Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher was elected the first woman prime minister of England in1979. She led England out of a recession, led a war in defense of the British Falkland Islands, confronted unions and the influence of the then Soviet Union which earned her the nickname of "Iron Lady". Her stance on European Union led to her eventual lack of party support and her resignation as prime minister in 1990.

Early Life

Politician, former British prime minister. Born Margaret Roberts on October 13, 1925, in Grantham, England. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher served as the prime minister of England from 1979 to 1990. The daughter of a local businessman, she was educated at the local grammar school. Her family operated a grocery store and they all lived in an apartment above the store. In her early years, Thatcher was introduced to conservative politics by her father who was a member of the town’s council.

A good student, Thatcher was accepted to Oxford University, where she studied chemistry at Somerville College. One of her instructors was the Dorothy Hodgkin, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. Politically active, Thatcher served as president of the Conservative Association at the university. She earned a degree in chemistry in 1947 and went to work as a research chemist in Colchester and later in Dartford.

Early Foray Into Politics

Only two years after graduating college, Thatcher made her first bid for public office. She ran as the conservative candidate for a Dartford parliamentary seat in the 1950 elections. Thatcher knew from the start that it would be nearly impossible to win the position away from the liberal Labour Party. Still she earned the respect of her political party peers with her speeches. Defeated, Thatcher remained undaunted. She tried again the next year, but once more her efforts were unsuccessful. Two months after her loss, she married Denis Thatcher.

In 1952, Thatcher put politics aside for a time to study law. She and her husband welcomed twins Carol and Mark the next year. After completing her training, Thatcher qualified as a barrister, a type of lawyer, in 1953. But she did not stay away from the political arena for too long. Thatcher won a seat in the House of Commons in 1959, representing Finchley.

Clearly a woman on the rise, Thatcher was appointed parliamentary under secretary for pensions and national insurance in 1961. When the Labour Party assumed control of the government, she became a member of what is called the Shadow Cabinet, which is a group of political leaders who would hold cabinet level posts if their party was in power.

Britain's First Female Premier

When the Conservatives returned to office in June 1970, Thatcher was appointed secretary of state for education and science, becoming famous as "Thatcher, milk snatcher,” after her abolition of the universal free school milk scheme. She found her position frustrating not because of the all of the bad press around her actions, but because she had difficulty getting Prime Minister Edward Heath to listen to her ideas. Seemingly disenchanted on the future of women in politics, Thatcher was quoted as saying “I don’t think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime,” during a 1973 television appearance.

Thatcher soon proved herself wrong. While the Conservatives lost power in 1974, Thatcher became a dominant force in her political party. She was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, beating out Heath for the position. With this victory, Thatcher became the first woman to serve as the opposition leader in the House of Commons. England was in a time of economic and political turmoil with the government nearly bankrupt, employment on the rise, and conflicts with the labor unions. This instability helped return the Conservatives to power in 1979. As the party leader, Thatcher made history that May when she was appointed Britain's first female prime minister.

Conservative Leadership

As prime minister, Thatcher battled the country’s recession by initially raising interest rates to control inflation. She was best known for her destruction of Britain’s traditional industries, through her attacks on labor organizations such as the miner’s union, and for the massive privatization of social housing and public transport. One of her staunchest allies was U.S. president Ronald Reagan, a fellow conservative. The two shared similar right-wing, pro-corporate political philosophies.

Thatcher faced a military challenge during her first term. In April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland islands. This British territory had long been a source of conflict between the two nations as the islands are located off the coast of Argentina. Taking swift action, Thatcher sent British troops to the territory to retake the islands in what became known as the Falklands War. Argentina surrendered in June 1982.

In her second term, from 1983 to 1987, Thatcher handled a number of conflicts and crises. The most jarring of which may have been the attempt on her life in 1984. In a plot by the Irish Republic Army, she was meant to killed by a bomb planted at the Conservative Conference in Brighton in October. Undaunted and unharmed, Thatcher insisted that the conference continue and gave a speech the following day.

As for foreign policy, Thatcher met with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, in 1984. She also signed an agreement with the Chinese government regarding the future of Hong Kong that same year. Publicly, Thatcher voiced her support for Ronald Reagan’s air raids on Libya in 1986 and allowed the U.S. forces to use British bases to help carry out the attack.

