129-416: [REDACTED] Margaret Thatcher 's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding James Callaghan of the Labour Party , and ended on 28 November 1990 upon her resignation. She was elected to the position in 1979 , having led the Conservative Party since 1975, and won landslide re-elections for
258-547: 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
387-472: A monetarist , Thatcher started out in her economic policy by increasing interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply and thus lower inflation. She had a preference for indirect taxation over taxes on income, and value-added tax (VAT) was raised sharply to 15%, with a resultant actual short-term rise in inflation. The fiscal and monetary squeeze, combined with the North Sea oil effect , appreciated
516-408: 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
645-474: 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
774-542: 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
903-571: 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
1032-433: 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
1161-527: 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
1290-457: A major part in driving elected governments from office." Nigel Lawson, View from No. 11 , p. 161 Coal miners were highly organised and had defeated Prime Minister Heath. Thatcher expected a major confrontation, planned ahead for one, and avoided trouble before she was ready. In the end the miners' strike of 1984–85 proved a decisive victory for her—one that permanently discouraged trade unionists. The National Coal Board received
1419-490: A priority, but her pioneering election was widely hailed as an achievement for women in general. Thatcher, having to share the media spotlight with Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales , increasingly assumed regal poses, such as taking the salute at the victory parade after the Falklands War , and becoming the centre of attraction on foreign visits. Tensions between the two were kept hidden until 1986, when
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#17327799615071548-556: 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 . In
1677-553: A recession, leading to newspaper headlines the following morning of "Howe it Hurts", a reference to the Chancellor Geoffrey Howe . In 1981, as unemployment soared (exceeding 2.5 million by the summer and heading towards 3 million before Christmas) and the Government's popularity plunged, the party chairman, Lord Thorneycroft , and two cabinet ministers, Lord Carrington and Humphrey Atkins , confronted
1806-471: A shock even to some supporters of the strikes. The NUM never held a strike vote, which allowed many miners to keep working and prevented other unions from supporting the strike. The mounting desperation and poverty of the striking families led to divisions within the regional NUM branches, and a breakaway union, the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM), was soon formed. More and more frustrated miners resigned to
1935-454: A strike by the NUM long in advance by building up coal stocks, keeping many miners at work, and co-ordinating police action to stop massive picketing. Her policies defeated the NUM strategy of causing severe cuts in the electricity supply—the legacy of the industrial disputes of 1972 would not be repeated. The images of crowds of militant miners attempting to prevent other miners from working proved
2064-481: A strike, and to abolish the closed shop. Further laws banned workplace ballots and imposed postal ballots. "The miners' strike was the central political event of the second Thatcher Administration. Just as the victory in the Falklands War exorcised the humiliation of Suez, so the eventual defeat of the NUM etched in the public mind the end of militant trade unionism which had wrecked the economy and twice played
2193-492: 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
2322-421: A suggestion that rioting was caused by unemployment, observed that the unemployment of the 1930s was far worse than that of the 1980s—and that his father's generation never reacted by rioting. "I grew up in the 1930s with an unemployed father", Tebbit said. "He did not riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he went on looking until he found it." Over two million manufacturing jobs were ultimately lost in
2451-565: A surplus on services and a deficit on goods." In her first six months as prime minister, Thatcher repeatedly prioritised defence spending over economic policy and financial control. However, in 1980, she reversed this priority and tried to cut the defence budget. The 1981 Defence Review by John Nott , the defence minister, dramatically cut the capabilities of the Royal Navy's surface fleet. She replaced Francis Pym as defence secretary because he wanted more funding. The cuts were cancelled when
2580-512: A wave of patriotic enthusiasm and contributed to Thatcher's re-election, with one poll showing that 84% of the electorate approved of the Prime Minister's handling of the crisis. Restoring British control over a small colony was a response to aggression, but it also represented a sensibility that Britain had a responsibility to protect its " kith and kin ." Thatcher saw the issue as freedom versus oppression and dictatorship. Her sensibility
2709-592: 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
