Curtains down: Britain’s Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher dies at 87
9 April 2013 5:46 AM IST
Former British prime minister and the poster girl of Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher, has died following a stroke. She was 87. Considered as one of the most influential political figures of the 20th century, Thatcher’s legacy has had an enduring effect on the policies of her successors, both within the Conservative and the Labour parties. Her radical and confrontational approach had marked the 11-year-old period when she occupied 10 Downing Street as UK prime minister.
Always a divisive figure, she emerged both as the demigoddess of neoliberal policies, privatising state-owned industries such as British Gas and British Telecom in the course, and someone who incited great hatred, particularly from socialists and trade unionists, whom she tried her best to crack down. Her tenure saw incredible unrest on the streets of London, from members of the working classes as well as immigrants, who resented her dictatorial style of governance.
But she was also lauded immensely for her contributions in winning the Falkland’s War against Argentina (in 1982), making housing accessible for ordinary Britons as loans became handy, as well as negotiating between the United States and the Soviet Union during the last years of the Cold War.
Born on 13 October 1925, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher was the daughter of a grocer, Alfred Roberts from Lincolnshire. Despite her humble beginnings, Thatcher went to Oxford University, where she studied chemistry at Somerville College, and became the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
After an unsuccessful election bid for the Conservatives in 1950, she married businessman Denis Thatcher in 1951 and became a barrister in 1953 after taking the bar examinations. She had already made a significant dent in the Labour majority in Kent, and in 1959, she was elected as the Conservative MP for Finchley in 1959.
Thatcher was a constant critic of Labour’s high taxation policy and fought vehemently for the tenants’ rights to buy council houses I which they lived on grants. Her harsh disparagement of welfare state landed her a post in the cabinet, where became the education secretary under Edward Heath, who became prime minister in 1970. Thatcher implemented spending cuts, which earned her the sobriquet ‘Milk Snatcher.’
Thatcher went on to contest against her mentor Edward Heath in 1975 and took over the Tory leadership for the next two decade and half. A 1976 speech criticising communist Soviet Union earned her the title of ‘Iron Lady.’ She became the first woman prime minister when she entered 10 Downing Street after dealing a huge blow to Jim Callaghan-led Labour party in 1979, with a mission to shrink the state and ‘repair’ the country’s finances.
As prime minister, Thatcher opened the doors to free market policies, cutting down high inflation and introducing a radical budget of spending and tax cuts. Bills were also introduced to curb union militancy and privatise national industries. New monetary policies saw the City of London become the financial capital of the world, although unrest spread amongst Britain’s disgruntled working classes and trade unions.
Following the victory against Argentina, after she had sent taskforce to regain control of the disputed Falklands islands in 1982, Thatcher won the 1983 election with a landslide. Thatcher even survived an attempt on her life when the notorious Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombed the Brighton Hotel during a 1984 Conservative conference. She won another general election in 1987, riding a sympathy wave, but resigned as party head in 1990 after facing a leadership challenge. She worked with various foundations since then.
Always a divisive figure, she emerged both as the demigoddess of neoliberal policies, privatising state-owned industries such as British Gas and British Telecom in the course, and someone who incited great hatred, particularly from socialists and trade unionists, whom she tried her best to crack down. Her tenure saw incredible unrest on the streets of London, from members of the working classes as well as immigrants, who resented her dictatorial style of governance.
But she was also lauded immensely for her contributions in winning the Falkland’s War against Argentina (in 1982), making housing accessible for ordinary Britons as loans became handy, as well as negotiating between the United States and the Soviet Union during the last years of the Cold War.
Born on 13 October 1925, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher was the daughter of a grocer, Alfred Roberts from Lincolnshire. Despite her humble beginnings, Thatcher went to Oxford University, where she studied chemistry at Somerville College, and became the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
After an unsuccessful election bid for the Conservatives in 1950, she married businessman Denis Thatcher in 1951 and became a barrister in 1953 after taking the bar examinations. She had already made a significant dent in the Labour majority in Kent, and in 1959, she was elected as the Conservative MP for Finchley in 1959.
Thatcher was a constant critic of Labour’s high taxation policy and fought vehemently for the tenants’ rights to buy council houses I which they lived on grants. Her harsh disparagement of welfare state landed her a post in the cabinet, where became the education secretary under Edward Heath, who became prime minister in 1970. Thatcher implemented spending cuts, which earned her the sobriquet ‘Milk Snatcher.’
Thatcher went on to contest against her mentor Edward Heath in 1975 and took over the Tory leadership for the next two decade and half. A 1976 speech criticising communist Soviet Union earned her the title of ‘Iron Lady.’ She became the first woman prime minister when she entered 10 Downing Street after dealing a huge blow to Jim Callaghan-led Labour party in 1979, with a mission to shrink the state and ‘repair’ the country’s finances.
As prime minister, Thatcher opened the doors to free market policies, cutting down high inflation and introducing a radical budget of spending and tax cuts. Bills were also introduced to curb union militancy and privatise national industries. New monetary policies saw the City of London become the financial capital of the world, although unrest spread amongst Britain’s disgruntled working classes and trade unions.
Following the victory against Argentina, after she had sent taskforce to regain control of the disputed Falklands islands in 1982, Thatcher won the 1983 election with a landslide. Thatcher even survived an attempt on her life when the notorious Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombed the Brighton Hotel during a 1984 Conservative conference. She won another general election in 1987, riding a sympathy wave, but resigned as party head in 1990 after facing a leadership challenge. She worked with various foundations since then.
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