# Margaret Thatcher By [Stella](https://paragraph.com/@wonderplanett) · 2023-02-01 --- **Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher**, [LG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Order_of_the_Garter), [OM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_the_Order_of_Merit), [DStJ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_of_Justice_of_the_Order_of_St_John), [PC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privy_Council_of_the_United_Kingdom), [FRS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society), [HonFRSC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Chemistry) ([née](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A9e) **Roberts**; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013), was a British politician and stateswoman who served as [Prime Minister of the United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom) from 1979 to 1990 and [Leader of the Conservative Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leader_of_the_Conservative_Party_\(UK\)) from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies that became known as [Thatcherism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatcherism). A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "**Iron Lady**", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. Thatcher studied chemistry at [Somerville College, Oxford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville_College,_Oxford), and worked briefly as a research [chemist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemist), before becoming a [barrister](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrister). She was [elected Member of Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MPs_elected_in_the_1959_United_Kingdom_general_election) for [Finchley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finchley_\(UK_Parliament_constituency\)) in [1959](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_United_Kingdom_general_election). [Edward Heath](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Heath) appointed her [Secretary of State for Education and Science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_Education_and_Science) in his [1970–1974 government](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_ministry). In 1975, she defeated Heath in the [Conservative Party leadership election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Conservative_Party_leadership_election) to become [Leader of the Opposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leader_of_the_Opposition_\(United_Kingdom\)), the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. On becoming prime minister after winning the [1979 general election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_United_Kingdom_general_election), Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and Britain's struggles in the wake of the [Winter of Discontent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent) and [an oncoming recession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_1980s_recession).[\[nb 1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher#cite_note-2) Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised [deregulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation) (particularly [of the financial sector](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang_\(financial_markets\))), the privatisation of [state-owned companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprise), and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Her popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment. Victory in the 1982 [Falklands War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War) and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her [landslide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landslide_victory) re-election in [1983](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_United_Kingdom_general_election). She survived an assassination attempt by the [Provisional IRA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_IRA) in the 1984 [Brighton hotel bombing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_hotel_bombing) and achieved a political victory against the [National Union of Mineworkers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Union_of_Mineworkers_\(Great_Britain\)) in the [1984–85 miners' strike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners%27_strike_\(1984%E2%80%9385\)). Thatcher was re-elected for a third term with another landslide in [1987](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_United_Kingdom_general_election), but her subsequent support for the [Community Charge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poll_tax_\(Great_Britain\)) (also known as the "poll tax") was widely unpopular, and her increasingly [Eurosceptic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euroscepticism_in_the_United_Kingdom) views on the [European Community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community) were not shared by others in her cabinet. She resigned as prime minister and party leader in 1990, after a [challenge was launched to her leadership](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Conservative_Party_leadership_election), and was succeeded by [John Major](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Major), the [Chancellor of the Exchequer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_the_Exchequer).[\[nb 2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher#cite_note-4) After retiring from the [Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) in 1992, she was given a [life peerage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_peer) as Baroness Thatcher (of [Kesteven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesteven) in the [County of Lincolnshire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_of_Lincolnshire)) which entitled her to sit in the [House of Lords](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords). In 2013, she [died of a stroke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_funeral_of_Margaret_Thatcher) at [the Ritz Hotel, London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ritz_Hotel,_London), at the age of 87. A polarising figure in British politics, Thatcher is nonetheless viewed favourably in [historical rankings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom) and public opinion of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a [realignment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_realignment) towards [neoliberal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberal) policies in Britain, with the complicated legacy attributed to Thatcherism debated into the 21st century. --- *Originally published on [Stella](https://paragraph.com/@wonderplanett/margaret-thatcher)*