Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

British National Party

2011-09-29T14:58:22Z

PeteW: /* Membership "leak" */

The '''British National Party (BNP)''' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] political party. The BNP's current leader is [[Nick Griffin]]. Though it is generally described as being on the right wing of politics, it espouses a number of fiscally left-wing policies. For example, although it is in favor of repatriating non-white people from the UK, it also favours substantial government involvement in the [[economy]]. Liberals and critics of the party have asserted that it is [[fascist]] or [[Neo-Nazi]], due to its hardline stance against Islamization.

The BNP has been accused by opponents of having ties to [[Neo-Nazi]] and [[Anti-Semitism|anti-semitic]] groups, however the party states that it is simply a strongly patriotic and nationalistic party which seeks to stand up for the rights of white British people.

It has no representatives in [[Parliament]].In May 2008 Richard Barnbrook became the first BNP member to be elected to the [[London Assembly]]. Opponents said a victory for the party meant "hatred, violence and stupidity".<ref>Brady, Brian [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-wins-first-seat-in-assembly-820867.html ''BNP wins first seat in assembly''] "The Independent On Sunday" 4 May 2008.</ref> Mayor-elect [[Boris Johnson]] and outgoing Mayor [[Ken Livingstone]] "pointedly walked off the stage when fifth-placed Richard Barnbrook made his speech following the announcement of the City Hall results."<ref>''BNP wins first seat in assembly'' op cit</ref>
in June 2009 two members of the BNP were elected to European parliament, including Nick Griffin, who called it a "great victory... we go on from here." <ref>http://bnp.org.uk/</ref>

==Membership "leak"==
In November 2008, the [http://wikileaks.org/leak/bnp-membership-list.txt entire membership list] of the BNP was posted on to the internet, detailing the names, addresses, occupations, email adresses, telephone numbers and ages of 12,801 secret "card carrying" members of the organisation. The list included serving [[police]] officers, [[lawyer|lawyers]], a [[Anglicanism|Church of England]] vicar, [[doctor|doctors]], [[teacher|teachers]] and members of the [[Armed Forces]], along with leading businessmen and civil servants."The BNP list also included the names and ages of children who have become members of the party after a parent has taken out a family membership, and several people who have joined the party at the age of 16. Against the name of a woman said to be a serving police officer and living on the Wirral, Merseyside, for example, is the note: "Discretion required re employment concerns - police officer", along with the names and ages of a number of her children. Other notes against the names of individuals include: "Discretion requested (employment concerns), government employee, IT consultant" and "activist (discretion requested), teacher (secondary school)"<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/19/bnp-names-web-police-security ''Police officers among BNP members listed on web''] Ian Cobain and Esther Addley [[The Guardian]], 19 November 2008. Accessed 19 November 2008.</ref> The membership list revealed that the BNP had some members in [[Australia]], one in [[Oman]] and 17 in the [[United States]]. One is the American chief executive of a City investment corporation, while another is a servant of the Queen, living at [[Buckingham Palace]]. Internet chat rooms frequented by BNP members were reported to be "buzzing with anger, indignation - and considerable alarm. One typical posting said: "The most shocking thing is some of the comments by the names! God help anyone who is in the army, the prison service, healthcare, a police officer or a teacher."<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1087101/BNP-fury-ENTIRE-membership-list-10-000-leaked-internet-party-threatens-legal-action.html ''BNP fury as ENTIRE membership list of 10,000 is leaked onto internet and party threatens legal action''] Michael Lea. [[The Daily Mail]] 19 Novemer 2008. Accessed 19 November 2008.</ref>

The membership list, which was inadequately, password protected and encrypted, had been stolen from the party, said Simon Darby, the BNP's spokesman. Mr Darby insisted: "This isn't a question of us mislaying the information, this is theft." The party blamed left-wing activists who have infiltrated the organisation.

==See also==

*[[United Kingdom Independence Party]]

==Further reading==
*Barton, Dale. [http://www.stopthebnp.org.uk/index.php?location=election&link=Campaigning03.htm ''Will The BNP Go Away If Christians Just Ignore Them?'']. Originally published in [[Searchlight Magazine]] April 2004. Full version online at stopthebnp.org.uk

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:British Political Parties]]

David Cameron

2011-09-29T14:54:34Z

PeteW: /* Policies */

{{Prime Minister
|image=674uyyhju.jpg
|seq=75
|term_start=May 11 2010
|term_end=present
|previous=Gordon Brown
|party=Conservative Party
|birth_date=October 6, 1966
|birth_place=London
|spouse=Samantha Sheffield
|religion=[[Church of England]]
}}
'''David Cameron''', born 9 October 1966, is the current Prime Minister of the [[United Kingdom]] and leader of the British [[Conservative Party]]. Following the May 2010 election, the Conservatives won the most seats but were short of a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. Labour Leader [[Gordon Brown]] resigned, and Cameron was appointed Prime Minister, leading a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

==Personal==

Cameron was born in [[London]], but spent his early years near Wantage in [[Oxfordshire]], [[England]], though his family's roots lie in [[Inverness]], [[Scotland]], and "Cameron" is well known in Britain as a Scottish name.

Cameron was educated at [[Eton College | Eton]], Britain's most prestigious public school (a "public school" in the UK referring to a privately run institution, as opposed to a "state school"), and at [[Brasenose College]], [[Oxford University|Oxford]], Britain's most ancient and prestigious university.

Cameron is self-described as "upper middle class", though his bloodline is noble, and he is a direct descendent of William IV, and thus a distant cousin of HRH Queen Elizabeth II. His family has historically been involved in finance and banking, with his great great grandfather being head of HSBC in the late 19th century, and worked alongside the Rothschilds to finance the Russo-Japanese war.

Cameron's leadership and indeed his own party are supported by businesses, as opposed to the liberal, socialist aligned Labour Party, led by [[Ed Miliband]]; which is funded and largely controlled by the [[trade union]]s. Many intervening leaders have been middle-class ([[Edward Heath]], [[Margaret Thatcher]]) or even working-class ([[John Major]]).

Cameron's reluctance to discuss his past, citing the right to a private life before politics<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4340328.stm</ref> has led to class-based attacks on his education and ancestry from a small proportion of left-wing media sources and opposition members of Parliament.

He has been married to Samantha since 1996. She is of direct noble bloodline, the daughter of 8th Baronet Sheffield, and a descendent of Charles II. They have two sons and a daughter. Their eldest son, Ivan Cameron, died on February 25, 2009.<ref>[[BBC News]] - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7909562.stm Cameron's 'beautiful boy' dies]</ref>

==Political career==

Cameron's pre-parliamentary career included spells as a staffer for controversial Conservative politician [[Norman Lamont]] and as a PR executive.

Cameron was elected to Parliament as MP for Witney in Oxfordshire at the 2001 general election.

Cameron was elected leader of the [[Conservative Party]] in December 2005, succeeding [[Michael Howard]].

In late June 2007, at the end of then-Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]'s final Prime Minister's Questions session in the [[House of Commons]], David Cameron led his opposition party in giving the outgoing leader a standing ovation.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555758/Tony-Blair-steps-down-to-a-standing-ovation.html Tony Blair steps down to standing ovation] - Daily Telegraph, June 27, 2007</ref>

==Policies==

Cameron has attempted to move the Conservative party towards what is perceived by some to be the centre ground of British politics. While the party under his leadership has expressed support for some traditional elements of Conservative policy, such as the importance of the [[family]], Cameron has also expressed a passionate concern about [[global warming]]. He has suggested a move towards [[privatization]] within the strongly-socialist [[National Health Service]], in an attempt to combat the economic failures resulting from the flawed socialist ideas upon which the organisation is based. Designed and originated by the leftist [[Labour Party]], the organisation is notorious for its bureaucracy and the failure of its left-wing values in an economic sense.

Some traditional Conservatives, particularly those on the [[Thatcherism|Thatcherite]] wing of the party, have criticized Cameron for moving the party too far to the left. They point to surveys showing that many voters feel they no longer know what the Conservative Party stands for.<ref>http://www.yougov.com/archives/pdf/TEL060101018_1.pdf</ref> However, he has stated that he is "certainly a big [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite."<ref name="new identity">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4446864.stm "Cameron: Tories need new identity"], ''BBC News Online'', 17 November 2005, accessed 6 November 2006</ref> He has also described himself as a "liberal Conservative" (though "liberal" in British English does not have the same meaning as in the United States, and instead has the meaning of "centrist," "moderate" or "libertarian").<ref name="Rawnsley">Andrew Rawnsley, [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1669957,00.html "'I'm not a deeply ideological person. I'm a practical one'"], ''Guardian Unlimited'', 18 December 2005, accessed 6 November 2006</ref> Some have gone so far as to claim that true conservatism is today represented in Britain not by the Conservative Party but by the [[UK Independence Party]]. On the other hand, the approval ratings of Cameron and his party continue to compare very favourably with those of the Labour Party and its leadership, which is undoubtedly unpopular.

Cameron has said: "My aim is to promote social justice, making sure that everyone has access to good schools, good healthcare and decent housing, take a lead in ending global poverty and do all we can to meet the great environmental threats of our age."<ref>http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=david.cameron.about.page</ref> Some conservative politicians and commentators, notably [[Norman Tebbit]], have criticised him for prioritising issues of the environment and social justice over more traditionally Conservative policy areas, such as tax, immigration and foreign relations. Tebbit said: "Is he the party's [[Chairman Mao]] or [[Pol Pot]], intent on purging even the memory and name of [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcherism]] before building a new modern compassionate green globally aware party somewhere on the left side of the middle?"<ref name="g1">[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,,1698576,00.html Tories must retake centre ground says Cameron], ''Guardian Unlimited'', 31 January 2006</ref> However, Cameron has responded extensively to such criticisms by pointing out that the economic and social problems faced by modern-day Britain are radically different from those faced in the past; he has argued that the Conservative Party needs to re-take the [[centrist|centre ground]] of politics from the [[Labour Party]].<ref name="bbc1">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4661024.stm Cameron denies 'betraying' Tories], BBC News, 30 January 2006</ref> He argued: "The change is not a betrayal. It is a recognition that the challenges faced by Britain are not the challenges of the 1970s. Social justice and economic efficiency are the common ground of British politics. We have to find the means of succeeding where the government has failed."<ref name="g1"/>

==References==

<References/>

==See also==

* [[British politics]]
* [[Conservative Party]]

==External links==
*[http://www.mydavidcameron.com/ Cameron Election Campaign 2010]
*[http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13223:pm-cameron-brushes-off-libyan-war-talk&catid=45:international-news&Itemid=137 British prime minister brushes off Libyan war talk.]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Cameron, David}}

[[Category: United Kingdom]]
[[Category: United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]
[[category:British Politics]]

Billy Idol

2011-09-29T14:11:19Z

PeteW: Undo revision 922955 by Conservative (talk)I think this edit was an improvement; added more info.

