Margaret Thatcher - Margaret Thatcher Biography - Poem Hunter Margaret Thatcher - Margaret Thatcher Biography - Poem Hunter Biography Biography of Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician, the longest-serving (1979–1990) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented Conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism. Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election.

After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived to be Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. Thatcher holds a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitles her to sit in the House of Lords.

About: John Crowder About: John Crowder An Entity of Type : Alumnus109786338 , from Named Graph : , within Data Space : dbpedia.org Sir John Frederick Ellenborough Crowder (10 November 1890 — 9 July 1961) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley from the 1935 general election until the 1959 general election, when he was succeeded by Margaret Thatcher (who went on to become the first female British Prime Minister).Crowder served as a Hampshire County Councillor 1931-46 and a Fleet Urban District Councillor 1933-46. He was vice-chairman of the Aldershot and North Hants Conservative Association from 1930. Property Sir John Frederick Ellenborough Crowder, né le et décédé le , est un homme politique britannique, membre du Parti conservateur. Il est député au Parlement du Royaume-Uni pour la circonscription de Finchley de 1935 à 1959.

Margaret Thatcher lui succède. (fr) Sir John Frederick Ellenborough Crowder (10 November 1890 — 9 July 1961) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley from the 1935 general election until the 1959 general election, when he was succeeded by Margaret Thatcher (who went on to become the first female British Prime Minister). Crowder was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He worked as an underwriter and elected a member at Lloyd's of London. He served with the Lincolnshire Yeomanry from 1914 to 1918, when he transferred to the Reserve Regiment of the Royal Horse Guards. He served again during World War II, as a Staff Captain and army welfare officer. Crowder served as a Hampshire County Councillor 1931-46 and a Fleet Urban District Councillor 1933-46. He was vice-chairman of the Aldershot and North Hants Conservative Association from 1930.

He won Finchley in 1935 by a majority of 18,040 over Thomas Robertson, who had been Liberal MP for the seat 1923-24. In Parliament, Crowder was an influential member of the 1922 Committee and Second Church Estates Commissioner. His son Petre Crowder also became a Member of Parliament. He appears as a character in The Long Walk to Finchley, on Thatcher's selection to succeed him as Conservative candidate for his seat - he is played, in a less than flattering light, by Geoffrey Palmer. (en) BBC News - Obituary: Margaret Thatcher Obituary: Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister in 1979 Margaret Thatcher, who has died following a stroke, was one of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century. Her legacy had a profound effect upon the policies of her successors, both Conservative and Labour, while her radical and sometimes confrontational approach defined her 11-year period at No 10. Her term in office saw thousands of ordinary voters gaining a stake in society, buying their council houses and eagerly snapping up shares in the newly privatised industries such as British Gas and BT.

But her rejection of consensus politics made her a divisive figure and opposition to her policies and her style of government led eventually to rebellion inside her party and unrest on the streets. Father's influence Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Alfred Roberts, a grocer, and his wife, Beatrice. Archive: Arriving at Downing Street in 1979 Her father, a Methodist lay preacher and local councillor, had an immense influence on her life and the policies she would adopt. "Well, of course, I just owe almost everything to my own father. I really do," she said later. "He brought me up to believe all the things that I do believe." She studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and became only the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association. After graduating she moved to Colchester where she worked for a plastics company and became involved with the local Conservative Party organisation. In 1949, she was adopted as the prospective Conservative candidate for the seat of Dartford in Kent which she fought, unsuccessfully, in the 1950 and 1951 general elections.

However, she made a significant dent in the Labour majority and, as the then youngest ever Conservative candidate, attracted a lot of media attention. In 1951 she married a divorced businessman, Denis Thatcher, and began studying for the Bar exams. She qualified as a barrister in 1953, the year in which her twins Mark and Carol were born. She tried, unsuccessfully, to gain selection as a candidate in 1955, but finally entered Parliament for the safe Conservative seat of Finchley at the 1959 general election. Within two years she had been appointed as a junior minister and, following the Conservative defeat in 1964, was promoted to the shadow cabinet. 'Milk snatcher' When Sir Alec Douglas-Home stood down as Conservative leader, Mrs Thatcher voted for Ted Heath in the 1965 leadership election and was rewarded with a post as spokeswoman on housing and land. She campaigned vigorously for the right of council tenants to buy their houses and was a constant critic of Labour's policy of high taxation.

