Margaret Thatcher 1935-2013

Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister from 1979-1990, has died after suffering a stroke.  She was 87.

Her death is not to be mourned, as she was suffering from dementia in her later years, so in many ways for her, it will be a release.  Nor is her death a matter for celebration.  It is a time for reflection.

She entered Parliament in 1959, after winning the safe Conservative seat of Finchley.  In those early years in Parliament, she managed to get a private members bill through, requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public.  She was one of the few Conservative MPs to support decriminalising Male Homosexuality, as well as supporting legalising abortion, and banning hare coursing.

Her first real controversy came during her time as Education Secretary from 1970 to 1974, with the abolition of free milk for 7-11 year olds in school, during which time the phrase "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" was coined.  It was a policy that hurt her, as she later wrote about it, as it brought "... the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit...".

When Edward Heath lost both elections in 1974, she ended up being elected to replace him, defeating both Heath, and his preferred successor William Whitelaw.  She never expected that she would become Prime Minister though, and she might have been right, had it not been for the Winter Of Discontent over the winter of 1978/79.  James Callaghan's government lost a vote of no-confidence on 28th March 1979 by just one single vote, 311 to 310, and Parliament was dissolved on Saturday 7th April 1979.

That election was memorable in many ways.  It was the first election since 1959 to feature three leaders who had not previously faced a general election as leader of their party.  Neither Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan nor David Steel had led their party into a general election.  The result was memorable too, and not just for the obvious reason.  The swing to the Conservatives was 5.2%, the largest swing since 1945.  The SNP would rather forget that election though, as they lost 9 of the 11 seats they had previously held.  And of course, Britain had it's first, and so far only, woman Prime Minister.

After that 1979 election she began the process of changing the country, what she thought of as reform and modernisation.  Her first major target was the power of the unions.  But it would be a foreign affairs crisis that would overshadow everything else in her first term.  When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2nd April 1982, she acted against the advice of foreign policy experts and sent our troops into battle.  Neither Margaret Thatcher nor the Argentinian President at the time, General Leopoldo Galtieri, actually declared war over the Falkalnds, however a war cabinet was set up, the first time that had been done since the end of the second World War. 

74 days after hostilities began, the Falklands War was over.  Britiain had emerged victorious, and the Military Junta that had ruled Argentina since 1976 found their grip on power to be crumbling.  In 1983, elections were held in Argentina, returning the country to democratic rule.  That same year, Mrs Thatcher called her own election, and unsurprisingly, won a landslide.  A majority of 144, the biggest margin of victory since Labour in 1945.

During her second term, the defining moment, was the miners strike that began in 1984 and lasted almost a year.  It was the most divisive of industrial disputes, and the pain some say she caused, is still felt in some communities today.  But the strike was eventually defeated, and miners returned to work.

But she almost did not live to defeat the miners.  But for a few walls, and the grace of whatever god you believe in, we might have been talking about an assassination of Margaret Thatcher at Brighton on 12th October 1984.  A time bomb had been planted in a room in the Grand Hotel in Brighton, just less than a month earlier.  It exploded at 2.54am on October 12th.  5 people died, 31 were injured.  Margaret Thatcher had been the target, but she survivied without injury. 

She privatised many state monopolies, and sold off much of the council housing stock.  She constantly challenged some in the European Economic Community, who were looking for closer integration into a European Union.  Not only was she often on her own in EEC affairs, she was sometimes on her own in Commonwealth matters too, especially South Africa. 

The 1987 General Election saw her majority in the House of Commons cut to 102.  It was to be her last General Election victory. 

What led to her leaving office is open to question.  Most say it was her stance on Europe.  But unquestionably, the Community Charge, or Poll Tax as it became better known by, played a huge part.  It replaced the rating system, which was based on a notional rental value, and the charge was a per person charge, which was the same whether you lived in a £100,000 house or a £1,000,000 house.  The Poll Tax riots became the visual symbol of Margaret Thatcher's growing unpopularity.  She was seen as out of touch, someone who had lost touch with their own background, and had become part of the elite.

She faced Michael Heseltine in a leadership vote in 1990, and whilst she won the vote, she was short of the margin needed to avoid a second ballot.  It was a ballot she wanted to contest, but she was persuaded by her cabinet to not contest the ballot.  It would be the one time, the lady would turn, and it was a turn that would take her out of power.  She resigned on the 22nd November 1990.

Whether you loved her or hated her, her determnination and strength of belief rarely wavered.  She felt she was doing what needed to be done.  Unquestionably, she shifted the political system in this country away from socialism, towards individualism.  She is one of the few politicians that people responded to passionately, either loved or loathed, and in an era, that has been dominated since she left office by grey suits and spin, her Iron Lady persona will continue to make her the most memorable of British politicians, long after today.