'''William Michael Albert Broad''', better known by his stage name '''Billy Idol''', is an English [[rock music|rock]] musician.

Idol began his career in 1976 with the [[punk]] band [[Generation X]], then later moved on to a successful solo career beginning in 1981. After a break of several years he launched a comeback tour in 2005, with the release of a new album and a series of tour dates including [[Rock am Ring]].

[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Male Singers]]

British politics

2011-09-29T13:30:00Z

PeteW: /* Conservatives */

'''British politics''' take place within the context of a democratic [[parliamentary]] system dominated by three major parties. Currently, there is a coalition government between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats

The political culture of the UK tends to be more liberal than that of the United States, but less so than that of many other European nations. [[File:Brit-history.jpg|thumb|250px]]

==Institutions==
===Parliament===

''See also [[Parliament]]''

The cornerstone of the uncodified British [[constitution]] is ''Parliamentary supremacy'', or ''Parliamentary sovereignty''.

Britain is one of a small number of nations without a codified constitution, and the British legislature, ''Parliament'', is free to legislate however it pleases. In British law, the only authority higher than parliamentary legislation is the law of the [[European Union]], and Britain is subject to EU law only by virtue of the fact that Parliament has chosen to accept it.

Parliament consists of the Queen, the [[House of Lords]] and the [[House of Commons (UK)|House of Commons]]. The Queen today takes no part in active politics (the last time that a monarch refused to ratify a law passed by the Lords and Commons was in 1714). While the House of Lords is considered to be the more prestigious chamber, the Commons is dominant by virtue of the fact that its members are elected rather than appointed. The Lords can only delay rather than veto legislation, though the Commons rarely chooses to push through laws against the Lords' wishes (it has done so only five times since the Lords' absolute veto was removed in 1911).

Reform of the House of Lords is a current political issue in the UK. The House of Commons has resolved to make it more democratic, so that 80% or 100% of its members are elected rather than appointed.

===The Executive===

The British Government operates in the name of the Queen (or the "Crown"), but power lies in practice with the '''Prime Minister''' and his '''Cabinet'''. The British Prime Minister has one of the most powerful roles of any democratic head of government or head of state (though some, like the French President, have similar or more extensive powers).

Contrary to popular opinion, the British Prime Minister can be of any religion - for example, Iain Duncan-Smith, a Catholic, was made leader of the Conservative Party while in opposition which would have made him Prime Minister had the party won a general election at that time. In addition, [[Margaret Thatcher]] was a Methodist rather than an Anglican. Not many British political commentators make any mention of religion, and religion is not considered a major deciding factor in elections. The faith or denominations of party leaders is not well known.

The only relevant legislation that exists demands that the Monarch not be Catholic, and the Anglican coronation and automatic incumbency to the position of Supreme Governor of the Church of England ensure that the Sovereign is Anglican; however, the now defunct position of advising the monarch on ecclesiastical affairs could have fallen to any member of the cabinet. No legislation exists which regulates the religion of the Prime Minister or any other member of parliament.

== Devolution ==

{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=cccccc
! Nation/Region || Legislature || Executive || Leader(s)
|-
| '''[[Scotland]]''' || [[Scottish Parliament]] || Scottish Government || First Minister
|-
| '''[[Wales]]''' || National Assembly for Wales || Welsh Assembly Government || First Minister
|-
| '''[[Northern Ireland]]''' || Northern Ireland Assembly || Northern Ireland Executive || First Minister and Deputy First Minister1
|-
| '''[[London|Greater London]]''' || London Assembly|| Mayor of London || Mayor of London
|}


1 Northern Ireland is a dyarchy in which both leaders are regarded as equal.


==Local government==

Each locality in the UK has its own '''local authority''': there are '''councils''' of various sorts, as well as a number of elected '''mayors''' (most notably in London, whose current mayor is the sometimes controversial Conservative politician [[Boris Johnson]]). The powers of local authorities have been seen as declining for many years, however one of the main aims of the new coalition government is to reverse this. Local authorities can pass 'bylaws', secondary delegated legislation that can regulate planning and other local areas.

It should be noted that most mayors in Britain are relatively powerless officials who serve as mere figureheads, in a similar way to the Monarch, as the power is with the local council, of which the mayor is the leader. However, a number of cities, such as London, have powerful mayors with a full executive role.

==Parties==

The British political spectrum has historically been dominated by the '''[[Labour Party]]''' on the left, the '''[[Conservative Party]]''' on the right, and the '''Liberal Party''' (now the [[Liberal Democrats]]) in the centre between them ("liberal" in British political terminology is often used to mean "centrist" or "moderate", rather than "left-wing"). In theory, these parties represent the three main political ideologies; liberal, conservative and socialist, but recently, there has been a perception that the main parties are crowding together on the centre ground. In the 1990s, Labour moved decisively away from the traditional left (angering many of its more traditionally-minded supporters), to the point where it was perceived by many as being less left-wing than the Liberal Democrats. Since the advent of [[David Cameron]] as its leader in 2005, the Conservative Party has moved away from the territory of the traditional right (in this case too, angering many of its more strongly conservative or [[Thatcherism|Thatcherite]] supporters).

===Labour===
see also [[Labour Party]]

The [[Labour Party]] is currently the main opposition party in the UK and is led by [[Ed Miliband]]. It is also the largest party in the Welsh legislature and the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament.

Following its defeat by Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in 1979, the Labour Party adopted a strongly left-wing, socialist program. Following a catastrophic defeat in the 1983 general election, more moderate politicians took charge of Labour and slowly moved it closer to the centre ground of British politics, a process started by [[Neil Kinnock]] in the mid-1980s and carried forward enthusiastically by [[Tony Blair]] after his election as leader in 1994. Many more traditional, left-wing Labour supporters see Tony Blair as an usurper whose policies are too right-wing for comfort. This has been the case in particular following the Iraq War.

Blair's policies were arguably a mixture of left (e.g. higher taxes, higher government spending, greater integration with the European Union, equal rights for gay people) and right (e.g. pro-market reforms in the public services, retention of Lady Thatcher's labour laws, support for the [[War on Terror]] and [[George W. Bush]]'s foreign policies). His successor [[Gordon Brown]], once a close ally of Blair, has spoken out against the idea of the party shifting back to the left. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair were both seen as modernists within the Labour Party before they were elected to power in 1997.

===Conservatives===
* Also See: [[Conservative Party]]
British conservatism has traditionally been a moderate, non-ideological creed: its heroes include such pragmatic figures as [[Edmund Burke]] in the eighteenth century and Sir [[Robert Peel]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli]] in the nineteenth century. These figures contrasted with contemporary conservatives from other European countries such as the French thinker [[Joseph de Maistre]], who were often strong, ideologically-minded supporters of absolute monarchy and Roman Catholicism.

The Conservative Party became more ideologically conservative during the leadership of [[Margaret Thatcher]] (1975-1990). Since Lady Thatcher resigned in 1990, the strongly conservative element within the party has been more or less eclipsed. It had some influence in the 1990s during the leadership of Sir John Major (1990-1997), but the current Conservative leader, [[David Cameron]], has moved decisively away from "Thatcherism". This has caused dismay to many Conservative activists. It is often argued that this move has greatly increased the popularity and electability of the Conservative Party; however Margaret Thatcher achieved three solid general election victories while Cameron has been forced to form a coalition with the leftist Liberal Democrats after failing to win an absolute majority.

===Liberal Democrats===

The Liberal Democrats (or "Lib Dems") were formed in 1988 by the merger of the old centrist Liberal Party with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP). They have long advocated disestablishing the [[Church of England]], and their current leader is [[Nick Clegg]], who has publicly said he is "not an active believer" in God, but claims to be "open-minded" about religion, has married a Catholic and is bringing his children up as Catholics.<ref>''Nick Clegg is a believer in families, not God'' [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3076044.ece Times Online]</ref>

The Liberal Democrats are divided between a relatively left-wing faction (to which the former leaders Sir Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy belong), which has taken positions to the left of the Labour Party on a number of issues, and a more right-wing, pro-[[free market]] faction to which the present leader belongs (several of whose members contributed to a controversial collection of essays published in 2004 called ''The Orange Book''). Despite the range of view on economic issues, the party is consistently liberal, even libertarian, on social issues. The Liberal Democrats are strong advocates of anti-discrimination laws.

=== Scotland ===
The largest party in the [[Scottish Parliament]] is the '''[[Scottish National Party]]'''. Among other policies it advocates a greater level of independence for Scotland.

=== Wales ===
There is also a Welsh nationalist party, called '''Plaid Cymru''', or simply '''Plaid''', which currently in coalition with Labour has control of the [[Welsh Assembly]].