She initially worked as a research chemist before training as a barrister When Ted Heath entered Downing Street in 1970, she was promoted to the cabinet as education secretary with a brief to implement spending cuts in her department. One of these resulted in the withdrawal of free school milk for children aged between seven and 11 which led to bitter attacks from Labour and a press campaign which dubbed her "Margaret Thatcher, milk snatcher". She herself had argued in cabinet against the removal of free milk. She later wrote: "I learned a valuable lesson. I had incurred the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit." As one of the few high-flying women in politics there was, inevitably, talk of the possibility that she might, one day, become prime minister. Similar press speculation surrounded the Labour minister Shirley Williams. Margaret Thatcher dismissed the idea. In a TV interview she said she did not believe that there would be a woman prime minister in her lifetime. The Heath government was not to last. Battered by the 1973 oil crisis, forced to impose a three-day working week and facing a miners' strike, Edward Heath's administration finally collapsed in February 1974.

Housewife-politician Thatcher became shadow environment secretary but, angered by what she saw as Heath's U-turns on Conservative economic policy, stood against him for the Tory leadership in 1975. 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." She entered Downing St in 1979 with a mission to shrink the state and repair the country's finances To everyone's surprise, she defeated Heath on the first ballot, forcing his resignation, and she saw off Willie Whitelaw on the second ballot to become the first woman to lead a major British political party. She quickly began to make her mark. A 1976 speech criticising the repressive policies of the Soviet Union led to a Russian newspaper dubbing her "the Iron Lady," a title which gave her much personal pleasure. Adopting the persona of a housewife-politician who knew what inflation meant to ordinary families, she challenged the power of the trades unions whose almost constant industrial action peaked in the so-called "winter of discontent" in 1979.

As the Callaghan government tottered, the Conservatives rolled out a poster campaign showing a queue of supposedly unemployed people under the slogan "Labour Isn't Working". Jim Callaghan lost a vote of confidence on 28 March 1979. Mrs Thatcher's no-nonsense views struck a chord with many voters and the Conservatives won the ensuing general election. Monetary policies As prime minister, she was determined to repair the country's finances by reducing the role of the state and boosting the free market. Cutting inflation was central to the government's purpose and it soon introduced a radical budget of tax and spending cuts. You turn if you want to... the lady's not for turning” End Quote To the 1980 Tory conference Bills were introduced to curb union militancy, privatise state industries and allow council home owners to buy their houses. Millions of people who previously had little or no stake in the economy found themselves being able to own their houses and buy shares in the former state-owned businesses. New monetary policies made the City of London one of the most vibrant and successful financial centres in the world. Old-style manufacturing, which critics complained was creating an industrial wasteland, was run down in the quest for a competitive new Britain.

Unemployment rose above three million. There was considerable unrest among the so called "wets" on the Conservative back benches and that, coupled with riots in some inner city areas, saw pressure on Margaret Thatcher to modify her policies. But the prime minister refused to crumble. She told the 1980 party conference: "To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catch phrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say. You turn if you want to... the lady's not for turning." Falklands War By late 1981 her approval rating had fallen to 25%, the lowest recorded for any prime minister until that time, but the economic corner had been turned. In early 1982 the economy began to recover and, with it, the prime minister's standing among the electorate. Her popularity received its biggest boost in April 1982 with her decisive response to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. The prime minister immediately despatched a naval task force and the islands were retaken on 14 June when the Argentine forces surrendered.

Victory in the Falklands, together with disarray in the Labour Party, now led by Michael Foot, ensured a Conservative landslide in the 1983 election. The following spring the National Union of Mineworkers called a nationwide strike, despite the failure of their firebrand president, Arthur Scargill, to ballot his members. Margaret Thatcher was determined not to falter. Unlike the situation Edward Heath faced in 1973, the government had built up substantial stocks of coal at power stations in advance of the industrial action. Third term There were brutal clashes between pickets and police but the strike eventually collapsed the following March. Many mining communities never recovered from the dispute that hastened the decline of the coal industry. In Northern Ireland, Mrs Thatcher faced down IRA hunger strikers, though her hard-line approach infuriated even moderate nationalist opinion and critics claimed it drove many young Catholics towards the path of violence. She narrowly escaped death in an IRA attack on her Brighton hotel in 1984 Although she attempted to ease sectarian tensions, offering Dublin a role, peace efforts collapsed beneath the weight of Unionist opposition. In October 1984, an IRA bomb exploded in the Conservative conference hotel in Brighton.

