Thatcher, Margaret (1925-2013), served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from May 1979 to November 1990. She was the first woman to hold the office. She also served longer than any British prime minister of the 1900’s. A member of the Conservative Party, Thatcher became known as the “Iron Lady” for her strong opposition to socialist policies and her handling of foreign affairs.
During Thatcher’s three terms in office, her government transferred many British state-owned industries—including gas, oil, and telecommunications—into private hands. Her government also passed laws that reduced the power of trade unions.
In foreign policy, Thatcher’s government led a military victory over Argentina in the Falklands War of 1982. It also presided over the creation of the African country of Zimbabwe. Thatcher maintained close ties between the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States. But she frequently criticized her country’s partners in the European Community (EC), which is now called the European Union.
Early life
Childhood.
Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on Oct. 13, 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. Her father, Alfred Roberts, owned a grocery shop and her mother, Beatrice Ethel Stephenson Roberts, was a dressmaker before she married.
Margaret and her older sister, Muriel Joyce Roberts, had a strict upbringing. Their father invested heavily in his children’s education. He also became a prominent figure in Grantham, serving as mayor of the town.
Margaret Roberts did well in school. At the age of 10, she won a scholarship to Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School. She read steadily about politics and world affairs while studying there. In 1935, she started to become active in politics by running errands for the local Conservative Party during election campaigns.
University and family life.
In 1943, Roberts won a scholarship to study at Oxford University. She graduated with a chemistry degree in 1947. From 1947 to 1951, she worked as a research chemist, and she also began to study law in her spare time.
Roberts married Denis Thatcher, a wealthy business executive, in 1951. She gave birth to twins, Mark and Carol Jane, in 1953. That same year, Margaret Thatcher became an attorney.
Early political career
Entry into politics.
In the 1950 and 1951 general elections, Thatcher ran for a seat in the House of Commons from the borough of Dartford, Kent, England. She lost both times. Thatcher first entered the House of Commons in 1959, representing the north London area of Finchley. The Conservative Party controlled the government at that time. In 1961, Thatcher was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. She held that post until the Labour Party defeated the Conservatives in the 1964 general election.
In 1966, Thatcher made a speech critical of the Labour government’s management of the economy. She criticized the principle of instituting a high income tax to pay for public services, arguing that lower direct taxes would help revive the struggling economy. Thatcher pledged that a future Conservative government would lower taxes.
In the 1970 elections, the Conservative Party regained control of the government. Edward Heath became prime minister, and he appointed Thatcher secretary of state to the Department for Education and Science.
Party leader.
In 1974, the Conservatives again lost control of the government to the Labour Party. Thatcher soon began to challenge for her party’s leadership. Her campaign emphasized reducing government involvement in industry, lowering direct taxation, increasing home ownership, and cutting government spending and borrowing. In February 1975, after two rounds of voting, Thatcher defeated Heath to take the party leadership. She became the first woman to head a British political party.
From 1975 to 1979, the United Kingdom suffered through inflation and major labor strikes. These problems weakened the Labour government, and they helped enable the Conservatives to regain power in the general election of 1979. Thatcher then became prime minister.
Prime minister
First government.
Thatcher’s first government, which lasted from 1979 to 1983, reduced direct taxes and sold its interests in many industries to private citizens and businesses. This type of government became known as “Thatcherism.” It also promoted home ownership by selling thousands of public housing units to their tenants. Yet during this period, inflation remained high and unemployment rose greatly.
In late 1979, Thatcher oversaw an agreement establishing the independence of Rhodesia, a British dependency in southern Africa. Rhodesia officially became an independent country in 1980 and changed its name to Zimbabwe.
In 1981, Thatcher’s government was very unpopular because of high unemployment. But in 1982, Thatcher won praise for her decisive handling of a conflict with Argentina. Since 1833, the United Kingdom has ruled the Falkland Islands, which lie about 320 miles (515 kilometers) east of the southern coast of Argentina. But Argentina has long claimed ownership of the islands, which it calls Islas Malvinas. In April 1982, Argentine troops invaded and occupied the Falklands. The United Kingdom then sent troops, ships, and planes to the region. British and Argentine forces fought air, land, and sea battles for control of the islands. The Argentine forces surrendered to the United Kingdom in June 1982.
Victory in the Falklands greatly strengthened Thatcher’s government at home. In the general election of 1983, she led the Conservatives to an easy victory over the Labour Party.
Later governments.
In 1984, Thatcher became the first Western leader to receive Mikhail Gorbachev before he became leader of the Soviet Union. Also that year, Thatcher’s government signed a treaty with China that pledged to maintain the free-enterprise economy of Hong Kong, a British colony, for 50 years after its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The Irish Republican Army attempted to assassinate Thatcher in a bomb attack in 1984. Despite this attack, Thatcher worked to ease the conflicts between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Most of these Catholics had long wanted their homeland to become part of the Republic of Ireland. Most of the Protestants wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. In 1985, Thatcher and Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald of Ireland signed a pact called the Anglo-Irish Agreement. This pact gave Ireland an advisory role in Northern Ireland’s government. However, many Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland opposed the agreement.
Loading the player...Margaret Thatcher discusses Northern Ireland
By 1987, Thatcher’s government had privatized the airline, gas, oil, shipbuilding, and telecommunications industries. The government also had curbed the power of trade unions. In addition, unemployment had gone down, and the economy had improved. That year, Thatcher’s party again won victory in a general election. Thatcher became first British political leader to win three successive national elections.
During her last term in office, Thatcher became involved in disputes with members of her own party. Many Conservatives disagreed with her attitude toward the European Community. Thatcher had long been reluctant to seek further economic and political union with the EC. She also supported a new household poll tax that was unpopular with many Conservatives. In November 1990, she was opposed on these and other issues by Michael Heseltine in an election for the Conservative leadership. Thatcher resigned when it became clear she could not win. John Major was elected as her successor.
Later years
Thatcher remained in the House of Commons until 1992. That year, she was made a baroness and a member of the House of Lords. Thatcher died in London on April 8, 2013.