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#17327799615072838-654: Is generally thought that this was because the Thatcher government had not made public funding available for the NHS sufficient in creating its own supplies. It has been alleged that the Thatcher cabinet attempted to "cover up" the events of the scandal. In 2017, the Infected Blood Inquiry was announced into the scandal and a group legal action (Jason Evans & Ors) was brought at the High Court. Thatcher
2967-463: Is not political". After nine more men had died, most rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but official recognition of their political status was not granted. Thatcher later asserted: "The outcome was a significant defeat for the IRA." Thatcher also continued the " Ulsterisation " policy of the previous Labour government and its Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , Roy Mason , believing that
3096-581: The "dry" faction she purged most of the One Nation "wet" Conservatives and took full control. By the late 1980s, however, she had alienated several senior members of her Cabinet with her opposition to greater economic integration into the European Economic Community , which she argued would lead to a federalist Europe and surrender Britain's ability to self govern. She also alienated many Conservative voters and parliamentarians with
3225-537: 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
3354-580: The Argentine Navy back to its home harbours. However, it had to deal with a nearby land-based Argentine Air Force , using primarily surface-to-air heat-seeking missiles, Harriers , and V bombers, the last to crater the Port Stanley runway. Argentine forces in the Falklands surrendered on 14 June ; the operation was hailed as a great triumph, with only 258 British casualties. Victory brought
3483-582: 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 ,
3612-687: 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
3741-663: 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
3870-532: 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
3999-495: 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 the piano, field hockey, poetry recitals, swimming and walking. She was head girl in 1942–43, and outside school, while
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4128-800: The Lancaster House Agreement of December 1979. It resumed British control of Rhodesia, declared a ceasefire, ended guerrilla action, and quickly led to the creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe . Thus Thatcher's refusal to recognise the Muzorewa government ultimately allowed Mugabe to take power, an outcome that outraged whites in Rhodesia but which satisfied British opinion and was applauded internationally. Hugo Young (p. 183) states, "She had been instrumental in creating another Third World country." According to Robert Matthews ,
4257-636: 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. 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
4386-500: 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
4515-629: The Unionists of Northern Ireland should be at the forefront in combating Irish republicanism . This meant relieving the burden on the mainstream British Army and elevating the role of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Ulster Constabulary . The " Falklands Factor ", along with the resumption of economic growth by the end of 1982, bolstered the Government's popularity and led to Thatcher's victory in
4644-528: 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
4773-727: The mujaheddin . Thatcher visited Pakistan in October 1981 meeting with Pakistan leader General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq . She visited some of the many hundreds of thousands of Afghans gathered in refugee camps there giving a speech stating that the 'hearts of the free world were with them'. Five years later two of the Mujaheddin warlords Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Abdul Haq met Thatcher in Downing Street. The Polish crisis of 1980 and 1981 involved large-scale anti-Communist protests in
4902-460: The real exchange rate . These moves hit businesses—especially the manufacturing sector—and unemployment exceeded 2 million by the autumn of 1980, up from 1.5 million at the time of Thatcher's election just over a year earlier. Political commentators harked back to the Edward Heath government 's "U-turn" and speculated that Thatcher would follow suit, but she repudiated this approach at
5031-448: 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
5160-615: The " Suez Syndrome " to rest and again projecting Britain as a great power. Celebration of the SAS was a key component in the popular militarism of the 1980s, fuelled by the continuing "war" against international terrorism and by the Falklands conflict and Gulf War . The storming of the Iranian Embassy had shown that Britain could meet terror with counter-terror: Mrs Thatcher's black-clad "terminators" would protect us. Commenting on
5289-620: 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
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5418-408: The 1970s but were also intended to ensure that the consequences for the participants would be severe if they took any future action. The reforms were also aimed, Thatcher claimed, to democratise the unions and return power to the members. The most significant measures were to make secondary industrial action illegal, to force union leadership to first win a ballot of the union membership before calling