Five people died and many others, including cabinet minister Norman Tebbit, were seriously injured. Characteristically, the prime minister insisted on delivering a typically robust response in her keynote conference speech a few hours later. "This attack has failed. All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail." Her foreign policy was aimed at building up the profile of the UK abroad, something she believed had been allowed to decline under previous Labour administrations. She found a soulmate in the US president, Ronald Reagan, who shared many of her economic views, and she struck up an unlikely alliance with Mikhail Gorbachev, the reforming Soviet president. "We can do business together," she famously said. Labour, now led by Neil Kinnock, had still not recovered from years of in-fighting and Mrs Thatcher won an unprecedented third term at the 1987 general election. One of her first actions was to introduce the poll tax or community charge, a flat-rate tax for local services which was based on individuals rather than the value of the property in which they lived. 'Treachery with a smile' It sparked some of the worst street violence in living memory.

Tory MPs, alarmed that the tax could cost them their seats, saw no way of getting rid of it so long as Margaret Thatcher was in charge. She easily survived a leadership challenge from an unknown back-bencher in 1989 but the challenge was just a symptom of increasing dissatisfaction among Conservative MPs over her policies. It was the issue of Europe which, eventually, brought about her downfall. Returning from a fractious Euro summit in Rome, she let rip against her European counterparts, refusing to countenance any increase in the power of the European Community and outraging many colleagues. She shed tears upon leaving office in 1990 "The President of the Commission, Monsieur Delors, said at a press conference the other day that he wanted the European Parliament to be the democratic body of the Community, he wanted the Commission to be the Executive and he wanted the Council of Ministers to be the Senate. No. No. No." Sir Geoffrey Howe, resentful since being ousted as foreign secretary, seized his moment to quit the cabinet, deliver a devastating resignation speech and invite challengers for the leadership. The following day, Michael Heseltine threw his hat into the ring.

Falling two votes short of preventing the contest going to a second round, Margaret Thatcher declared she would fight on. Told by close colleagues, the famous "men in grey suits," that she would lose, she used her next cabinet meeting to announce her resignation. Later, she mused bitterly: "It was treachery with a smile on its face." John Major was elected her successor and Margaret Thatcher returned to the back benches, finally standing down as an MP in 1992 when the Conservatives, against all predictions, were again returned to power. Later years She was elevated to the peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, receiving the Order of the Garter in 1995. She wrote two volumes of her memoirs while remaining active in politics, campaigning against the Maastricht Treaty and condemning the Serbian policy of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. She publicly endorsed William Hague for the Conservative leadership in 1997 but pointedly failed to speak in favour of his successor, Iain Duncan Smith. She continued to attend the House of Lords She was forced to curtail her activities in 2001 when her health began to deteriorate.

After a series of minor strokes, her doctors advised her against making public speaking appearances and she appeared increasingly frail. She was also suffering from dementia which was affecting her short-term memory, something her daughter, Carol, would reveal in 2008. When her husband Denis - whom she had described as her "rock" - died in 2003 aged 88, she paid him an emotional tribute. "Being prime minister 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." A year later she travelled to the US to bid farewell to her political partner Ronald Reagan, whose funeral took place in Washington in June 2004. She continued to appear in public, perhaps most notably when she unveiled a bronze statue of herself in the House of Commons, the first time a living former prime minister had been commemorated in this way. And she returned to Downing Street. Gordon Brown invited her for tea, shortly after he became prime minister and she was back in 2010 as a guest of David Cameron, the new head of a coalition government.

Legacy Few politicians have exercised such dominance during their term in office and few politicians have attracted such strength of feeling, both for and against. To her detractors she was the politician who put the free market above all else and who was willing to allow others to pay the price for her policies in terms of rising unemployment and social unrest. BBC News - Houses 'are less affordable' than 50 years ago Houses 'are less affordable' than 50 years ago Margaret Thatcher became MP for Finchley in 1959 Houses are less affordable than 50 years ago although the quality of homes has improved, according to the Halifax. The lender, now owned by Lloyds Banking Group, said that over the last five decades UK house prices have risen by 2.7% a year, allowing for inflation. This was above the 2% annual increase in real earnings over the same period. Prices increased the most in the last decade, and separately lenders warned that lending to first-time buyers would be constrained for "some time to come". Own or rent The Halifax study considered the state of the market in the half-century from 1959 to 2009.