=== Northern Ireland ===
Northern Ireland has a number of political parties:
* '''[[Democratic Unionist Party]]''' - strongly Unionist
* '''[[Sinn Fein]]''' - strongly Irish-Nationalist ("Republican")
* '''[[Ulster Unionist Party]]''' - moderately Unionist
* '''[[Social Democratic and Labour Party]]''' - moderately Irish-Nationalist

===Minor parties===
There are several other minor British parties worthy of mention:
* The '''[[UK Independence Party]]''' advocates the withdrawal of Britain from the [[European Union]] and other more strongly conservative policies than those supported by the official Conservative Party.
* The '''[[Green Party (UK)|Green Party]]''' is a left-wing party that advocates major constraints on economic acitity in order to prevent alleged anthropogenic global warming.
* '''[[RESPECT Party|Respect]]''' is a strongly left-wing, socialist party led by the maverick ex-Labour politician [[George Galloway]].
* The '''[[British National Party]]''' is generally seen as an extreme right-wing or fascist party. It advocates the repatriation of non-white people from the UK to the countries of their or their families' origin.
*The [[Monster raving loony party|Monster Raving Loony Party]] is a 'joke' party, which however often receives significant numbers of [[protest vote]]s especially in high-profile [[by-election]]s (which may attract a large number, sometimes dozens, of other not entirely serious candidates).

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:British Politics]]
[[Category:British History]]

Margaret Thatcher

2011-09-29T13:12:08Z

PeteW: Correcting factual error

{{Prime Minister
|image=Margaret_Thatcher.jpg
|seq=71
|term_start=May 4 1979
|term_end=November 28 1990
|party=Conservative Party
|previous=James Callaghan
|next=John Major
|birth_date=October 13 1925
|birth_place=Grantham
|spouse=[[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
}}

'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts)''', later Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (born October 13, 1925), was [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the position. Her leadership permanently moved Britain to the right and reshaped the nation's political environment to stress economic growth and international competitiveness. The [[Labour Party]] in response under [[Tony Blair]] jettisoned their old leftist ideas and followed Thatcher-lite programs.

Thatcher was chosen to be the leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975, succeeding former Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]. She was opposed to [[socialism]] and out-of-control union power which had brought down the previous Conservative government in 1974. She led the Conservatives to victory in the May 1979 [[General Election]] and thus became Prime Minister.
{{cquote|'''The economic success of the Western world is a product of its moral philosophy and practice. ''The economic results are better because the moral philosophy is superior.'' Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice, there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose.''' <ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103336 1977 speech by Margaret Thatcher; Zurich Economic Society]</ref>}}

Thatcher sold many of the UK's nationalized industries back to private investors and made tax cuts. She broke the power of the trade unions which stood in the way of industrial progress, especially in the mining, print and shipbuilding industries and the public sector. Due to her strong standards and her leadership style, she became known as the "[[Iron Lady]]," a term originally coined as an insult by the communist [[Soviet Union]], but one she adopted. A famous statement of hers was "You turn if you want to, but the lady's not for turning", in reference to calls from within her own party to back down (in the political terminology of the time, "U-turn") on issues that were important to her. Thatcher was always a strong supporter of close relations with the [[United States]], and was a good friend of President [[Ronald Reagan]], uniting with him in actions against the Communists.

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over Argentinian aggression against the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries, and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When Thatcher rejected the proposed compromise, the U.S. supported Britain with intelligence information and the supply of advanced AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict. In 1986, she banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools in a piece of legislation known as [[Section 28]].

Thatcher led the Conservative Party to victory in three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987). By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside. She was challenged for the party leadership and just failed to gain the necessary majority in the first election despite getting more votes than her rival [[Michael Heseltine]]. After being convinced by colleagues that she would narrowly fail to gain the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second ballot and resigned as party leader on 22 November 1990. [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister. Heseltine's reputation was destroyed by his actions and his career in the Conservative Party slowly declined.

''Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister in more than 150 years and, alongside [[Winston Churchill]], is considered to be one of the two most important British political leaders of the twentieth century.''

She fundamentally moved the British economy from factories and mines to services and finance. [[Time|Time Magazine]] wrote of Lady Thatcher:
{{cquote|'''She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. ''Champion of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism and mankind.''''' <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html Time Magazine; Time 100 citation]</ref>}} 

==Career prior to 1979==

The predominant influence in Lady Thatcher's early life was her father, [[Alfred Roberts]]. Roberts was a grocer by occupation who was active in local politics. She attended Somerville College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where she read chemistry and became chairman of the university Conservative association. After graduating, she worked for a time as a research chemist before qualifying as a barrister and practicing as a tax lawyer, an indication of her interest in financial matters. In this time period, it was uncommon in Britain for a woman from a background to go to an upper-class university and then to pursue a career in the elitist male world of the Bar.

Lady Thatcher married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman whom she met at a Conservative Party meeting; a quiet man, he kept out of the spotlight. They had two children, twins Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher.

Under the weak and troubled Conservative premiership of [[Edward Heath]] (1970-1974), Thatcher served as Secretary of State for Education during which time her most noted achievement was the withdrawal of a daily milk ration to primary age schoolchildren earning her the nickname Milk-Snatcher. After the Conservatives were defeated in the elections of February and October 1974, Thatcher challenged the more liberal Heath for the leadership of the party. When she went into Heath's office to tell him her decision, he did not even bother to look up. "You'll lose," he said. "Good day to you." [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

Though at the time she was a relatively untested figure (and many in the party were wary of choosing a woman leader), she defeated both Heath and other male rivals in the contest in February 1975. Heath subsequently became a prominent personal and political adversary of Thatcher, drawing accusations of bitterness.

In the 1970s, Thatcher's strongly conservative, pro-capitalist stance resonated with a new mood among the British electorate, many of whom had become dissatisfied with the post-[[World War II]] statist consensus (the "post-war consensus", sometimes also called "Butskellism" after the centrist Conservative politician [[Rab Butler]] and the moderate Labour politician [[Hugh Gaitskell]]). Thatcher and the Conservatives offered a clear alternative vision for an increasingly aspirational society. The Conservative politician Sir [[Keith Joseph]] was the primary intellectual force behind these theories that later became known as ''Thatcherism''. They were strongly influenced by the pro-market intellectuals [[Friedrich von Hayek]] and [[Milton Friedman]].
[[Image:503px-Thatcher-loc.jpg|right|thumb|Margaret Thatcher as Leader of the Opposition in 1975.]]

===Attitude to Abortion===
Thatcher, throughout her parliamentary career, voted in favor of liberal abortion laws.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1988thatcher.html]

==1979 election==
The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".
[[Image:THATCH~1.JPG|right|350px]]
Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978-9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match. Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

==Prime Ministership==
===Economic policy===
Thatcher's chief goals in power were to reverse Britain's economic decline and to reduce the range of the state as well as standing taller on the international stage. She found a soul-mate in Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980 but whom she had met in 1975. Thatcher started by increasing interest rates to drive down inflation which hit the manufacturing sector and caused unemployment to rise sharply and there was a deep recession in the early 1980s blamed on her Government's economic policy. This led to her famous quote: 'the lady is not for turning', and she refused a policy reversal and, despite an open letter from 364 "economists", taxes were increased in the middle of a recession. Although unemployment did not reach 3 million till 1982, a year earlier British cities burned as thousands took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration. Inflation was going down though, allowing interest rates to fall, proving those "economists" wrong.

===Falkland Islands===
As the economy started to recover Argentina invaded the Falklands, the first (and unprovoked) invasion of sovereign British territory by a foreign government since the Second World War. This invasion was preceded by her withdrawal of the Royal Navy's antarctic patrol ship from the islands. Thatcher immediately declared her resolve to recapture the islands in line with the wishes of their inhabitants, and dispatched a naval task force to that end. With help from President [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] of [[Chile]] and, more covertly, [[Ronald Reagan]], the British forces swiftly recaptured the islands. The resulting wave of patriotic enthusiasm as well as her right to buy policy for council homes, and a uselessly divided opposition, meant she got a landslide victory in the June 1983 general election.

===Unions===
The central theme of Thatcher's second term was reducing the power of the trade unions with a series of measures that a number of unions reacted to with industrial action. In particular the National Union of Mineworkers led by Arthur Scargill. The Tories had prepared for the strike by building up coal reserves and the deploying well paid police units fitted out with new riot gear brought in after the disturbances of 1981 who taunted the strikers by waving fivers at them. The miners responded with bricks and very ugly scenes developed on picket lines that split the country. Scargill's failure to hold a ballot for the strike undermined public support and the striker's chant of 'vote with your feet' calling miners to join the strike was turned on them as more and more returned to work over the year of the strike.
===IRA===
In the middle of the strike, on October 12 1984, the IRA detonated a bomb during the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Thatcher escaped injury but five people died in the attack and Margaret Tebbit was left paralyzed; the conference went on as normal.
===Privatization===
Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasized free markets and since gaining power she had experimented in selling off nationalized industries starting with the National Freight company, most of the large utilities followed.

Privatization was perhaps the most enduring legacy of the political economy developed under Thatcher. She privatized long-nationalized corporations (such as the telephone and aerospace firms) and, most important, sold public housing to tenants, all on favorable terms. Theis turned Labour-minded tenants into Conservative-minded property owners and mortgage payers. The policy developed an important electoral dimension during the second Thatcher government (1983-90). It involved more than denationalization: wider share ownership was the second plank of the policy, and this provides an important historical perspective on the relationship between Thatcherism and 20th-century conservatism.<ref> Richard Stevens, "The Evolution of Privatisation as an Electoral Policy, c. 1970-90." ''Contemporary British History'' 2004 18(2): 47-75. Issn: 1361-9462 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

===Foreign policy===
Thatcher supported Reagan's [[Cold War]] policies of [[rollback]] of Communism. She supported the stationing of nuclear missiles in Europe and at British bases, ignoring the last-gasp protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She supported the American bombing raid on [[Libya]] from bases in Britain in 1986 and, by refusing to side with a European consortium, in backing the American-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation over a British company Westland. [[Michael Heseltine]] resigned in protest at her style of leadership over this.