5547-464: The 1980 Conservative Party conference, telling the party: "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 ". That she meant what she said was confirmed in the 1981 budget, when, despite concerns expressed in an open letter from 364 leading economists, taxes were increased in the middle of
5676-620: 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
5805-591: 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, was born in County Kerry , Ireland . Roberts spent her childhood in Grantham, where her father owned a tobacconist 's and
5934-491: 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,
6063-761: 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 ,
6192-481: The Commons what she meant by socialism: [S]he was at a loss to reply. What in fact she meant was Government support for inefficient industries, punitive taxation, regulation of the labour market, price controls – everything that interfered with the functioning of the free economy. Under Margaret Thatcher's government, the taming of inflation displaced high employment as the primary policy objective. As
6321-462: The Conservative Party . In domestic policy, Thatcher implemented sweeping reforms concerning the affairs of the economy , eventually including the privatisation of most nationalised industries , and the weakening of trade unions. She emphasised reducing the government's role and letting the marketplace decide in terms of the neoliberal ideas pioneered by Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek , promoted by her mentor Keith Joseph , and promulgated by
6450-597: The Conservatives in 1983 and 1987 . She gained intense media attention as Britain's first female prime minister, and was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. Her premiership ended when she withdrew from the 1990 Conservative leadership election . As prime minister, Thatcher also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury , Minister for the Civil Service , and Leader of
6579-466: 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
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#17327799615076708-444: The Conservatives now had an overall majority of 144 MPs. The second term saw Thatcher in full charge. Thatcher was prime minister during what The Guardian described as "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS." Thousands of haemophiliacs were infected with HIV, Hepatitis C , or both, via the clotting-agent Factor VIII . Britain had imported infected supplies of Factor VIII from risky overseas commercial sources; it
6837-521: The Conservatives won 42.4% of the vote, the Labour Party 27.6% and the Alliance 25.4%. Though the gap between Labour and the Alliance was narrow in terms of votes, the Alliance vote was scattered, and they won only a fraction of the seats that Labour held, with its concentrated base. The Conservatives' share of the vote fell slightly (1.5%) since 1979. Labour's vote had fallen by far more (9.3%), and
6966-657: 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
7095-531: The NUJ urged them not to work there; the " refuseniks " refused to go to Wapping. Enough printers did come—670 in all—to produce the same number of papers that it took 6,800 men to print at the old shop. The efficiency was obvious and frightened the union into holding out an entire year. Thousands of union pickets tried to block shipments out of the plant; they injured 574 policemen. There were 1,500 arrests. The pickets failed. The union tried an illegal secondary boycott and
7224-477: 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 ,
7353-620: The Prime Minister and suggested she should resign; according to her adviser, Tim Bell , "Margaret just told them to go away". Thatcher's key ally in the party was Home Secretary , and later Deputy Prime Minister, William Whitelaw . His moral authority and support allowed her to resist the internal threat from the " Heathite " wets . Following the Brixton riot in West London in April 1981, employment secretary Norman Tebbit , responding to
7482-506: 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
7611-407: 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
7740-449: The SAS men involved and sat among them watching a re-run of the attack. The breaking of the siege by the SAS was later ranked by the public as one of television's greatest moments. Her decisiveness—christened the "resolute approach" by the Prime Minister herself—became Thatcher's trademark and a source of her popularity. In the words of one historian: The mood reflected Mrs Thatcher's Iron Lady stance, her proclaimed intention of laying
7869-536: The SAS's action, social services secretary Norman Fowler agreed: "Mrs Thatcher attracted public support because she seemed to be taking action which the public overwhelmingly thought was right but never thought any government would have the nerve to carry out". When the Soviet Union troops entered Afghanistan in December 1979 , Thatcher saw it as a typical example of "relentless Communist imperialism". However,
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#17327799615077998-607: 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. Following her arrival at Oxford, Roberts began studies under X-ray crystallographer Dorothy Hodgkin ,