LIFE IN 1959 Harold Macmillan led the Conservatives to General Election victory - two years after telling the country they had "never had it so good" Elvis Presley and Bobby Darin both had two number one UK singles The price of the average UK home was £2,507 About 14% of homes did not have an inside toilet "The last 50 years have witnessed some remarkable developments in the UK housing market," said Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Halifax. Margaret Thatcher was voted in as MP for Finchley in 1959, and it was her government's Right to Buy policy when she was prime minister in the 1980s that brought about one of the most significant shifts in the market. Owner-occupation in the UK accelerated the most in the 1980s. The Halifax figures show that 43% of homes were owned by their residents in 1961, compared with 68% in 2008.

Privately rented homes fell from 33% to 14% over the same period, although it has crept up in the last 20 years or so, probably owing to the increase in student numbers. Boom time Four big house price booms have occurred in the last 50 years, the research concluded. They were: 1971-73, 1977-80, 1985-89, and 1998-2007. Over the last 50 years, the biggest rise in prices was in greater London, whereas the smallest increase was in Scotland. This might have been mitigated, to a degree, by an increase in homes with two incomes rather than just one. In a sign that buyers might be getting more for their money now, the proportion of households without an inside toilet fell from 14% in 1960 to 0.2% in 1996. A basic hot water supply features in all homes, unlike 22% of them in 1967, and central heating has also become the norm.

Although getting on the property ladder might have become more difficult, the rise in prices would prove that homes have been a good long-term investment for some people. The average home has almost quadrupled in value, having risen by 273% since 1959 in real terms, the Halifax found. In today's money, a typical home would have cost about £43,000 in 1959. Bill McClintock, chairman of the Property Ombudsman, has been in the housing business for 50 years and said he bought his first home - a four-bedroom house in Winchester - for £3,400 in 1965. "Even back in the 60s people aspired to own their own home," he said. First-time buyers House building levels have fallen, but the proportion of households that were occupied by just one person rose from 19% in 1971 to 33% in 2009, the Halifax said. Modern houses are different to styles 50 years ago This is likely to have added to pressure on affordability of smaller homes for first-time buyers.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said that the proportion of the average first-time borrower's income spent on mortgage interest payments dropped in November 2009 to its lowest level for six years, at 14.4%. However, the deposit demanded by lenders remained high - typically at 25%. "The requirement for large deposits is likely to continue to constrain the market - particularly first-time buyers - for some time to come," the CML said. Meanwhile, the National Association of Estate Agents said that there had been a seasonal slowdown in sales in December but a recovery over the last 12 months. However, it still wanted more assistance from the government to help prop up the housing market. "Thousands of potential buyers are still in need of help and further, more robust, action is needed to make mortgages more available," said NAEA president Gary Smith. Bookmark with: Margaret Thatcher, former U.K. PM, dies at 87 - World - CBC News Margaret Thatcher, former U.K.

PM, dies at 87 Britain's 'Iron Lady' oversaw Falklands War, painful economic restructuring Posted: Apr 08, 2013 7:54 AM ET Last Updated: Apr 08, 2013 4:49 PM ET Margaret Thatcher, 1925-2013 3:50 British PM comments on the death of Margaret Thatcher 3:14 Related Stories Margaret Thatcher Foundation (Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.) Margaret Thatcher , one of the most important British politicians of the 20th century, died Monday morning after suffering a stroke. She was 87. Thatcher was the first woman to become U.K. prime minister and Britain's only prime minister of the 20th century to win three consecutive terms. After leading the Conservatives to victory in the 1979 election, Thatcher shook Britain to its economic roots in a relentless battle to restructure the country.

