . Caesar wrote that the people of Kent were 'by far the most civilised inhabitants of Britain'. Following the withdrawal of the Romans, large numbers of Germanic speakers from mainland Europe settled in Kent, bringing their language, which came to be Old English . While they expelled the native Romano-British population, some likely remained in the area, eventually assimilating with
4810-832: The River Darent , tributaries of the River Medway, and on the River Stour . Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose . In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and at Kemsley on The Swale. In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its own windmill or watermill , with over 400 windmills known to have stood at some time. Twenty-eight survive within
4940-527: The River Medway in 1547. By the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established at Chatham . By 1618, storehouses, a ropewalk , a drydock , and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham. By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along
5070-543: The River Medway , rises near East Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards to Maidstone . Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames near Sheerness . The Medway is some 70 miles (112 km) long. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge . The Medway has captured
5200-817: The Straits of Dover and the English Channel to the south. France is 21 miles (34 km) across the Strait. The major geographical features of the county are based on a series of ridges and valleys running east–west across the county. These are the results of erosion of the Wealden dome, a dome across Kent and Sussex created by alpine movements 20–10 million years ago. This dome consists of an upper layer of chalk above successive layers of Upper Greensand , Gault Clay , Lower Greensand , Weald Clay , and Wealden sandstone. The ridges and valleys formed when
5330-641: The White Cliffs of Dover . Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county and in the Vale of Holmesdale in between and to the south are most of the county's 26 castles . The county has agriculture, haulage, logistics and tourism industries. As the land between the capital and the wider continent, it is a high-income county. Agriculture of the county
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5460-528: 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. Thatcher became prime minister on 4 May 1979. Arriving at Downing Street she said, paraphrasing the Prayer of Saint Francis : Where there
5590-504: 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
5720-420: 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
5850-604: 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
5980-425: The 19th and 20th centuries. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway. Chalk, gravel and clay were excavated on Dartford Heath for centuries. Kent's original paper mills stood on streams like
6110-540: The Baptist, a large secular establishment. The hospital was operating by c. 1260 and flourished until the close of the fifteenth century. Three-quarters of a mile north of the town is the links golf course at Littlestone-on-Sea. The golf course was a favourite of Denis Thatcher , late husband of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher , and has been used several times for the qualifying rounds of The Open Championship . The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway has
6240-546: 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,
6370-513: The Church of St Nicholas , in the centre of town. This church originally stood at the harbourside, and its entrances are several feet below ground level. The church is also notable for the boat hooks still evident on the side walls. New Romney's historic high street has several small and interesting shops. A few businesses closed after the opening of a branch of supermarket chain Sainsbury's , but
6500-466: 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
6630-657: 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
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#17327877544086760-645: The Medway and Swale , engineering and aircraft design and construction at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford, papermaking at Swanley , and oil refining at Grain . There is a steel mini mill in Sheerness and a rolling mill in Queenborough . There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness , although the older one, Dungeness A, built in 1965, was decommissioned in 2006. Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during
6890-477: 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 ,
7020-565: 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." 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
7150-407: 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
7280-756: The Richter Scale. It was centred in the Sandwich area of east Kent at about ten miles below the surface. There was little if any damage reported. The coastline of Kent is continuously changing, due to tectonic uplift and coastal erosion . Until about 960, the Isle of Thanet was an island, separated by the Wantsum channel , formed around a deposit of chalk; over time, the channels silted up with alluvium . Similarly Romney Marsh and Dungeness have been formed by accumulation of alluvium. Kent's principal river,
7410-418: The Romans. Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, the oldest cathedral in England, has been the seat of the Archbishops of Canterbury since the conversion of England to Christianity that began in the 6th century with Saint Augustine . Rochester Cathedral in Medway is England's second-oldest cathedral. Located between London and the Strait of Dover , which separates England from mainland Europe, Kent has been
7540-410: The Rushes was made on location in and around New Romney and in nearby St Mary in the Marsh . In 1762 Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron named the town of Romney in present-day West Virginia in the United States after the town of New Romney. [REDACTED] Media related to New Romney at Wikimedia Commons Kent Kent is a county in the South East England region,