8127-572: The Sunday Times reported on the Queen's alleged criticism of Thatcher's policies, especially regarding the people of the Commonwealth, as "uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive." Thatcher often ridiculed the Commonwealth, which the Queen held in very high esteem. Biographer John Campbell reports that in July 1978, before Thatcher became prime minister, when asked by a Labour MP in
8256-453: 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
8385-458: 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
8514-518: The United States, Reagan was supportive, but he also launched diplomatic initiatives to resolve the crisis without a war. Thatcher assembled and sent a naval task force to take back control in three days. In the six weeks it took to arrive, she engaged in diplomatic efforts moderated by Reagan's secretary of state Alexander Haig , but Argentina rejected all compromise proposals. Public opinion, and both major parties, backed Thatcher's aggressive response. The task force sank an Argentine cruiser , forcing
8643-426: The United States. Success came with the thaw in superpower relations, the consolidation of Thatcherism at home and the march of neo-liberal ideas internationally. On 2 April 1982, the ruling Argentine military junta invaded the Falkland Islands , and on 3 April invaded South Georgia , British Crown Colonies that Britain had always ruled but which Argentina had claimed . Thatcher had not previously shown concern for
8772-403: 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
8901-403: The balance of payments in manufactured goods was in deficit. Chancellor Nigel Lawson told the Lords' Select Committee on Overseas Trade : "There is no adamantine law that says we have to produce as much in the way of manufactures as we consume. If it does turn out that we are relatively more efficient in world terms at providing services than at producing goods, then our national interest lies in
9030-553: The bishop. White Rhodesians expected Britain to recognise the Muzorewa regime and end crippling sanctions. However, Thatcher reversed herself. She withheld recognition and manoeuvred the Muzorewa government into accepting new elections. They had to include Joshua Nkomo and his Zimbabwe African People's Union as well as Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union . These were revolutionary movements that Rhodesian security forces had been trying to suppress for years. Under her direction, foreign secretary Lord Carrington brokered
9159-408: The constitutional affairs of Northern Ireland is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland, this government, this parliament, and no-one else ". In 1981, a number of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison (also known in Northern Ireland as Long Kesh , its previous official name) went on hunger strike to regain
9288-580: 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
9417-530: 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
9546-635: 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
9675-521: 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
9804-497: 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
9933-932: The foreign ministry said the Kremlin was desperately trying to save its failing ally there. Thatcher supported the American plan to boycott the Moscow Olympics, as did Parliament. However, the athletes disagreed, and they went to Moscow anyway. Thatcher gave the go ahead for Whitehall to approve MI6 (and the SAS) to undertake 'disruptive action' in Afghanistan. Supporting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Operation Cyclone , they also supplied weapons, training and intelligence to
10062-459: 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
10191-428: 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
10320-484: The heartland of Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. Thatcher recognised that Soviet hegemony was vulnerable in Poland and offered public support for Lech Wałęsa and his Solidarity labour union , in close co-operation with the United States and Pope John Paul II (a long-time leader of Polish Catholicism). Thatcher considered Poland as a key centre of Soviet vulnerability. She offered limited help to Solidarity in tandem with
10449-406: The high number of people claiming unemployment benefit while working, unemployment never reached three million. By 1983, manufacturing output had dropped by 30% from 1978, although economic growth had been re-established the previous year. The productivity turnaround from labour-shedding proved to be a one-off and was not matched by growth in output. The industrial base was so reduced that thereafter
10578-402: The idea because it would lead to a "property-owning democracy". By the 1970s, many working-class people had ample incomes for home ownership, and eagerly accepted Thatcher's invitation to purchase their homes at a sizeable discount. The new owners were more likely to vote Conservative, as Thatcher had hoped. The downside to this was that it eventually led to council house shortages, as the share of