Resignation

Returning for a third term in 1987, Thatcher sought to implement a standard educational curriculum across the nation and make changes to the country’s socialized medical system. But she lost a lot of support because of her efforts to implement a fixed rate local tax—labeled a poll tax by many since she sought to disenfranchise those who did not pay it. Hugely unpopular, this policy led to public protests and caused dissention within her party. Thatcher initially pressed on for fight for party leadership in 1990, but she eventually yielded to pressure from party members and announced her intentions to resign on November 22, 1990. In a statement, she said, “Having consulted widely among colleagues, I have concluded that the unity of the Party and the prospects of victory in a General Election would be better served if I stood down to enable Cabinet colleagues to enter the ballot for the leadership. I should like to thank all those in Cabinet and outside who have given me such dedicated support.” On November 28, 1990, Thatcher left office, departing from 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, for the last time.

Life After Politics

Not long after leaving office, Thatcher was appointed to the House of Lords, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in 1992. She experienced her experiences as a world leader and a pioneering woman in the field of politics in two books, The Downing Street Years (1993) and The Path to Power (1995). In 2002, Thatcher’s book, Statecraft, was published and offered her views on international politics.

Around this time, Thatcher had a series of small strokes. She suffered a great personal loss in 2003 when her husband Denis died—the couple had been married for more than 50 years. The next year, she had to say good-bye to an old friend and ally, Ronald Reagan. In fragile health, Thatcher gave a eulogy at his funeral via video link, praising Reagan as a man who “sought to mend America’s wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism.”

In 2005, Thatcher celebrated her eightieth birthday. A huge event was held in her honor and was attended by Queen Elizabeth, Tony Blair, and nearly 600 other friends, family members, and former colleagues. Two years later, a sculpture of the strong conservative leader was unveiled in the House of Commons. While her policies and actions are still debated by detractors and supporters alike, Thatcher has left an indelible impression on Britain and world politics.

From : www.biography.com

Margaret Thatcher

Only Woman Prime Minister of United Kingdom

Born on          13 October 1925

Born in            Grantham, England

Margaret Thatcher is the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and was the first woman to lead a major political party in the country. She acted upon many important positions and took major responsibilities as the leader of the Conservative Party before she eventually elected to the premiership in 1979 after which she was reelected for the second and third time consecutively. During her tenure as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took an uncompromising stand against the trade unions, opposed the Soviet Union and established economic policies of Free Markets, entrepreneurialism and reduced State intervention in the country's economy. Though she was reelected for a third term in 1987, her popularity had begun to decline by the end of her third term as a result of her views on European community and Community Charge Plan, that many people could not stomach. Even so, Thatcher still remains a revolutionary figure who revitalized Britain's economy, impacted the trade unions, transformed UK into a fast growing economy and established the country as a world power.

Childhood and Education

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on 13 October 1925 in the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire. Her father Alfred Roberts owned two grocery shops in Grantham and was active in local politics and religion serving as an Alderman and Methodist lay preacher. After attending Hunting tower Road Primary School and Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School, she applied for a scholarship to attend Somerville College, Oxford. She went to Oxford in 1943 and studied Natural Science specializing in Chemistry. She was elected as President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1946. She studied crystallography and received a post graduation B Sc. degree in 1947. In 1950, she took the degree of Masters of Arts. After graduation, Margaret Thatcher moved to Colchester to work as a research chemist for BX plastics. During this period she joined the local Conservative Association. She was also a member of Association of scientific Workers and in 1949, she moved to Dart ford to stand for election as a Member of Parliament.

Political Career

She was the youngest ever female Conservative candidate, when she contested for the safe labor seat in Dart Ford in 1950 and 1951 elections. Though she could not win the seat, her campaign attracted high media attention. While active in the politics, she married a wealthy businessman Denis Thatcher in 1951 and qualified as a barrister in 1953 with specialization in Taxation. In the same year she gave birth to her twin children, Carol and Mark.

Before being elected as a Member of Parliament in 1959 election, she had faced several rejections in the past. Within 2 years, in 1961, she was promoted to the front bench as Parliamentary Undersecretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. She moved to the Shadow Treasury in 1966 where she opposed Labor's mandatory price and income control, which she believed would distort the economy. Thatcher was also against the Government’s high tax policy, as she was of view that low taxes work as an incentive and motivation to work hard.