In 1984 she visited [[China]] and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with [[Deng Xiaoping]] that agreed the handover of [[Hong Kong]] in 1997. At the Fontainebleau summit in 1984 Thatcher argued that the UK paid far more to the EEC than it received in spending and negotiated a budget rebate using the argument that ‘We want our money back’. In 1985, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for education.
===Reelected 1987===
In 1987, Thatcher became the first British Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections since [[Lord Liverpool]] (1812-1827).
===Environment===
In the late 1980's Thatcher began to be concerned by environmental policy and in 1988 she made a major speech accepting the problems of global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain. <ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107346 Speech to the Royal Society, 9/27/1988]</ref>

===Europe===
At Bruges, she made a speech in which she outlined her opposition to proposals from the European Communities for a federal structure and increasing centralization of decision-making believing that the role of the EC should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition. She was specifically against Economic and Monetary Union, through which a single currency would replace national currencies, and for which the EC was making preparations. In 1989 the economy high interest rates were imposed to stop an unsustainable boom. At the Madrid European summit, Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to agree the circumstances in which she would join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a preparation for monetary union. She took revenge on both by demoting Howe and listening more to her adviser Sir Alan Walters on economic matters. Lawson resigned that October and in November, a so-called ‘stalking horse candidate Sir Anthony Meyer challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party. In 1989 a new system of local government finance to replace the rates was introduced for Scotland in 1989 and for England and Wales in 1990. Called the 'Community Charge' but known as the Poll Tax was applied at the same amount to every individual resident with only limited discounts. Widespread opposition culminated in a huge [http://newsfilm.bufvc.ac.uk/article.php?story=200510081953085 demonstration] in London on March 31 that turned into the largest outbreak of public disorder central London had seen in a century which was followed by millions of people refusing to pay the tax. This along with her government's handling of the economy, her perceived arrogance and a general feeling that she would never retire, made her politically vulnerable. Geoffrey Howe resigned on November 1 and condemned Thatcher's policy on the European Communities then openly invited 'others to consider their own response'. Michael Heseltine's response was a leadership challenge which resulted in a narrow failure, by two votes, for Thatcher to win automatic re-election. After consulting with cabinet colleagues she found a vast majority thought that she could not win on the second ballot. On November 22nd Thatcher announced that she would not be a candidate in the second ballot. She supported John Major as her successor, and retired from Parliament at the 1992 election.

==Thatcherism==
[[Thatcherism]] refers to Thatcher's economic policies while prime minister 1979 and 1990.
It consisted of
*[[free market]] [[Supply-side economics|supply-side economics]]
*[[tax]] reduction
*artificial manipulation of the money supply to reduce [[inflation]]
*[[privatization]] of public industry
*reining in of [[labor union|trade union]] influence and power

==Life after being Prime Minister==

After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher was dubbed '''Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven''' and entered the House of Lords. Denis Thatcher was given a Baronetcy, which ensured that their son, Mark, would inherit the title of "Sir Mark".

She publicly endorsed [[William Hague]] against Kenneth Clarke for the Conservative leadership in 1997. She made many speaking engagements around the world, including very vocal support of former General [[Augusto Pinochet]], whom the new Labour administration extradited to Spain on trumped-up charges of torturing political opponents. In March 2002 she suffered a mild stroke, and made few speeches. In 2004 she attended the funeral of her old friend and political soul-mate, Ronald Reagan. Baroness Thatcher is still seen at Tory party gatherings and has continued endorsing party leaders, such as Iain Duncan Smith. In August 2008, it became known that she was suffering from [[dementia]] and had withdrawn from public life. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7579352.stm Thatcher suffers from dementia]</ref>
[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html][http://www.fandmpublications.co.uk/pages/margaretbiography1.htm][http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

==Quick Facts==
*Born: 13 October 1925 in [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]]

*First entered Parliament: 8 October 1959

*Became leader of the [[Conservative]] Party in February 1975

*Elected as Prime Minister in May 1979

*Age she became PM: 53 years, 204 days

*Maiden Speech: 5 February 1960 during the second reading of her Private Member's Bill

*Total time as PM: 11 years, 209 days

*Nickname: "The Iron Lady"

*Education: Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and Somerville College, Oxford

*Before Thatcher became an MP, she worked as a research chemist for British Xylonite and then Lyons & Company, where she helped develop methods for preserving ice cream.

*Family: Margaret Thatcher is the younger of two daughters. She often gave her father as an example of an outstanding citizen. She married [[Sir Denis Thatcher]], and has one son and one daughter.

*Interests: Music, art, opera and reading.

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Husband==
Denis Thatcher, ''as the first male PM spouse in history'', was always likely to be the center of media attention - and he didn't disappoint.

When she met him, Baroness Thatcher remarked that "it was clear to me at once that Denis was an exceptional man - he had a certain style and dash." Described as a man of integrity, humor and common sense, he had a strong business background and fought with the Royal Artillery during the war.

It was said that Denis was in 'the Thatcher party not the Tory party'. He once famously remarked, recalling the words of Mark Twain, that: "it's better to keep my mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt."

When he died in 2003 his wife paid tribute to the man she loved by saying: "Being PM is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be - you cannot lead from a crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend."

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

== Notable quotes==

*"I like Mr Gorbachev, we can do business together."

*"The lady is not for turning"

*"I have made it quite clear that a unified Ireland was one solution that is out. A second solution was a confederation of two states. That is out. A third solution was joint authority. That is out-that is a derogation of sovereignty."

*"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

*"If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you."

*"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."

*" There is no such thing as [[society]]. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate"<ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 Interview in ''Woman's Own'']</ref>

*"What Britain needs is an iron lady."

*"Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past."

*"I just owe almost everything to my father [and] it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."

*"Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend."<ref>[http://www.quoteworld.org/authors/margaret-thatcher/1/ Quotes by Margaret Thatcher]</ref>

*"It will be years before a woman either leads the Conservative Party or becomes Prime Minister. I don't see it happening in my time" (in 1970.) This quote was parodied in the 2006 TV series Life on Mars, when DCI Gene Hunt (speaking in 1973) stated "There'll never be a woman Prime Minister as long as I have a hole in my ar*e."

*“You may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.” <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=zac9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA283&dq=fight+the+battle+more+than+once+to+win+it.&ei=3hpnS82IAaSyNNvx1PwN&cd=2 The Routledge dictionary of quotations‎ - Page 283 by Robert Andrews]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Thatcherism]]
*[[Conservative Links]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/ Margaret Thatcher Foundation]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
[[File:Thatcher-pic.jpg|thumb|260px]]
===Biography===
* Blundell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Portrait-Iron-Lady/dp/087586631X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-9 excerpt and text search]
* Campbell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 1: The Grocer's Daughter.'' (2000); ''Margaret Thatcher. vol. 2: Iron Lady'' (2007), 520pp; 913pp; long, detailed authoritative biography
* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO
* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F. ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp. [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]
* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435-454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.
* Thompson, Juliet S., and Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]
* Young, Hugo. ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched

===Political studies===
* Adonis, Andrew, and Tim Hames, eds. ''A Conservative Revolution: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade'' (1994), comparative perspective
* Backhouse, Roger E. "The Macroeconomics of Margaret Thatcher," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 313-334 online at EBSCO
* Dellheim, Charles. ''The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher's Capitalist Revolution.'' (1995) 352 pp.
* Evans, Brendan. ''Thatcherism and British Politics, 1975-1997'' (2000)
* Evans, Eric J. ''Thatcher and Thatcherism.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 176 pp [http://www.questia.com/read/107494201?title=Thatcher%20and%20Thatcherism online edition]
* Fry, Geoffrey K. ''Politics of the Thatcher Revolution: An Interpretation of British Politics 1975 - 1990'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Thatcher-Revolution-Interpretation-British/dp/0333751965/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Haseler, Stephen. ''The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals.'' (1990). 195 pp.
* Holmes, Martin. ''The First Thatcher Government, 1979-83: Contemporary Conservatism and Economic Change'' (1985); ''Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87.'' (1989). 174 pp. a sympathetic assessment.
* Jenkins, Peter. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era.'' (1988). 417 pp. critical
* Johnson, Christopher. ''The Grand Experiment: Mrs. Thatcher's Economy and How It Spread.'' (1993). 341 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis. ''Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus?'' (1987). 334 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis, and Anthony Seldon, eds. ''The Thatcher Effect'' (1989), major interpretive essays by experts
* Krieger, Joel. ''Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Decline.'' (1987). 247 pp.
* Moon, Jeremy. ''Innovative Leadership in Democracy: Policy Change under Thatcher.'' (1993). 157 pp.
* Morgan, K.O. ''The People's Peace: British History, 1945-90'' (1990) survey by leading scholar
* Pugliese, Stanislao, ed. ''The Political Legacy of Margaret Thatcher.'' (2003). 419 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-2001.'' (2003). 260 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''Tory Radicalism: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-1997.'' (1997). 222 pp.
* Riddell, Peter. ''The Thatcher Decade: How Britain Has Changed during the 1980's.'' (1989). 236 pp.
* Roy, Subroto and Clarke, John, eds. ''Margaret Thatcher's Revolution: How It Happened and What It Meant.'' (2005). 209 pp.
* Savage, S.P., and L. Robbins, eds. ''Public Policy under Thatcher'' (1990), essays by experts
* Sharp, Paul. ''Thatcher's Diplomacy: The Revival of British Foreign Policy.'' (1997). 269 pp.
* Smith, Geoffrey. ''Reagan and Thatcher.'' (1991). 285 pp.
* Waine, Barbara. ''The Rhetoric of Independence: The Ideology and Practice of Social Policy in Thatcher's Britain.'' (1992). 172 pp.
* Wall, Stephen. ''A Stranger in Europe: Britain and the EU from Thatcher to Blair'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Europe-Britain-Thatcher-Blair/dp/0199284555/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823185&sr=1-26 excerpt and text search]
* Walters, A. A. ''Britain's Economic Renaissance: Margaret Thatcher's Reforms, 1979-1984.'' (1986). 200 pp.
* Wapshott, Nicholas. ''Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage.'' (2007) 329 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Ronald-Reagan-Margaret-Thatcher-Political/dp/159523053X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Whipple, Amy C. "'Ordinary People': The Cultural Origins of Popular Thatcherism in Britain, 1964-1979." PhD dissertation Northwestern U. 2004. 253 pp. DAI 2004 65(5): 1926-A. DA3132626 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Bibliography-Bibliographies-Statesmen/dp/book-citations/0313282889/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=citing#citing additional books]
===Primary sources===
* Clark, Alan. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Minister: The Private Diaries of Alan Clark.'' (1994). 421 pp.
* Thatcher, Margaret. ''The Path to Power (1995); ''The Downing Street Years.'' (1993). 914 pp., highly detailed memoirs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Margaret}}

[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:British Politics]]

Margaret Thatcher

2011-09-29T13:09:36Z

PeteW:

{{Prime Minister
|image=Margaret_Thatcher.jpg
|seq=71
|term_start=May 4 1979
|term_end=November 28 1990
|party=Conservative Party
|previous=James Callaghan
|next=John Major
|birth_date=October 13 1925
|birth_place=Grantham
|spouse=[[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
}}

'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts)''', later Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (born October 13, 1925), was [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the position. Her leadership permanently moved Britain to the right and reshaped the nation's political environment to stress economic growth and international competitiveness. The [[Labour Party]] in response under [[Tony Blair]] jettisoned their old leftist ideas and followed Thatcher-lite programs.