10707-533: The impending failure of the strike and, worn down by months of protests, began to defy the union's rulings, starting splinter groups and advising workers that returning to work was the only viable option. The miners' strike lasted a full year before the NUM leadership conceded without a deal. Conservative governments proceeded to close all but 15 of the country's pits, with the remaining 15 being sold off and privatised in 1994. Since then, private companies have acquired licences to open new pits and open-cast sites, with
10836-418: The imposition of a local poll tax . As her support ebbed away, she was challenged for her leadership and persuaded by Cabinet to withdraw from the second round of voting – ending her eleven-year premiership. She was succeeded by John Major , her Chancellor of the Exchequer . Thatcher was Britain and Europe's first female prime minister. She appointed few women to high office and did not make women's issues
10965-681: The islands and had proposed large-scale cuts to her naval forces . Thatcher listened primarily to Admiral Henry Leach , the First Sea Lord ; and to Admiral Sir Terence Lewin , the Chief of the Defence Staff . She immediately decided to expel the invaders. She replaced foreign minister Lord Carrington with Francis Pym and rounded up diplomatic support. The United Nations Security Council denounced Argentina's aggression, and France and other allies provided diplomatic and military support. In
11094-431: The largest amount of public subsidies going to any nationalised industry: by 1984 the annual cost to taxpayers of uneconomic pits had reached £1 billion. The year-long confrontation over strikes carried out from April 1984 by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), in opposition to proposals to close a large number of unprofitable mines, proved a decisive victory for Thatcher. The Government had made preparations to counter
11223-615: 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
11352-509: The majority of the original mines destroyed and the land redeveloped. The defeat of the miners' strike led to a long period of demoralisation in the whole of the trade union movement. The 51-week miners' strike of 1984–85 was followed a year later by the 54-week Wapping dispute launched by newspaper printers in London. It resulted in a second major defeat for unions and another victory for Thatcher's union policies, especially her assurance that
11481-519: The media as Thatcherism . In foreign policy, Thatcher decisively defeated Argentina in the Falklands War in 1982. In longer-range terms she worked with Ronald Reagan to actively oppose Soviet communism during the Cold War . However, she also promoted collaboration with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in ending the Cold War . In her first years she had a deeply divided cabinet. As the leader of
11610-510: The money from the sale of the houses to be used to construct more council properties gradually fell by the end of the 1980s, and saw fewer councils building affordable housing. To deal with economic stagnation in the inner cities, the Government introduced "enterprise zones" starting in 1981; the idea began in Britain and was adopted by the United States and some EU countries. It targeted designated small, economically depressed neighbourhoods and exempted them from some regulations and taxes. The goal
11739-660: The most decisive landslide since the general election of 1945 . The Labour Party at this time had split, and there was a new challenge in the SDP–Liberal Alliance , formed by an electoral pact between the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party . However, this grouping failed to make its intended breakthrough, despite briefly holding an opinion poll lead. In the June 1983 general election,
11868-658: The offer, and on 24 January 1986, its 6,000 members at Murdoch's papers went on strike. Meanwhile, News International had built and clandestinely equipped a new printing plant in the London district of Wapping . The principal print unions—the National Graphical Association (NGA), the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT 82) and the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW)—ran closed shops: only union members could be hired at
11997-521: The old Fleet Street plants; most were sons of members. However, the new plant in Wapping did not have a closed shop contract. The company activated its new plant with the assistance of another union, the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU). Most journalists (members of the National Union of Journalists ) moved to Wapping, and NUJ Chapels continued to operate. However,
12126-476: 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
12255-541: The police would defend the plants against pickets trying to shut them down. The target was Britain's largest privately owned newspaper empire, News International (parent of The Times and News of the World and others, all owned by Rupert Murdoch ). He wanted to introduce technological innovations that would put 90% of the old-fashioned typesetters out of work. The company offered redundancy payments of £2,000 to £30,000 to each printer to quit their old jobs. The union rejected
12384-569: 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
12513-456: 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
12642-466: 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
12771-469: 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
12900-469: 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