7670-512: 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
7800-453: 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
7930-458: 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
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#17327877544088060-431: 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 . In
8190-403: The Western world. 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
8320-541: The Westphalian Sandstone are about 820–1,310 ft (250–400 m) deep, and are subject to flooding. They occur in two major troughs, which extend under the English Channel. Seismic activity has occasionally been recorded in Kent, though the epicentres were offshore. In 1382 and 1580 there were two earthquakes exceeding 6.0 on the Richter Scale . In 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007 there were earthquakes of around 4.3. The 2007 earthquake caused physical damage in Folkestone. A further quake on 22 May 2015 measured 4.2 on
8450-553: The adjacent Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway station on the opposite side of the Station Road; it was used to deliver coal to that railway. The signal box was taken out of use in the 1950s and goods service was withdrawn in 1964. The station was closed in 1967 and replaced with a bus service. New Romney is easily accessible by road, sitting astride the A259 (which runs from Folkestone to Havant ). Several bus services run to and through New Romney from Hastings , Folkestone and Ashford . New Romney has one dedicated weekly newspaper,
8580-407: The area is called Cantia or Cantium , while the Anglo-Saxons referred to it as Cent , Cent lond or Centrice . The area was first occupied by early humans , intermittently due to periods of extreme cold, during the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), as attested by an early Neanderthal skull found in the quarries at Swanscombe . The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era. There
8710-489: The area is required to achieve these objectives; it has been opposed by environmental groups. Kent is one of the warmest parts of Britain. On 10 August 2003, in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham the temperature reached 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), at that time the highest temperature ever officially recorded in the United Kingdom. The record still stands as the hottest August day ever recorded. Kent County Council and its twelve district councils administer most of
8840-410: The area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was a one-inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Many of the Georgian naval buildings still stand. In the early 19th century, smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline. Gangs such as The Aldington Gang brought spirits, tobacco and salt to the county, and transported goods such as wool across the sea to France. In 1889,
8970-485: 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
9100-631: The border between Kent and Sussex (later East Sussex ) ran through the towns of Tunbridge Wells and Lamberhurst . In 1894, by the Local Government Act , the parts of these towns that lay in East Sussex were absorbed by Kent. During the Second World War, much of the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over Kent. Between June 1944 and March 1945, more than 10,000 V1 flying bombs , or "Doodlebugs", were fired towards London from bases in Northern France . Although many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons , both London and Kent were hit by around 2,500 of these bombs. After
9230-409: The church, have steps leading down into them from the present pavement level. New Romney is one of the original Cinque Ports of England, although its importance declined rapidly during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries after the loss of the harbour. Archaeological investigations in 2007 during replacement of the town's main drainage have cast new light on the medieval origins and development of
9360-661: The closest county to continental Europe . It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town is Maidstone . It is the fifth most populous county in England, the most populous non-metropolitan county and
9490-645: The coast following the raid on the Medway , a successful attack by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667. The 18th century was dominated by wars with France, during which the Medway became the primary base for a fleet that could act along the Dutch and French coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to the Atlantic , this role was assumed by Portsmouth and Plymouth , with Chatham concentrating on shipbuilding and ship repair. As an indication of
9620-548: The coastal defences of Romney Marsh, and the South England flood of February 1287 almost destroyed the town, as it did destroy the nearby ancient parish of Broomhill. The harbour and town were filled with sand, silt, mud and debris, and the River Rother changed course to run out into the sea near Rye , Sussex. The mud, silt and sand were never entirely removed from the town, which is why many old buildings, especially
9750-537: The county (3352 km ), whilst the Medway Council administers the more densely populated Medway unitary authority (192 km ), independently of the county council. Together they have around 300 town and parish councils . Kent County Council's headquarters are in Maidstone , while Medway's offices are at Gun Wharf, Chatham . For most of its history since the local government reforms instituted by
9880-611: The county (including Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, and Sevenoaks) has less than 50% of the average claimant count for low incomes or worklessness as the coastal districts of Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, and Thanet (chiefly three resorts: Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Margate). West and Central Kent have long had many City of London commuters . Kent's geographical location between the Straits of Dover and London has influenced its architecture, as has its Cretaceous geology and its good farming land and fine building clays. Kent's countryside pattern