Thatcher was chosen to be the leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975, succeeding former Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]. She was opposed to [[socialism]] and out-of-control union power which had brought down the previous Conservative government in 1974. She led the Conservatives to victory in the May 1979 [[General Election]] and thus became Prime Minister.
{{cquote|'''The economic success of the Western world is a product of its moral philosophy and practice. ''The economic results are better because the moral philosophy is superior.'' Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice, there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose.''' <ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103336 1977 speech by Margaret Thatcher; Zurich Economic Society]</ref>}}

Thatcher sold many of the UK's nationalized industries back to private investors and made tax cuts. She broke the power of the trade unions which stood in the way of industrial progress, especially in the mining, print and shipbuilding industries and the public sector. Due to her strong standards and her leadership style, she became known as the "[[Iron Lady]]," a term originally coined as an insult by the communist [[Soviet Union]], but one she adopted. A famous statement of hers was "You turn if you want to, but the lady's not for turning", in reference to calls from within her own party to back down (in the political terminology of the time, "U-turn") on issues that were important to her. Thatcher was always a strong supporter of close relations with the [[United States]], and was a good friend of President [[Ronald Reagan]], uniting with him in actions against the Communists.

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over Argentinian aggression against the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries, and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When Thatcher rejected the proposed compromise, the U.S. supported Britain with intelligence information and the supply of advanced AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict. In 1986, she banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools in a piece of legislation known as [[Section 28]].

Thatcher led the Conservative Party to victory in three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987). By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside. She was challenged for the party leadership and just failed to gain the necessary majority in the first election despite getting more votes than her rival [[Michael Heseltine]]. After being convinced by colleagues that she would narrowly fail to gain the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second ballot and resigned as party leader on 22 November 1990. [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister. Heseltine's reputation was destroyed by his actions and he never again held a senior post in the Conservative Party.

''Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister in more than 150 years and, alongside [[Winston Churchill]], is considered to be one of the two most important British political leaders of the twentieth century.''

She fundamentally moved the British economy from factories and mines to services and finance. [[Time|Time Magazine]] wrote of Lady Thatcher:
{{cquote|'''She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. ''Champion of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism and mankind.''''' <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html Time Magazine; Time 100 citation]</ref>}} 

==Career prior to 1979==

The predominant influence in Lady Thatcher's early life was her father, [[Alfred Roberts]]. Roberts was a grocer by occupation who was active in local politics. She attended Somerville College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where she read chemistry and became chairman of the university Conservative association. After graduating, she worked for a time as a research chemist before qualifying as a barrister and practicing as a tax lawyer, an indication of her interest in financial matters. In this time period, it was uncommon in Britain for a woman from a background to go to an upper-class university and then to pursue a career in the elitist male world of the Bar.

Lady Thatcher married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman whom she met at a Conservative Party meeting; a quiet man, he kept out of the spotlight. They had two children, twins Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher.

Under the weak and troubled Conservative premiership of [[Edward Heath]] (1970-1974), Thatcher served as Secretary of State for Education during which time her most noted achievement was the withdrawal of a daily milk ration to primary age schoolchildren earning her the nickname Milk-Snatcher. After the Conservatives were defeated in the elections of February and October 1974, Thatcher challenged the more liberal Heath for the leadership of the party. When she went into Heath's office to tell him her decision, he did not even bother to look up. "You'll lose," he said. "Good day to you." [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

Though at the time she was a relatively untested figure (and many in the party were wary of choosing a woman leader), she defeated both Heath and other male rivals in the contest in February 1975. Heath subsequently became a prominent personal and political adversary of Thatcher, drawing accusations of bitterness.

In the 1970s, Thatcher's strongly conservative, pro-capitalist stance resonated with a new mood among the British electorate, many of whom had become dissatisfied with the post-[[World War II]] statist consensus (the "post-war consensus", sometimes also called "Butskellism" after the centrist Conservative politician [[Rab Butler]] and the moderate Labour politician [[Hugh Gaitskell]]). Thatcher and the Conservatives offered a clear alternative vision for an increasingly aspirational society. The Conservative politician Sir [[Keith Joseph]] was the primary intellectual force behind these theories that later became known as ''Thatcherism''. They were strongly influenced by the pro-market intellectuals [[Friedrich von Hayek]] and [[Milton Friedman]].
[[Image:503px-Thatcher-loc.jpg|right|thumb|Margaret Thatcher as Leader of the Opposition in 1975.]]

===Attitude to Abortion===
Thatcher, throughout her parliamentary career, voted in favor of liberal abortion laws.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1988thatcher.html]

==1979 election==
The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".
[[Image:THATCH~1.JPG|right|350px]]
Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978-9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match. Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

==Prime Ministership==
===Economic policy===
Thatcher's chief goals in power were to reverse Britain's economic decline and to reduce the range of the state as well as standing taller on the international stage. She found a soul-mate in Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980 but whom she had met in 1975. Thatcher started by increasing interest rates to drive down inflation which hit the manufacturing sector and caused unemployment to rise sharply and there was a deep recession in the early 1980s blamed on her Government's economic policy. This led to her famous quote: 'the lady is not for turning', and she refused a policy reversal and, despite an open letter from 364 "economists", taxes were increased in the middle of a recession. Although unemployment did not reach 3 million till 1982, a year earlier British cities burned as thousands took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration. Inflation was going down though, allowing interest rates to fall, proving those "economists" wrong.

===Falkland Islands===
As the economy started to recover Argentina invaded the Falklands, the first (and unprovoked) invasion of sovereign British territory by a foreign government since the Second World War. This invasion was preceded by her withdrawal of the Royal Navy's antarctic patrol ship from the islands. Thatcher immediately declared her resolve to recapture the islands in line with the wishes of their inhabitants, and dispatched a naval task force to that end. With help from President [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] of [[Chile]] and, more covertly, [[Ronald Reagan]], the British forces swiftly recaptured the islands. The resulting wave of patriotic enthusiasm as well as her right to buy policy for council homes, and a uselessly divided opposition, meant she got a landslide victory in the June 1983 general election.

===Unions===
The central theme of Thatcher's second term was reducing the power of the trade unions with a series of measures that a number of unions reacted to with industrial action. In particular the National Union of Mineworkers led by Arthur Scargill. The Tories had prepared for the strike by building up coal reserves and the deploying well paid police units fitted out with new riot gear brought in after the disturbances of 1981 who taunted the strikers by waving fivers at them. The miners responded with bricks and very ugly scenes developed on picket lines that split the country. Scargill's failure to hold a ballot for the strike undermined public support and the striker's chant of 'vote with your feet' calling miners to join the strike was turned on them as more and more returned to work over the year of the strike.
===IRA===
In the middle of the strike, on October 12 1984, the IRA detonated a bomb during the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Thatcher escaped injury but five people died in the attack and Margaret Tebbit was left paralyzed; the conference went on as normal.
===Privatization===
Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasized free markets and since gaining power she had experimented in selling off nationalized industries starting with the National Freight company, most of the large utilities followed.

Privatization was perhaps the most enduring legacy of the political economy developed under Thatcher. She privatized long-nationalized corporations (such as the telephone and aerospace firms) and, most important, sold public housing to tenants, all on favorable terms. Theis turned Labour-minded tenants into Conservative-minded property owners and mortgage payers. The policy developed an important electoral dimension during the second Thatcher government (1983-90). It involved more than denationalization: wider share ownership was the second plank of the policy, and this provides an important historical perspective on the relationship between Thatcherism and 20th-century conservatism.<ref> Richard Stevens, "The Evolution of Privatisation as an Electoral Policy, c. 1970-90." ''Contemporary British History'' 2004 18(2): 47-75. Issn: 1361-9462 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

===Foreign policy===
Thatcher supported Reagan's [[Cold War]] policies of [[rollback]] of Communism. She supported the stationing of nuclear missiles in Europe and at British bases, ignoring the last-gasp protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She supported the American bombing raid on [[Libya]] from bases in Britain in 1986 and, by refusing to side with a European consortium, in backing the American-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation over a British company Westland. [[Michael Heseltine]] resigned in protest at her style of leadership over this.