Richard Longworth of the Chicago Tribune described Thatcher in 1989 as "perhaps the most admired, hated, fascinating, boring, radical and conservative leader in the Western world." The next year she would be forced from office by her own party. The mayor's daughter Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in Grantham, England in 1925 she was the second daughter of Alfred and Beatrice Roberts. Her father eventually owned two grocery stores (the family lived above one of them) and would become mayor of Grantham. He had a huge influence on Margaret, as she observed when she became prime minister. RELATED: Margaret Thatcher's death evokes polarized reaction "Of course I just owe almost everything to my father. He brought me up to believe almost all the things I do believe." She graduated from Oxford in 1947 after majoring in chemistry. She was barred from joining the all-male Oxford Union debating society, so she joined Oxford's conservative association and in 1946 became its first female president. She ran for Parliament in 1950, the youngest person seeking a seat. She lost — and lost again the next year.

At the end of 1951 she married Denis Thatcher, a wealthy, divorced businessman she met in 1949. Since graduating, Margaret had been working as a research chemist. She returned to university and earned a law degree in 1953. She gave birth that year to twins and continued to be politically active. After being called to the bar she specialized in patent law and then tax law, until 1961. Elected to Parliament on her third try In 1959 she was elected as the MP from Finchley. Two years later then prime minister Harold Macmillan named her parliamentary secretary to the minister of pensions and insurance. RELATED: 7 memorable Margaret Thatcher quotes From 1964 to 1970 the Labour Party governed and Thatcher held various portfolios in the opposition shadow cabinet. When the Conservatives were back in power under Edward Heath, Thatcher was the secretary of state for education and science, the only woman in the cabinet. She got attention when she abolished a free milk program for school children, and was dubbed 'Thatcher the milk snatcher' by the Labour opposition.

Heath resigned as leader after losing the 1974 election and his successor was the first woman to lead the Conservatives, Margaret Thatcher. "I am not a consensus politician. I am a conviction politician," Thatcher announced when she took over in 1975. The Iron Lady That kind of approach earned her the nickname the Iron Lady, which she wore proudly. That description originated in the Russian media after she harshly denounced Soviet expansionism and questioned the long-standing Western policy of detente with the Soviet Union in 1976. Margaret Thatcher maintained a close relationship with then U.S. president Ronald Reagan. (Associated Press) Here's an example of how she turned the nickname to her advantage in the 1979 election campaign, at a rally in Birmingham: "We took that risk in 1976 when we warned the nation of the growing dangers of Soviet expansion. And what happened? The Russians said that I was an Iron Lady. They were right. Britain needs an Iron Lady." Her campaign slogan was "Labour isn't working," a slogan that U.S.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney borrowed for his own campaign in 2012, "Obama isn't working." Two years before she took the reins as Conservative Party leader, Thatcher said on the BBC: "I don't think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime." Thatcher biography ready The first volume of Margaret Thatcher's authorized biography will be published immediately after her funeral at some point next week. Allen Lane, which is part of Penguin Books, said Monday that Not for Turning by Charles Moore was commissioned in 1997 on the understanding that it would not be published during the former British prime minister's lifetime. Moore was given full access to Thatcher's private papers and interviewed her extensively. The publisher said that Thatcher also supported requests for interviews with others, including those who worked most closely with her and her family. Permission was also granted to former and existing civil servants to speak freely about the Thatcher years. — The Associated Press But after winning the May 3, 1979 election, Margaret Thatcher became prime minister the next day. Her victory followed six weeks of public sector strikes known as the winter of discontent, which caused deep difficulties for the Labour government and eventually led to its fall.

Once in office Thatcher slashed the tax rates for the wealthiest Britons, increased the value-added tax (VAT), reduced government subsidies and began to sell off state-owned enterprises and public housing. The number of unemployed quickly doubled. "We shall not be diverted from our course," she told the party conference in Brighton in 1980. She continued: "To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning." By March 1982, the Conservatives had fallen to third place in public opinion polls, with just a 22 per cent approval rating. A bold decision to go to war The next month, there was a huge opportunity to turn that plummeting support around: Argentina's military dictatorship seized the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean, which Argentina also claimed. If politics is the art of knowing what to do next, Thatcher showed she had the right stuff. "I worried stiff. It was a decision which had to be taken, a very bold courageous decision," she recalled in a 1983 interview with the CBC's Barbara Frum.

