Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher (born 13 October 1925) was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She made history in being the first and only woman to be Prime Minister. A staunch Conservative who led her party to a series of landslides in 1979, 1983 and 1987 by preaching "Thatcherism," optimism and change. Thatcherism meant she weakened labour unions, privatised some industries, rejected Keynesian economic policies for the monetarism of Milton Friedman, and helped reinvigorate the British economy. In foreign policy she collaborated closely with American President Ronald Reagan, especially in his efforts to end the Cold War by working deals with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. She was the first prime minister in modern British history to win three consecutive terms, and her "Iron Lady" image and toughness in action impressed Britons. After proposing a head tax that alienated voters, and continuing with a domineering style that alienated politicians, she was ousted from power in 1990 and took a peerage.

Life

She was born Margaret Roberts at Grantham, England, on October 13, 1925 to a middle class family. She won a scholarship to Oxford University, where she studied chemistry and became chairman of the Conservative Association, graduating in 1947. She worked as a chemist until her marriage in 1951 to Denis Thatcher, a businessman. She qualified as a lawyer in 1953 and then practiced as a tax specialist

Early career

Thatcher entered Parliament in 1959. She held a junior office from 1961 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1974 was education minister in the government of Edward Heath. After its defeat in the two elections of 1974, the Conservative Party in the House of Commons forced Heath in 1975 to defend his leadership. In the first round of voting he trailed Thatcher, a dark horse candidate. Heath then resigned, and the Tories elected Thatcher party leader.

Thatcher pledged to change direction from Heath's policies, advocating tight control of the money supply and of public expenditure as the principal remedies for inflation. She declared that the nation was overtaxed and overgoverned; that individual initiative was being repressed; that only if people were permitted to keep more of the rewards of their work and entrepreneurship would Britain's industrial decline be halted; and that stricter controls should be imposed over black and Indian immigration.

Prime Minister

Thatcher united her party around these positions. In the election of May 1979 a strong Conservative majority emerged, and she was named prime minister. Her monetary and spending restrictions contributed to a doubling of the unemployment rate by 1981, but did curb inflation. Thatcher's popularity rose in 1982 when she sent British troops to drive out an Argentine invasion force from the Falkland Islands. She retained her office after a strong Conservative showing in the June 1983 elections.

Thatcher continued to implement her program by privatizing long-nationalized corporations (such as the telephone and aerospace firms) and by selling public housing to tenants, all on favorable terms. At the June 1987 elections, thanks in part to the increased number of pro-Tory property owners, she retained a strong parliamentary majority. The intelligentsia was overwhelmingly negative toward her because of her dogged conservatism and unflinching determination to carry out her policies of educational cuts and reforms.

Ouster

Even in the new anti-socialist climate she had forged, her replacement of property taxes with a poll tax proved highly unpopular. Inflation of 11% coupled with her resistance to Britain's further integration into the European monetary system, disillusioned the Conservatives with her abrasive leadership. On November 22, 1990, she was forced to resign her party role (and thus the prime ministership). John Major succeeded her. On June 5, 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. In the House of Lords she frequently criticized Major's European policies.

Bibliography

• Campbell, John. Margaret Thatcher. Vol. 1: The Grocer's Daughter. (2000). 512 pp. detailed biography
• Dellheim, Charles. The Disenchanted Isle: Mrs. Thatcher's Capitalist Revolution. (1995) 352 pp.
• Evans, Eric J. Thatcher and Thatcherism. (2004). 176 pp
• Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F. Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990. (1992). 193 pp.
• Haseler, Stephen. The Battle for Britain: Thatcher and the New Liberals. (1990). 195 pp.
• Holmes, Martin. Thatcherism: Scope and Limits, 1983-87. (1989). 174 pp.
• Jenkins, Peter. Mrs. Thatcher's Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era. (1988). 417 pp.
• 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.
• Krieger, Joel. Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Decline. (1987). 247 pp.
• Mikdadi, Faysal. Margaret Thatcher: A Bibliography. (1993). 269 pp.
• Moon, Jeremy. Innovative Leadership in Democracy: Policy Change under Thatcher. (1993). 157 pp.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Young, Hugo. The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher. (1989). 570 pp.

Primary sources

• Clark, Alan. Mrs. Thatcher's Minister: The Private Diaries of Alan Clark. (1994). 421 pp.
• Thatcher, Margaret. The Downing Street Years. (1993). 914 pp., detailed memoir