In 1984 she visited [[China]] and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with [[Deng Xiaoping]] that agreed the handover of [[Hong Kong]] in 1997. At the Fontainebleau summit in 1984 Thatcher argued that the UK paid far more to the EEC than it received in spending and negotiated a budget rebate using the argument that ‘We want our money back’. In 1985, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for education.
===Reelected 1987===
In 1987, Thatcher became the first British Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections since [[Lord Liverpool]] (1812-1827).
===Environment===
In the late 1980's Thatcher began to be concerned by environmental policy and in 1988 she made a major speech accepting the problems of global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain. <ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107346 Speech to the Royal Society, 9/27/1988]</ref>

===Europe===
At Bruges, she made a speech in which she outlined her opposition to proposals from the European Communities for a federal structure and increasing centralization of decision-making believing that the role of the EC should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition. She was specifically against Economic and Monetary Union, through which a single currency would replace national currencies, and for which the EC was making preparations. In 1989 the economy high interest rates were imposed to stop an unsustainable boom. At the Madrid European summit, Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to agree the circumstances in which she would join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a preparation for monetary union. She took revenge on both by demoting Howe and listening more to her adviser Sir Alan Walters on economic matters. Lawson resigned that October and in November, a so-called ‘stalking horse candidate Sir Anthony Meyer challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party. In 1989 a new system of local government finance to replace the rates was introduced for Scotland in 1989 and for England and Wales in 1990. Called the 'Community Charge' but known as the Poll Tax was applied at the same amount to every individual resident with only limited discounts. Widespread opposition culminated in a huge [http://newsfilm.bufvc.ac.uk/article.php?story=200510081953085 demonstration] in London on March 31 that turned into the largest outbreak of public disorder central London had seen in a century which was followed by millions of people refusing to pay the tax. This along with her government's handling of the economy, her perceived arrogance and a general feeling that she would never retire, made her politically vulnerable. Geoffrey Howe resigned on November 1 and condemned Thatcher's policy on the European Communities then openly invited 'others to consider their own response'. Michael Heseltine's response was a leadership challenge which resulted in a narrow failure, by two votes, for Thatcher to win automatic re-election. After consulting with cabinet colleagues she found a vast majority thought that she could not win on the second ballot. On November 22nd Thatcher announced that she would not be a candidate in the second ballot. She supported John Major as her successor, and retired from Parliament at the 1992 election.

==Thatcherism==
[[Thatcherism]] refers to Thatcher's economic policies while prime minister 1979 and 1990.
It consisted of
*[[free market]] [[Supply-side economics|supply-side economics]]
*[[tax]] reduction
*artificial manipulation of the money supply to reduce [[inflation]]
*[[privatization]] of public industry
*reining in of [[labor union|trade union]] influence and power

==Life after being Prime Minister==

After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher was dubbed '''Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven''' and entered the House of Lords. Denis Thatcher was given a Baronetcy, which ensured that their son, Mark, would inherit the title of "Sir Mark".

She publicly endorsed [[William Hague]] against Kenneth Clarke for the Conservative leadership in 1997. She made many speaking engagements around the world, including very vocal support of former General [[Augusto Pinochet]], whom the new Labour administration extradited to Spain on trumped-up charges of torturing political opponents. In March 2002 she suffered a mild stroke, and made few speeches. In 2004 she attended the funeral of her old friend and political soul-mate, Ronald Reagan. Baroness Thatcher is still seen at Tory party gatherings and has continued endorsing party leaders, such as Iain Duncan Smith. In August 2008, it became known that she was suffering from [[dementia]] and had withdrawn from public life. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7579352.stm Thatcher suffers from dementia]</ref>
[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html][http://www.fandmpublications.co.uk/pages/margaretbiography1.htm][http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

==Quick Facts==
*Born: 13 October 1925 in [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]]

*First entered Parliament: 8 October 1959

*Became leader of the [[Conservative]] Party in February 1975

*Elected as Prime Minister in May 1979

*Age she became PM: 53 years, 204 days

*Maiden Speech: 5 February 1960 during the second reading of her Private Member's Bill

*Total time as PM: 11 years, 209 days

*Nickname: "The Iron Lady"

*Education: Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and Somerville College, Oxford

*Before Thatcher became an MP, she worked as a research chemist for British Xylonite and then Lyons & Company, where she helped develop methods for preserving ice cream.

*Family: Margaret Thatcher is the younger of two daughters. She often gave her father as an example of an outstanding citizen. She married [[Sir Denis Thatcher]], and has one son and one daughter.

*Interests: Music, art, opera and reading.

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Husband==
Denis Thatcher, ''as the first male PM spouse in history'', was always likely to be the center of media attention - and he didn't disappoint.

When she met him, Baroness Thatcher remarked that "it was clear to me at once that Denis was an exceptional man - he had a certain style and dash." Described as a man of integrity, humor and common sense, he had a strong business background and fought with the Royal Artillery during the war.

It was said that Denis was in 'the Thatcher party not the Tory party'. He once famously remarked, recalling the words of Mark Twain, that: "it's better to keep my mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt."

When he died in 2003 his wife paid tribute to the man she loved by saying: "Being PM is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be - you cannot lead from a crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend."

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

== Notable quotes==

*"I like Mr Gorbachev, we can do business together."

*"The lady is not for turning"

*"I have made it quite clear that a unified Ireland was one solution that is out. A second solution was a confederation of two states. That is out. A third solution was joint authority. That is out-that is a derogation of sovereignty."

*"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

*"If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you."

*"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."

*" There is no such thing as [[society]]. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate"<ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 Interview in ''Woman's Own'']</ref>

*"What Britain needs is an iron lady."

*"Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past."

*"I just owe almost everything to my father [and] it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."

*"Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend."<ref>[http://www.quoteworld.org/authors/margaret-thatcher/1/ Quotes by Margaret Thatcher]</ref>

*"It will be years before a woman either leads the Conservative Party or becomes Prime Minister. I don't see it happening in my time" (in 1970.) This quote was parodied in the 2006 TV series Life on Mars, when DCI Gene Hunt (speaking in 1973) stated "There'll never be a woman Prime Minister as long as I have a hole in my ar*e."

*“You may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.” <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=zac9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA283&dq=fight+the+battle+more+than+once+to+win+it.&ei=3hpnS82IAaSyNNvx1PwN&cd=2 The Routledge dictionary of quotations‎ - Page 283 by Robert Andrews]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Thatcherism]]
*[[Conservative Links]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/ Margaret Thatcher Foundation]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
[[File:Thatcher-pic.jpg|thumb|260px]]
===Biography===
* Blundell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Portrait-Iron-Lady/dp/087586631X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-9 excerpt and text search]
* Campbell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 1: The Grocer's Daughter.'' (2000); ''Margaret Thatcher. vol. 2: Iron Lady'' (2007), 520pp; 913pp; long, detailed authoritative biography
* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO
* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F. ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp. [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]
* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435-454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.
* Thompson, Juliet S., and Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]
* Young, Hugo. ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched

===Political studies===
* Adonis, Andrew, and Tim Hames, eds. ''A Conservative Revolution: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade'' (1994), comparative perspective
* Backhouse, Roger E. "The Macroeconomics of Margaret Thatcher," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 313-334 online at EBSCO
* Dellheim, Charles. ''The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher's Capitalist Revolution.'' (1995) 352 pp.
* Evans, Brendan. ''Thatcherism and British Politics, 1975-1997'' (2000)
* Evans, Eric J. ''Thatcher and Thatcherism.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 176 pp [http://www.questia.com/read/107494201?title=Thatcher%20and%20Thatcherism online edition]
* Fry, Geoffrey K. ''Politics of the Thatcher Revolution: An Interpretation of British Politics 1975 - 1990'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Thatcher-Revolution-Interpretation-British/dp/0333751965/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Haseler, Stephen. ''The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals.'' (1990). 195 pp.
* Holmes, Martin. ''The First Thatcher Government, 1979-83: Contemporary Conservatism and Economic Change'' (1985); ''Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87.'' (1989). 174 pp. a sympathetic assessment.
* Jenkins, Peter. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era.'' (1988). 417 pp. critical
* Johnson, Christopher. ''The Grand Experiment: Mrs. Thatcher's Economy and How It Spread.'' (1993). 341 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis. ''Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus?'' (1987). 334 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis, and Anthony Seldon, eds. ''The Thatcher Effect'' (1989), major interpretive essays by experts
* Krieger, Joel. ''Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Decline.'' (1987). 247 pp.
* Moon, Jeremy. ''Innovative Leadership in Democracy: Policy Change under Thatcher.'' (1993). 157 pp.
* Morgan, K.O. ''The People's Peace: British History, 1945-90'' (1990) survey by leading scholar
* Pugliese, Stanislao, ed. ''The Political Legacy of Margaret Thatcher.'' (2003). 419 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-2001.'' (2003). 260 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''Tory Radicalism: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-1997.'' (1997). 222 pp.
* Riddell, Peter. ''The Thatcher Decade: How Britain Has Changed during the 1980's.'' (1989). 236 pp.
* Roy, Subroto and Clarke, John, eds. ''Margaret Thatcher's Revolution: How It Happened and What It Meant.'' (2005). 209 pp.
* Savage, S.P., and L. Robbins, eds. ''Public Policy under Thatcher'' (1990), essays by experts
* Sharp, Paul. ''Thatcher's Diplomacy: The Revival of British Foreign Policy.'' (1997). 269 pp.
* Smith, Geoffrey. ''Reagan and Thatcher.'' (1991). 285 pp.
* Waine, Barbara. ''The Rhetoric of Independence: The Ideology and Practice of Social Policy in Thatcher's Britain.'' (1992). 172 pp.
* Wall, Stephen. ''A Stranger in Europe: Britain and the EU from Thatcher to Blair'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Europe-Britain-Thatcher-Blair/dp/0199284555/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823185&sr=1-26 excerpt and text search]
* Walters, A. A. ''Britain's Economic Renaissance: Margaret Thatcher's Reforms, 1979-1984.'' (1986). 200 pp.
* Wapshott, Nicholas. ''Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage.'' (2007) 329 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Ronald-Reagan-Margaret-Thatcher-Political/dp/159523053X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Whipple, Amy C. "'Ordinary People': The Cultural Origins of Popular Thatcherism in Britain, 1964-1979." PhD dissertation Northwestern U. 2004. 253 pp. DAI 2004 65(5): 1926-A. DA3132626 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Bibliography-Bibliographies-Statesmen/dp/book-citations/0313282889/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=citing#citing additional books]
===Primary sources===
* Clark, Alan. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Minister: The Private Diaries of Alan Clark.'' (1994). 421 pp.
* Thatcher, Margaret. ''The Path to Power (1995); ''The Downing Street Years.'' (1993). 914 pp., highly detailed memoirs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Margaret}}

[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:British Politics]]

Margaret Thatcher

2011-09-29T13:04:16Z

PeteW:

{{Prime Minister
|image=Margaret_Thatcher.jpg
|seq=71
|term_start=May 4 1979
|term_end=November 28 1990
|party=Conservative Party
|previous=James Callaghan
|next=John Major
|birth_date=October 13 1925
|birth_place=Grantham
|spouse=[[Denis Thatcher|Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt]]
|religion=[[Methodist]]
}}

'''Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts)''', later Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (born October 13, 1925), was [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]] from 1979 to 1990, the first woman to hold the position. Her leadership permanently moved Britain to the right and reshaped the nation's political environment to stress economic growth and international competitiveness. The [[Labour Party]] in response under [[Tony Blair]] jettisoned their old leftist ideas and followed Thatcher-lite programs.