RELATED: Margaret Thatcher's death marked respectfully - and otherwise - on Twitter A naval task force was quickly dispatched. After 10 weeks and the loss of 255 British lives, Argentina surrendered. "Great Britain is great again," Thatcher shouted to a jubilant crowd outside her residence. Thatcher called an early election in 1983 and won a larger majority, although with a popular vote lower than in 1979. Thatcherism Thatcher continued to forge ahead with her policies, known as Thatcherism. She succeeded in curbing union power, especially with the defeat of the mineworkers in 1984-85. She took on the Irish Republican Army, but had little success in solving the crisis in Northern Ireland. In 1984 the Provisional IRA tried to kill her by placing a bomb in her hotel in Brighton. Five people were killed, Thatcher's bathroom was destroyed, but she and her husband emerged unscathed.

In a 1986 profile of Thatcher in The New Yorker magazine, John Newhouse wrote: "Her policies are blamed for Britain's having become a net importer of manufactured goods — for the first time since the days of Henry VIII." Newhouse went on to note that, according to the IMF, the average Briton had become poorer than the average Italian. Thatcher would stay the course. "This government has rolled back the frontiers of the state and will roll them back still further," she triumphantly declared at the party conference in October 1986. The unemployment rate was dropping at the time, although inflation was rising. Close relations with Reagan, Gorbachev Internationally, her close relationship with U.S. president Ronald Reagan continued. "We share so many of the same goals, and a determination to achieve them," she said at a joint appearance with Reagan in Washington in 1985. She also formed a close relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. "I like Mr. Gorbachev, we can do business together," she famously told BBC interviewer John Cole in 1984.

Thatcher is also remembered for her refusal to join 48 other Commonwealth nations, including Canada, in implementing sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. In 2002, Margaret Thatcher announced she was retiring from public speaking following a series of strokes. (Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press) In 1987, hoping to reap the benefits of her now considerable international standing, including a successful visit to Moscow, Thatcher again called an early election. She won a then-unprecedented third term, although the Conservative popular support dropped slightly to 42.2 per cent. Her targets for rolling back the state now included health care, education and utilities. By 1988, while no longer operating with a deficit, her government cut tax rates, most dramatically for those in the top tier. A cabinet coup d'etat Her leadership style was stirring up dissent within her cabinet. One of the critical issues was the preparations for economic and monetary union in Europe, with Thatcher more or less opposed. Her chancellor of the exchequer, Nigel Lawson, would resign over the issue in October 1989. The other issue was Thatcher's stubborn clinging to her plans for a community charge, damned as the poll tax.

The tax outraged taxpayers, culminating in a riot in Trafalgar Square in March 1990. The Conservatives were trailing Labour by about 10 points in public opinion polls and unemployment was rapidly increasing again. Geoffrey Howe, her deputy prime minister, resigned over both issues in November and followed that with a bitter speech critical of Thatcher's leadership. The party was now in full crisis. In a challenge to her leadership later that month, Thatcher won on the first ballot but, with an insufficient level of support, she soon resigned as party leader and then, on Nov. 28, 1990, as prime minister. Her voice breaking, she began her brief but final speech as prime minister: "We're leaving Downing Street for the last time after eleven-and-a-half wonderful years, and we're very happy that we leave the United Kingdom in a very, very much better state than when we came." She continued to voice her opposition to greater European economic integration, causing problems for her successor, John Major. In 1992, she was appointed a Life Peer as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, allowing her to sit in the House of Lords.

After a few years, and apart from promoting her books, she was not often in the public eye. One notable moment was in 1999 when she visited Augusto Pinochet in London. The former head of a brutal military dictatorship in Chile was being detained in London over war crimes charges. In 2002, she announced she was retiring from public speaking, following a series of minor strokes. In 2003, her husband Denis died. In 2008 her daughter Carol confirmed that Thatcher was suffering from dementia. Loved or loathed, Thatcher's personal accomplishments will remain part of world history. In a 2007 radio address marking the end of the Falklands war, making use of an ancient Latin proverb, she told her listeners, "Fortune does, in the end, favour the brave." Margaret Thatcher political satire, humour, jokes and Denis | FridayMash Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher political satire, humour, jokes and Denis Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.

She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the “Iron Lady”, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism. Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition and became the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Upon moving into 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain’s struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions.

Thatcher’s popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment until the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987. During this period her support for a Community Charge (popularly referred to as “poll tax”) was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. After a series of small strokes in 2002, she was advised to withdraw from public speaking, and in 2013 she died of another stroke in London at the age of 87.

Margaret Thatcher politician in poll - public opinion online Biography ENG: Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG OM PC FRS (née Roberts, 13 October 1925– 8 April 2013) was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist called her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism. Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for ...