10010-552: The county today, plus two replica mills and a further two in that part of Kent now absorbed into London. All the major rivers in the county were used to power watermills. From about 1900, several coal pits operated in East Kent. The Kent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries, including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986. The west of
10140-466: The county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales and Scotland . During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler , Jack Cade 's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I . The Royal Navy first used
10270-479: The county-wide stations Heart , Gold and BBC Radio Kent . Cinque Ports Radio 100.2FM is the community radio station for Romney Marsh and has been broadcasting since 7 March 2022 replacing Shoreline FM which now broadcasts online to the same area as Shoreline Easy and previously broadcast on 100.2FM since January 2020 In 1951 the Richard Burton , Roger Livesey , and Honor Blackman film Green Grow
10400-494: The county. The 2024 election saw a sharp decline in support for the Conservatives, and the county is currently represented by eleven Labour MPs, six Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat. At the 2011 census , Kent, including Medway, had 1,727,665 residents (18.0% of which in Medway); had 711,847 households (17.5% of which in Medway) and had 743,436 dwellings (14.8% of which in Medway). 51.1% of Kent's population excluding Medway
10530-636: 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
10660-530: 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
10790-586: The earliest names recorded in Britain, known to the Greeks since the explorer Pytheas recorded it as Kantion during his voyage around the British Isles in about 325 BC. As such, it has been claimed as the "oldest recorded name still in use in England." The meaning has been explained as 'coastal district,' 'corner-land' or 'land on the edge' (Welsh cant 'bordering of a circle, tyre, edge;' Breton cant 'circle;' Dutch kant 'side, edge'). In Latin sources
10920-635: 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
11050-474: The exposed clay eroded faster than the exposed chalk, greensand, or sandstone. Sevenoaks , Maidstone , Ashford , and Folkestone are built on greensand, while Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are built on sandstone. Dartford , Gravesend , the Medway towns, Sittingbourne , Faversham , Canterbury , Deal , and Dover are built on chalk. The easterly section of the Wealden dome has been eroded away by
11180-521: The first Archbishop of Canterbury . In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. The Diocese of Canterbury became England's first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained England's centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was for West Kent at Rochester Cathedral . Kent was traditionally partitioned into East and West Kent, and into lathes and hundreds . The traditional border of East and West Kent
11310-459: 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
11440-428: 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
11570-449: The head waters of other rivers such as the River Darent . Other rivers of Kent include the River Stour in the east. A 2014 study found that Kent shares significant reserves of shale oil with other neighbouring counties, totalling 4.4 billion barrels of oil , which then Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon said "will bring jobs and business opportunities" and significantly help with UK energy self-sufficiency. Fracking in
11700-518: The most populous of the Home Counties , an area influenced by the capital such as commutes and transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty : the North Downs and The High Weald . Kent was one of the first British territories to be settled by Germanic tribes, most notably the Jutes , following the withdrawal of
11830-541: The motto Invicta , meaning "undefeated" or "unconquered". The adoption of this motto followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy , as he was unable to subdue the county and they negotiated favourable terms. The continued resistance of the Kentish people against the Normans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brother Odo of Bayeux ,
11960-499: The newcomers. Of the invading tribes, the Jutes were the most prominent, and the area became a Jutish kingdom recorded as Cantia in about 730 and Cent in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were referred to as the Cantwara , or Kentish people. The city of Canterbury was the largest in Kent. In 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary (who became Saint Augustine of Canterbury after his death) as
12090-476: 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
12220-495: 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
12350-625: 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." The Heath government continued to experience difficulties with oil embargoes and union demands for wage increases in 1973, subsequently losing
12480-456: 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
12610-466: 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
12740-584: 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". The Conservative Party, led by Edward Heath, won the 1970 general election, and Thatcher
12870-490: 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
13000-465: 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
13130-527: The sea, and cliffs such as the White Cliffs of Dover are present where a chalk ridge known as the North Downs meets the coast. Spanning Dover and Westerham is the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The Wealden dome is a Mesozoic structure lying on a Palaeozoic foundation, which can often create the right conditions for coal formation. This is found in East Kent roughly between Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. The Coal Measures within