Thatcher was chosen to be the leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975, succeeding former Prime Minister [[Edward Heath]]. She was opposed to [[socialism]] and out-of-control union power which had brought down the previous Conservative government in 1974. She led the Conservatives to victory in the May 1979 [[General Election]] and thus became Prime Minister.
{{cquote|'''The economic success of the Western world is a product of its moral philosophy and practice. ''The economic results are better because the moral philosophy is superior.'' Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice, there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose.''' <ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103336 1977 speech by Margaret Thatcher; Zurich Economic Society]</ref>}}

Thatcher sold many of the UK's nationalized industries back to private investors and made tax cuts. She broke the power of the trade unions which stood in the way of industrial progress, especially in the mining, print and shipbuilding industries and the public sector. Due to her strong standards and her leadership style, she became known as the "[[Iron Lady]]," a term originally coined as an insult by the communist [[Soviet Union]], but one she adopted. A famous statement of hers was "You turn if you want to, but the lady's not for turning", in reference to calls from within her own party to back down (in the political terminology of the time, "U-turn") on issues that were important to her. Thatcher was always a strong supporter of close relations with the [[United States]], and was a good friend of President [[Ronald Reagan]], uniting with him in actions against the Communists.

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over Argentinian aggression against the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries, and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When Thatcher rejected the proposed compromise, the U.S. supported Britain with intelligence information and the supply of advanced AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict. In 1986, she banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools in a piece of legislation known as [[Section 28]].

Thatcher led the Conservative Party to victory in three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987). By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside. She was challenged for the party leadership, and when it became clear to her that she would narrowly fail to gain the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second party vote in 1990. [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister.

''Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister in more than 150 years and, alongside [[Winston Churchill]], is considered to be one of the two most important British political leaders of the twentieth century.''

She fundamentally moved the British economy from factories and mines to services and finance. [[Time|Time Magazine]] wrote of Lady Thatcher:
{{cquote|'''She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. ''Champion of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism and mankind.''''' <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html Time Magazine; Time 100 citation]</ref>}} 

==Career prior to 1979==

The predominant influence in Lady Thatcher's early life was her father, [[Alfred Roberts]]. Roberts was a grocer by occupation who was active in local politics. She attended Somerville College, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where she read chemistry and became chairman of the university Conservative association. After graduating, she worked for a time as a research chemist before qualifying as a barrister and practicing as a tax lawyer, an indication of her interest in financial matters. In this time period, it was uncommon in Britain for a woman from a background to go to an upper-class university and then to pursue a career in the elitist male world of the Bar.

Lady Thatcher married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman whom she met at a Conservative Party meeting; a quiet man, he kept out of the spotlight. They had two children, twins Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher.

Under the weak and troubled Conservative premiership of [[Edward Heath]] (1970-1974), Thatcher served as Secretary of State for Education during which time her most noted achievement was the withdrawal of a daily milk ration to primary age schoolchildren earning her the nickname Milk-Snatcher. After the Conservatives were defeated in the elections of February and October 1974, Thatcher challenged the more liberal Heath for the leadership of the party. When she went into Heath's office to tell him her decision, he did not even bother to look up. "You'll lose," he said. "Good day to you." [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

Though at the time she was a relatively untested figure (and many in the party were wary of choosing a woman leader), she defeated both Heath and other male rivals in the contest in February 1975. Heath subsequently became a prominent personal and political adversary of Thatcher, drawing accusations of bitterness.

In the 1970s, Thatcher's strongly conservative, pro-capitalist stance resonated with a new mood among the British electorate, many of whom had become dissatisfied with the post-[[World War II]] statist consensus (the "post-war consensus", sometimes also called "Butskellism" after the centrist Conservative politician [[Rab Butler]] and the moderate Labour politician [[Hugh Gaitskell]]). Thatcher and the Conservatives offered a clear alternative vision for an increasingly aspirational society. The Conservative politician Sir [[Keith Joseph]] was the primary intellectual force behind these theories that later became known as ''Thatcherism''. They were strongly influenced by the pro-market intellectuals [[Friedrich von Hayek]] and [[Milton Friedman]].
[[Image:503px-Thatcher-loc.jpg|right|thumb|Margaret Thatcher as Leader of the Opposition in 1975.]]

===Attitude to Abortion===
Thatcher, throughout her parliamentary career, voted in favor of liberal abortion laws.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1988thatcher.html]

==1979 election==
The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".
[[Image:THATCH~1.JPG|right|350px]]
Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978-9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match. Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

==Prime Ministership==
===Economic policy===
Thatcher's chief goals in power were to reverse Britain's economic decline and to reduce the range of the state as well as standing taller on the international stage. She found a soul-mate in Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980 but whom she had met in 1975. Thatcher started by increasing interest rates to drive down inflation which hit the manufacturing sector and caused unemployment to rise sharply and there was a deep recession in the early 1980s blamed on her Government's economic policy. This led to her famous quote: 'the lady is not for turning', and she refused a policy reversal and, despite an open letter from 364 "economists", taxes were increased in the middle of a recession. Although unemployment did not reach 3 million till 1982, a year earlier British cities burned as thousands took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration. Inflation was going down though, allowing interest rates to fall, proving those "economists" wrong.

===Falkland Islands===
As the economy started to recover Argentina invaded the Falklands, the first (and unprovoked) invasion of sovereign British territory by a foreign government since the Second World War. This invasion was preceded by her withdrawal of the Royal Navy's antarctic patrol ship from the islands. Thatcher immediately declared her resolve to recapture the islands in line with the wishes of their inhabitants, and dispatched a naval task force to that end. With help from President [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] of [[Chile]] and, more covertly, [[Ronald Reagan]], the British forces swiftly recaptured the islands. The resulting wave of patriotic enthusiasm as well as her right to buy policy for council homes, and a uselessly divided opposition, meant she got a landslide victory in the June 1983 general election.

===Unions===
The central theme of Thatcher's second term was reducing the power of the trade unions with a series of measures that a number of unions reacted to with industrial action. In particular the National Union of Mineworkers led by Arthur Scargill. The Tories had prepared for the strike by building up coal reserves and the deploying well paid police units fitted out with new riot gear brought in after the disturbances of 1981 who taunted the strikers by waving fivers at them. The miners responded with bricks and very ugly scenes developed on picket lines that split the country. Scargill's failure to hold a ballot for the strike undermined public support and the striker's chant of 'vote with your feet' calling miners to join the strike was turned on them as more and more returned to work over the year of the strike.
===IRA===
In the middle of the strike, on October 12 1984, the IRA detonated a bomb during the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. Thatcher escaped injury but five people died in the attack and Margaret Tebbit was left paralyzed; the conference went on as normal.
===Privatization===
Thatcher's political and economic philosophy emphasized free markets and since gaining power she had experimented in selling off nationalized industries starting with the National Freight company, most of the large utilities followed.

Privatization was perhaps the most enduring legacy of the political economy developed under Thatcher. She privatized long-nationalized corporations (such as the telephone and aerospace firms) and, most important, sold public housing to tenants, all on favorable terms. Theis turned Labour-minded tenants into Conservative-minded property owners and mortgage payers. The policy developed an important electoral dimension during the second Thatcher government (1983-90). It involved more than denationalization: wider share ownership was the second plank of the policy, and this provides an important historical perspective on the relationship between Thatcherism and 20th-century conservatism.<ref> Richard Stevens, "The Evolution of Privatisation as an Electoral Policy, c. 1970-90." ''Contemporary British History'' 2004 18(2): 47-75. Issn: 1361-9462 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]</ref>

===Foreign policy===
Thatcher supported Reagan's [[Cold War]] policies of [[rollback]] of Communism. She supported the stationing of nuclear missiles in Europe and at British bases, ignoring the last-gasp protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She supported the American bombing raid on [[Libya]] from bases in Britain in 1986 and, by refusing to side with a European consortium, in backing the American-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation over a British company Westland. [[Michael Heseltine]] resigned in protest at her style of leadership over this.

In 1984 she visited [[China]] and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with [[Deng Xiaoping]] that agreed the handover of [[Hong Kong]] in 1997. At the Fontainebleau summit in 1984 Thatcher argued that the UK paid far more to the EEC than it received in spending and negotiated a budget rebate using the argument that ‘We want our money back’. In 1985, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for education.
===Reelected 1987===
In 1987, Thatcher became the first British Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections since [[Lord Liverpool]] (1812-1827).
===Environment===
In the late 1980's Thatcher began to be concerned by environmental policy and in 1988 she made a major speech accepting the problems of global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain. <ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107346 Speech to the Royal Society, 9/27/1988]</ref>

===Europe===
At Bruges, she made a speech in which she outlined her opposition to proposals from the European Communities for a federal structure and increasing centralization of decision-making believing that the role of the EC should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition. She was specifically against Economic and Monetary Union, through which a single currency would replace national currencies, and for which the EC was making preparations. In 1989 the economy high interest rates were imposed to stop an unsustainable boom. At the Madrid European summit, Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe forced Thatcher to agree the circumstances in which she would join the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a preparation for monetary union. She took revenge on both by demoting Howe and listening more to her adviser Sir Alan Walters on economic matters. Lawson resigned that October and in November, a so-called ‘stalking horse candidate Sir Anthony Meyer challenged Thatcher for the leadership of the Conservative Party. In 1989 a new system of local government finance to replace the rates was introduced for Scotland in 1989 and for England and Wales in 1990. Called the 'Community Charge' but known as the Poll Tax was applied at the same amount to every individual resident with only limited discounts. Widespread opposition culminated in a huge [http://newsfilm.bufvc.ac.uk/article.php?story=200510081953085 demonstration] in London on March 31 that turned into the largest outbreak of public disorder central London had seen in a century which was followed by millions of people refusing to pay the tax. This along with her government's handling of the economy, her perceived arrogance and a general feeling that she would never retire, made her politically vulnerable. Geoffrey Howe resigned on November 1 and condemned Thatcher's policy on the European Communities then openly invited 'others to consider their own response'. Michael Heseltine's response was a leadership challenge which resulted in a narrow failure, by two votes, for Thatcher to win automatic re-election. After consulting with cabinet colleagues she found a vast majority thought that she could not win on the second ballot. On November 22nd Thatcher announced that she would not be a candidate in the second ballot. She supported John Major as her successor, and retired from Parliament at the 1992 election.

