Margaret Thatcher 1925 -2013

Margaret Thatcher - Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Margaret Thatcher defied an entire nation when she fought miners and sent troops to the Falkland Islands. She was simply a phenomenon.

When she was born:  Margaret Hilda Thatcher was a grocer’s daughter, born Margaret Roberts in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 13 October 1925.

Childhood: Her father was Alfred Roberts, was from Northamptonshire, and her mother was Beatrice Ethel came from Lincolnshire. She grew up in Grantham, where her father owned two grocery shops. She and her older sister Muriel were raised in the flat above the larger of the two, located near the railway line. She was proud of her small values of hard work and self reliance. 

Education: She attended Huntingtower Road Primary School and won a scholarship to Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School in Oxford. She was head girl in 1942–43. In her upper sixth year she applied for a scholarship to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and graduated in 1947 with Second Class Honours in the four-year Chemistry Bachelor of Science degree.

Her political life took off when she became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1946.

Marriage and Family life:  In 1951, she married Denis Thatcher, a wealthy businessman, with whom she had two children.

Life at No.10 Downing Street: After working as a research chemist she went back to university to become a barrister; Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. She once famously said that she did not believe that Britain would have a female prime minister in her lifetime. The 1979 victory was she the first of three general election victories. But as she tried to make UK economically stable, unemployment trebled and opposition grew. There were violent riots in London Liverpool and Birmingham. But still she was defiant. 

Miner's Strike: During the Scargill miners’ strike in 1982, she felt she had to beat down the mighty trade unions, she won but at a cost of violence and division. After a particularly difficult incident she said, “To those waiting with baited breath for that catch phrase the U-turn, I have one thing to say, “You turn if you want to – the lady is not for turning”.

Falkland’s war: The Falkland victory became her victory and though there were hundreds of thousands of loves lost, she was rewarded with an election landslide.

IRA incidents: In 1994, the IRA targeted Thatcher when they blew up the Grand hotel in Brighton killing five of Thatcher’s friends and colleagues during the Conservative Party conference. When interviewed she looked shaken but insisted that the conference should go ahead.  

Policies: She went on to win a third election victory – her polices became the bench of the British society – she introduced the right to buy council houses, then the right to buy shares in BT and privatisation of gas and water – free markets was spread across the market.

Cold War: She fought against the cold war with Ronald Reagan, America’s president at the time and she made connections throughout the world and especially with Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet statesman.

Poll Tax: But she fell out with Michael Heseltine over her reluctance to join the Europe. He felt she was poisoning the party but it was the fall out over the introduction of poll tax that was to prove decisive.

Achievements: After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived to be Britain's precipitous national decline. She built an important relationship with USA and called President Ronald Reagan her political soul mate. Her decision to fight for the Falklands showed that the ‘iron lady’ was prepared to act when necessary.

By the time she left 10 Downing Street as MP she had left a legacy like no other.

Legacy: Baroness Margaret Thatcher divided an entire nation with her radical policies and her strong personality. She developed the Jubilee line, built up Canary Wharf , created the links with America that the UK enjoys today, she introduced the Right-to-Buy scheme and weakened the strong hold of trade unions. She will definitely find her place in history, although, so many people found her policies hurtful while many others were brought up to dislike and fear her but it may take time.

Controversies: Her softly, softly approach to the Apartheid system in South Africa didn’t go well in the Common Wealth Union. IRA conflicts were stepped up during her time in office. In 1984, the Ira tried to kill her. They struck because she didn’t listen to their plea to be lenient with IRA prisoners on hunger strike. In 1981, The miners strkie was one of the most violentithe history of the UK leaving thousandsof men unemployed. The poll tax was a huge mistake and led to more strikes. In 1980, Thatcher changed the law on citizenship – children born by visitors and immigrants in UK could no longer claim citizenship. She also limited the number of Boat people who could live in the UK to10,000.

Retirement: In the 1990s, she was forced out of office not by the populace but her own party members. But even out of office she still had an immense presence - visiting the John Major in office several times. Alough she retired from public seaking in 2001, it was her husband’s death that finished her. He was the rock that she built her career on. Sir Denis Thatcher died on 26 June 2003. She had paid tribute to him in The Downing Street Years, writing "Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be: you cannot lead from the crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend." After his death, Margaret was never the same again.

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