Daughter says Thatcher is recovering well LONDON (AP) — The daughter of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's says her mother is recovering well from her operation and should be released from the hospital within days.Carol Thatcher was quoted by Sky News television Tuesday as saying her mother was feeling "much better" after a successful operation to insert a pin in her broken arm. Thatcher told Sky that her mother was eating strawberries and cream.Margaret Thatcher underwent surgery Friday after injuring herself in a fall at her London home. She has had a number of health problems, including a series of minor ... cici - in poll Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher to have surgery on arm LONDON (AP) — Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is scheduled to undergo surgery on a broken arm, her spokesman said Thursday.Mark Worthington said Thatcher, 83, would undergo the procedure Friday.

He said it was "routine" and involved having a pin inserted into the bone of her upper arm to help it heal.Thatcher has been in a London hospital for nearly a week, after breaking her arm in a fall at her London home.Earlier Thursday, her son, Mark, said his mother was "very well" and alert and talking.Thatcher suffered a number of health problems in recent years, including a ... cici - in poll Margaret Thatcher The ghost of Thatcher brings Assembly debating chamber to life Jan 14 2009 by David Williamson, Western MailAMs crowded into the Senedd’s debating chamber for the first session of the new year. But, writes David Williamson, any festive spirit seemed to have evaporated by the time they took their seatsASSEMBLY Members pride themselves on the sharp contrast with Westminster’s tradition of theatrical booing and other Oxford Union antics.A progressive politician might want to scrap the jeering and mace-whirling for which the House of Commons enjoys worldwide fame, but there must be a better alternative than recreating the atmosphere of a call ...

alexasa - in poll Margaret Thatcher History of Baroness Margaret Thatcher - GOV.UK GOV.UK Baroness Margaret Thatcher Conservative 1979 to 1990 Born 13 October 1925, Grantham, Lincolnshire Died Conservative Major acts Housing Act 1980: gave security of tenure, and the right to buy homes, to tenants of local authorities and other bodies. Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the 'Iron Lady', was the first female British Prime Minister and the longest serving PM for over 150 years. Margaret Thatcher’s father, a shopkeeper and Mayor of Grantham, was a major influence in her childhood. She was educated at the local grammar school and studied Chemistry at Oxford University, where she became president of the university Conservative association. Thatcher read for the Bar before being elected as the Conservative MP for Finchley in 1959. She held junior posts before becoming Shadow Spokesperson for Education, and entered the Cabinet as Education Secretary in 1970. In Opposition she stood against Edward Heath for the party leadership in 1975 and won. Her victory was considered a surprise by many.

In 1979, the Conservative Party won the General Election and Thatcher became PM, taking over from James Callaghan. Her first 2 years in office were not easy - unemployment was very high, but the economy gradually showed improvement. She brought more of her supporters into the Cabinet, and added to her reputation by leading the country to war against Argentina in the Falkland Islands. The Conservatives went on to win the 1983 election by an overwhelming majority, helped by a divided opposition. Her government followed a radical programme of privatisation and deregulation, reform of the trade unions, tax cuts and the introduction of market mechanisms into health and education. The aim was to reduce the role of government and increase individual self-reliance. She also became a familiar figure internationally, creating a famous friendship with US President Reagan and gaining the praise of Soviet leader Gorbachev. One great difficulty during her time in office was the issue of Europe. Her long-serving Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe resigned in November 1990 in protest at her attitude to Europe. His resignation speech brought about events which were to lead to her exit from 10 Downing Street later that month.

Michael Heseltine challenged her for the leadership, and while he failed to win, he gained 152 votes – enough to make it evident that a crucial minority favoured a change. Thatcher was eventually persuaded not to go forward to the second ballot, which was won by her Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Major . She left the House of Commons in 1992, and was appointed a life peerage in the House of Lords in the same year, receiving the title of Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. In 1995 she was appointed as Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter, the highest order of Chivalry in the UK. Her writings include 2 volumes of memoirs: The Downing Street Years and The Path to Power. Thatcher died on 8 April 2013 at The Ritz Hotel in London, after suffering a stroke. She received a ceremonial funeral including full military honours, with a church service at St Paul’s Cathedral. More from the GOV.UK History of Government blog

Question: Which British politician became MP for Finchley in 1959?
Answer: Margaret Thatcher