==Thatcherism==
[[Thatcherism]] refers to Thatcher's economic policies while prime minister 1979 and 1990.
It consisted of
*[[free market]] [[Supply-side economics|supply-side economics]]
*[[tax]] reduction
*artificial manipulation of the money supply to reduce [[inflation]]
*[[privatization]] of public industry
*reining in of [[labor union|trade union]] influence and power

==Life after being Prime Minister==

After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher was dubbed '''Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven''' and entered the House of Lords. Denis Thatcher was given a Baronetcy, which ensured that their son, Mark, would inherit the title of "Sir Mark".

She publicly endorsed [[William Hague]] against Kenneth Clarke for the Conservative leadership in 1997. She made many speaking engagements around the world, including very vocal support of former General [[Augusto Pinochet]], whom the new Labour administration extradited to Spain on trumped-up charges of torturing political opponents. In March 2002 she suffered a mild stroke, and made few speeches. In 2004 she attended the funeral of her old friend and political soul-mate, Ronald Reagan. Baroness Thatcher is still seen at Tory party gatherings and has continued endorsing party leaders, such as Iain Duncan Smith. In August 2008, it became known that she was suffering from [[dementia]] and had withdrawn from public life. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7579352.stm Thatcher suffers from dementia]</ref>
[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html][http://www.fandmpublications.co.uk/pages/margaretbiography1.htm][http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp]

==Quick Facts==
*Born: 13 October 1925 in [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]]

*First entered Parliament: 8 October 1959

*Became leader of the [[Conservative]] Party in February 1975

*Elected as Prime Minister in May 1979

*Age she became PM: 53 years, 204 days

*Maiden Speech: 5 February 1960 during the second reading of her Private Member's Bill

*Total time as PM: 11 years, 209 days

*Nickname: "The Iron Lady"

*Education: Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and Somerville College, Oxford

*Before Thatcher became an MP, she worked as a research chemist for British Xylonite and then Lyons & Company, where she helped develop methods for preserving ice cream.

*Family: Margaret Thatcher is the younger of two daughters. She often gave her father as an example of an outstanding citizen. She married [[Sir Denis Thatcher]], and has one son and one daughter.

*Interests: Music, art, opera and reading.

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

==Husband==
Denis Thatcher, ''as the first male PM spouse in history'', was always likely to be the center of media attention - and he didn't disappoint.

When she met him, Baroness Thatcher remarked that "it was clear to me at once that Denis was an exceptional man - he had a certain style and dash." Described as a man of integrity, humor and common sense, he had a strong business background and fought with the Royal Artillery during the war.

It was said that Denis was in 'the Thatcher party not the Tory party'. He once famously remarked, recalling the words of Mark Twain, that: "it's better to keep my mouth shut and be thought a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt."

When he died in 2003 his wife paid tribute to the man she loved by saying: "Being PM is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be - you cannot lead from a crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What a friend."

[http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page126.asp][http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

== Notable quotes==

*"I like Mr Gorbachev, we can do business together."

*"The lady is not for turning"

*"I have made it quite clear that a unified Ireland was one solution that is out. A second solution was a confederation of two states. That is out. A third solution was joint authority. That is out-that is a derogation of sovereignty."

*"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left."

*"If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you."

*"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."

*" There is no such thing as [[society]]. There is living tapestry of men and women and people and the beauty of that tapestry and the quality of our lives will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and each of us prepared to turn round and help by our own efforts those who are unfortunate"<ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 Interview in ''Woman's Own'']</ref>

*"What Britain needs is an iron lady."

*"Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant memory of an offshore island, lost in the mists of time like Camelot, remembered kindly for its noble past."

*"I just owe almost everything to my father [and] it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."

*"Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend."<ref>[http://www.quoteworld.org/authors/margaret-thatcher/1/ Quotes by Margaret Thatcher]</ref>

*"It will be years before a woman either leads the Conservative Party or becomes Prime Minister. I don't see it happening in my time" (in 1970.) This quote was parodied in the 2006 TV series Life on Mars, when DCI Gene Hunt (speaking in 1973) stated "There'll never be a woman Prime Minister as long as I have a hole in my ar*e."

*“You may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.” <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=zac9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA283&dq=fight+the+battle+more+than+once+to+win+it.&ei=3hpnS82IAaSyNNvx1PwN&cd=2 The Routledge dictionary of quotations‎ - Page 283 by Robert Andrews]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Thatcherism]]
*[[Conservative Links]]

==External Links==
* [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/ Margaret Thatcher Foundation]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
[[File:Thatcher-pic.jpg|thumb|260px]]
===Biography===
* Blundell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Portrait-Iron-Lady/dp/087586631X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-9 excerpt and text search]
* Campbell, John. ''Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 1: The Grocer's Daughter.'' (2000); ''Margaret Thatcher. vol. 2: Iron Lady'' (2007), 520pp; 913pp; long, detailed authoritative biography
* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO
* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F. ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp. [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]
* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435-454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.
* Thompson, Juliet S., and Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]
* Young, Hugo. ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched

===Political studies===
* Adonis, Andrew, and Tim Hames, eds. ''A Conservative Revolution: The Thatcher-Reagan Decade'' (1994), comparative perspective
* Backhouse, Roger E. "The Macroeconomics of Margaret Thatcher," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 313-334 online at EBSCO
* Dellheim, Charles. ''The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher's Capitalist Revolution.'' (1995) 352 pp.
* Evans, Brendan. ''Thatcherism and British Politics, 1975-1997'' (2000)
* Evans, Eric J. ''Thatcher and Thatcherism.'' (2nd ed. 2004). 176 pp [http://www.questia.com/read/107494201?title=Thatcher%20and%20Thatcherism online edition]
* Fry, Geoffrey K. ''Politics of the Thatcher Revolution: An Interpretation of British Politics 1975 - 1990'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Thatcher-Revolution-Interpretation-British/dp/0333751965/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Haseler, Stephen. ''The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals.'' (1990). 195 pp.
* Holmes, Martin. ''The First Thatcher Government, 1979-83: Contemporary Conservatism and Economic Change'' (1985); ''Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87.'' (1989). 174 pp. a sympathetic assessment.
* Jenkins, Peter. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era.'' (1988). 417 pp. critical
* Johnson, Christopher. ''The Grand Experiment: Mrs. Thatcher's Economy and How It Spread.'' (1993). 341 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis. ''Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus?'' (1987). 334 pp.
* Kavanagh, Dennis, and Anthony Seldon, eds. ''The Thatcher Effect'' (1989), major interpretive essays by experts
* Krieger, Joel. ''Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Decline.'' (1987). 247 pp.
* Moon, Jeremy. ''Innovative Leadership in Democracy: Policy Change under Thatcher.'' (1993). 157 pp.
* Morgan, K.O. ''The People's Peace: British History, 1945-90'' (1990) survey by leading scholar
* Pugliese, Stanislao, ed. ''The Political Legacy of Margaret Thatcher.'' (2003). 419 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-2001.'' (2003). 260 pp.
* Reitan, Earl A. ''Tory Radicalism: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-1997.'' (1997). 222 pp.
* Riddell, Peter. ''The Thatcher Decade: How Britain Has Changed during the 1980's.'' (1989). 236 pp.
* Roy, Subroto and Clarke, John, eds. ''Margaret Thatcher's Revolution: How It Happened and What It Meant.'' (2005). 209 pp.
* Savage, S.P., and L. Robbins, eds. ''Public Policy under Thatcher'' (1990), essays by experts
* Sharp, Paul. ''Thatcher's Diplomacy: The Revival of British Foreign Policy.'' (1997). 269 pp.
* Smith, Geoffrey. ''Reagan and Thatcher.'' (1991). 285 pp.
* Waine, Barbara. ''The Rhetoric of Independence: The Ideology and Practice of Social Policy in Thatcher's Britain.'' (1992). 172 pp.
* Wall, Stephen. ''A Stranger in Europe: Britain and the EU from Thatcher to Blair'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Europe-Britain-Thatcher-Blair/dp/0199284555/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823185&sr=1-26 excerpt and text search]
* Walters, A. A. ''Britain's Economic Renaissance: Margaret Thatcher's Reforms, 1979-1984.'' (1986). 200 pp.
* Wapshott, Nicholas. ''Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: A Political Marriage.'' (2007) 329 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Ronald-Reagan-Margaret-Thatcher-Political/dp/159523053X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256981278&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Whipple, Amy C. "'Ordinary People': The Cultural Origins of Popular Thatcherism in Britain, 1964-1979." PhD dissertation Northwestern U. 2004. 253 pp. DAI 2004 65(5): 1926-A. DA3132626 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Thatcher-Bibliography-Bibliographies-Statesmen/dp/book-citations/0313282889/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=citing#citing additional books]
===Primary sources===
* Clark, Alan. ''Mrs. Thatcher's Minister: The Private Diaries of Alan Clark.'' (1994). 421 pp.
* Thatcher, Margaret. ''The Path to Power (1995); ''The Downing Street Years.'' (1993). 914 pp., highly detailed memoirs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Margaret}}

[[Category:United Kingdom Prime Ministers]]
[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:British Politics]]