April 8, 2013

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died today at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke. Thatcher was the first woman to serve as prime minister of the United Kingdom and the first woman to lead a major Western power in modern times. Under her leadership, the Conservative Party held office from May 1979 to November 1990, longer than any other British politician in the 20th century. She is generally regarded as a towering, if controversial figure in the resurgence of conservatism among the Western powers in the 1980′s.

Thatcher’s government privatized several state-owned industries; went to war against Argentina in 1982 after that country invaded the British-held Falkland Islands; waged a year-long stand-off with unions during the Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985; and helped steer U.S.-Soviet relations through the difficult final years of the Cold War.

Margaret Thatcher served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. She was the first woman ever to hold the office. (© David Levenson, Alamy Images)

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on Oct. 13, 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. In 1935, she became active in politics by running errands for the local Conservative Party during election campaigns. 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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. In 1982, Thatcher won praise for her decisive handling of the war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. 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.

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.

Thatcher fell from power when her party refused, by and large, to follow her in resisting an expansion of Britain’s role in the European Union. She also lost much of the public’s confidence when she instituted a so-called “poll tax“–a tax based on voter registration lists designed to make everyone, not just property owners, pay for local government services. John Major was elected as her successor.

Thatcher remained in the House of Commons until 1992. Upon retiring, she was made a baroness and a member of the House of Lords.  Her funeral, with full military honors, will take place at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Additional World Book articles:

• United Kingdom 1979 (a Back in Time article)
• United Kingdom 1982 (a Back in Time article)
• United Kingdom 1984 (a Back in Time article)
• United Kingdom 1990 (a Back in Time article)