In 1967, she was selected by the Embassy of the United States in London to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program. Later that year, Thatcher was moved and joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Fuel spokesman and shortly after the 1970 general election she was promoted to Shadow transport and after that, Education.

Prime Minister of United Kingdom (1979-1990)

Thatcher became the Prime Minister on 4 May 1979, with the mandate to reverse the economic decline and to reduce the role of state in the economy. She vowed to reduce the government’s excessive interference in economy, which she believed was a hurdle in its growth. Her political policies emphasized on reducing the state intervention, free markets and entrepreneurialism. She took new economic initiatives and began her economic reforms by increasing interest rates and introducing budget cuts. She cut the budget on social services like health care, education and housing, and placed legal restrictions on trade unions. By 1983, the economic growth of UK was stronger and the term ‘Thatcherism’ came to refer the ideologies and policies of Margaret Thatcher and her uncompromising approach of achieving political goals. After the election of 1983, the Conservative majority expanded and Margaret Thatcher continued to enact her economic policies.  

The Falklands

On 2 April 1982, a ruling military in Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, a British overseas territory that Argentina had claimed after 1810 dispute. The Thatcher government recaptured the islands and the salvagers were deported to Argentina. Argentina surrendered on 14 June and the operation was deemed as a success for the Thatcher government and resulted in a greater support for the government. The lasting effect of the Falklands compounded with the economic recovery in early 1983 was seen in the 1983 election, when the Conservative party won 42% of the votes.

Trade Unions

Margaret Thatcher was committed to curb the power and influence of trade unions by privatizing mines and pits. Her reforms instigated Violence and protests from the mine workers, but were successfully combated by the government. In 1984, National Union of Mineworkers ordered a strike against the legislation imposed on them to curb their power. Violent clashes broke out in many places in which a number of people were injured and arrested. After a year of striking, The National Union gave up without a deal.

European Community

Thatcher was opposed to the proposal from the European Community for a federal structure and increasing centralization of decision making. She was not against the Britain’s membership in the European Community, but she believed that it should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition. On the contrary to the European approach to governing, she was a supporter of smaller government and deregulatory trends. Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe, who was a great supporter of her, tried to persuade Thatcher to agree to the proposal, which she refused. Margaret felt that the membership will constrain the UK economy. A split emerged over the European policy within the Conservative Party and eventually Geoffrey resigned from his position of Deputy Prime Minister.

Economic Changes during 1987-1990

Thatcher introduced a new system to raise revenue; she replaced the local government taxes with a Community Charge or ‘Poll tax’. Property taxes were made uniform and the same amount was charged to every individual resident and the residential property tax was replaced with a head tax whose rate would be established by local governments. As a result the Prime Minister’s popularity declined in 1989. Unrest mounted in the country as Margaret refused to compromise on the tax. Several protest meeting were held, resulting in a number of riots, the most serious of which occurred at Trafalgar Square, London on 31 March 1990.

Fall from Power

In 1990, The Conservative Party began to split on the issue of European                                                                                                    Community, as Margaret Thatcher remained firmly opposed to British membership in the European Monetary system. Apart from it, opposition for her tax policy made her politically weak and vulnerable. Her combative personality and uncompromising approach to overrule other’s opinion contributed to the discontentment in the party members. On 1 November 1990, Geoffrey Howe, once her great supporter, resigned from his position as Deputy Prime Minister and his resignation speech on 13 November in the House of Commons led to the downfall of the Margaret Thatcher’s Government in UK. On 22 November an announcement was made informing that she would not be contesting the second ballot. She was the only Prime Minister of the 20 centaury to serve three times.

Life after Parliament

Margaret Thatcher became a member of the House of Lords in 1992. She had already been honored by the Queen as the ‘Order of Merit’, one of the UK’s highest distinctions in 1990. After leaving the House of the Commons, she authored her memoirs in two volumes: The Path to Power and The Downing Street years. From 1993 to 2000 served as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She was also Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, the UK’s only private university. She was widowed on 26 June, 2003. In February 2007, she became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to be honored with a statue in the House of Parliament while still alive.

From : www.thefamouspeople.com