13029-585: The recession of 1979–81. This labour-shedding helped firms deal with long-standing X-inefficiency from over-manning, enabling the British economy to catch up to the productivity levels of other advanced capitalist countries. The link between the money supply and inflation was proven accurate, and by January 1982, the inflation rate had dropped back to 8.6% from earlier highs of 18%. Interest rates were then allowed to fall. Unemployment continued to rise, passing 3 million by January 1982 and remaining this high until early 1987. However, Tebbit later suggested that, due to
13158-490: 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
13287-589: 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
13416-465: 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
13545-405: The ships destined for cuts proved essential in the Falklands War. One of Thatcher's largest and most successful policies assisted council tenants in public housing to purchase their homes at favourable rates. The "Right to Buy" had emerged in the late 1940s, but was too great a challenge to the post-war consensus to win Conservative endorsement. Thatcher from her earliest days in politics favoured
13674-526: 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
13803-632: 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
13932-410: The status of political prisoners , which had been revoked five years earlier under the preceding Labour government. Bobby Sands , the first of the strikers, was elected as an MP for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone a few weeks before he died of starvation. Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for republican prisoners, famously declaring "Crime is crime is crime; it
14061-475: 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
14190-467: The success of the Lancaster House negotiations can be explained by four factors: A balance of forces on the battlefield that clearly favoured the nationalists; international sanctions and their adverse effects on Rhodesia's economy and Salisbury's ability to wage war; a particular pattern of third party interests; and finally, the skill and resources that Lord Carrington as mediator brought to
14319-545: The table. Thatcher's determination to face down political violence was first demonstrated during the 1980 siege of the Embassy of Iran , London, when the armed forces were for the first time in 70 years authorised to use lethal force on the British mainland. For six days in May, 26 hostages were held by six gunmen; the siege came to a dramatic end with a successful raid by SAS commandos. Later that day, Thatcher went to congratulate
14448-417: 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
14577-484: 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
14706-521: 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 ,
14835-429: 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
14964-426: 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
15093-471: 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
15222-562: 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
15351-534: 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
15480-475: Was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions but, unlike the Heath government, adopted a strategy of incremental change rather than a single Act. Several unions launched strikes in response, but these actions eventually collapsed. Gradually, Thatcher's reforms reduced the power and influence of the unions. The changes were chiefly focused upon preventing the recurrence of the large-scale industrial actions of
15609-456: Was fined in court, losing all its assets which had been used for pensions. In the next two years, Britain's national newspapers opened new plants and abandoned Fleet Street, adopting the new technology with far fewer employees. They had even more reason to support Thatcherism. Margaret Thatcher [REDACTED] Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher ( née Roberts ; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013),
15738-472: 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
15867-469: 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
15996-632: 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
16125-526: 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
16254-611: 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
16383-525: 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
16512-628: Was to attract private capital and new business activity that would bring jobs and progress to declining areas. Important projects included those in London Docklands , Salford and Gateshead. Before the 1979 election Thatcher was on record as supporting the all-white government of Ian Smith in Rhodesia. Under intense world pressure it held elections that included some black voters. One of them, Methodist Bishop Abel Muzorewa , became prime minister of " Zimbabwe-Rhodesia " in June 1979 with Smith's support. Thatcher, new to 10 Downing Street, praised
16641-638: Was widely shared in the UK. Historian Ezequiel Mercau argues that the islanders' demands for decolonisation were weak. Instead their predominant sentiment was a close "kith and kin" identification with the people of Great Britain that gave the Falklanders a "loyalty to the Crown ." In May 1980, one day before Thatcher was due to meet the Irish Taoiseach , Charles Haughey , to discuss Northern Ireland, she announced in Parliament that "the future of
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