13260-662: The setting for both conflict and diplomacy, including the Battle of Britain in World War II and the Leeds Castle peace talks of 1978 and 2004. England relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of its history; the Cinque Ports in the 10th –14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and
13390-526: 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. 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
13520-632: 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
13650-465: The station had two platforms and a small goods yard with four sidings, a goods shed, cattle dock, coal wharves, end loading dock, water tower and other small buildings. The up platform was rarely used in latter years other than as a livestock loading dock. The station was originally called New Romney & Littlestone with on-Sea being added in October 1888. In 1927 a single line extension was built with an unprotected level crossing to an exchange siding with
13780-411: 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
13910-417: The total of Vietnamese boat people allowed to settle in the UK to fewer than 10,000 over two years. 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
14040-543: The town retains much of its character. The former almshouses in West Street are noted historic buildings of Kent; they were founded in 1610 by John Southland, an important local magnate, and rebuilt in 1734. Adjacent to these is Plantagenet House and No 3 Old Stone Cottage, which originated as a single house constructed c. 1300–1350. Researchers think it was originally the home of the Master of The Hospital of St John
14170-572: The town. New Romney Town Hall was built in 1702. During World War II a fleet of floating concrete harbour sections (called Mulberry Harbours ) were towed across the English Channel to France to aid the Allied landings. One of these harbour pieces remains, embedded in a sandbank just off the coast by Littlestone-on-Sea, and is clearly visible at low tide. Further up the coast during the Pipe Line Under The Ocean , or PLUTO, oil
14300-573: 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 ,
14430-630: The war, Kent's borders changed several more times. In 1965, the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley were created from nine towns formerly in Kent. In 1998, Rochester, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham left the administrative county of Kent to form the Unitary Authority of Medway . Plans for another unitary authority in north-west Kent were dropped, but in 2016 consultations began between five Kent local authorities (Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, and Ashford) with
14560-426: 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
14690-467: 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. 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
14820-546: 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
14950-499: 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
15080-562: 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
15210-579: 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
15340-534: 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
15470-634: Was determined by a gavelkind inheritance system that generated a proliferation of small settlements. There was no open-field system, and the large tracts were owned by the two great abbeys, Christ Church, Canterbury and St Augustine's Abbey , that did not pass into the hands of the king during the Reformation . Canterbury Cathedral is the United Kingdom's metropolitan cathedral ; it was founded in AD 598 and displays architecture from all periods. There are nine Anglo-Saxon churches in Kent. Rochester Cathedral
15600-590: Was female — as to Medway, this proportion was 50.4%. The tables below provide statistics for the administrative county of Kent, that is, excluding Medway. At the 2001 UK census , employment statistics for the residents in Kent, including Medway, were as follows: 41.1% in full-time employment, 12.4% in part-time employment, 9.1% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 3.7% students without jobs, 12.3% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons. Of residents aged 16–74, 16% had
15730-472: 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 intended to promote neoliberal economic ideas at home and abroad. Despite setting
15860-469: 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
15990-632: 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
16120-611: 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 1967, the United States Embassy chose Thatcher to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Program (then called
16250-568: 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
16380-544: Was pumped to France under the English Channel for use by allied troops. New Romney is the main centre of population on the Romney Marsh. Founded in 1610 by John Southland and formerly known locally as just "Southland's", John Southland's Community Comprehensive School, the only secondary school in the area, was renamed The Marsh Academy in August 2007. Like many towns on the marsh it has an impressive Norman church,
16510-525: 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
16640-689: 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
16770-537: Was the county's main river, the Medway . Men and women from east of the Medway are Men (or Maids) of Kent, those from the west are Kentishmen or Kentish Maids. The divide has been explained by some as originating in the Anglo-Saxon migrations, with Jutes mainly settling east of the Medway and Saxons settling west of it. In the 11th century, the people of Kent (or Chenth , per the Domesday Book ) adopted
16900-529: 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. 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
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