Margaret Thatcher passed away on April 8, 2013. But the UK’s longest serving postwar prime minister casts a long shadow over today’s politics, more than a decade later.
Last week, Labor Prime Minister Kiel, Prime Minister Stage, cited her example in support of his deregulation plan. “In the 1980s, the Thatcher government regulated financial capital…” he wrote in the era, “This is our equivalent.”
Other than Elizabeth I, the female leaders in the UK are the subject of so many plays and films.
The Iron Women are played by Meryl Streep, Gillian Anderson, Lindsay Duncan, Andrea Riseborough and others.
Harriet Walter takes the lead with Brian and Maggie from the latest Channel 4 drama. Brian and Maggie recreate a TV interview that confirmed that the real Thatcher doesn’t believe in “equality” with journalist Brian Walden.
Anniversary year
This is a big year for Thatcher’s worshippers and detractors.
This October marks 100 years since her birth in Grantham, the grocery store’s daughter.
Westminster Thinktank Policy Exchange is launching its Thatcher 100th Anniversary Project. This week it held the first meeting marking the equally important Thatcher anniversary 50 years after she became a Conservative leader.
On February 5, 1979, Thatcher won an astonishing victory over incumbent Ted Heath in the first round of the conservative leadership election, winning 130 votes for Heath at 119.
Hugh Fraser MP Ir, husband of the charming author, Mrs. Antonia Fraser, also ran, winning 16 votes.
Ted Heath behind Thatcher was years after she kicked him out at the 1998 Conservative Conference. Photo: Reuters
Heath was out. He was elected prime minister in 1970 and took Britain to the European Community, but after a period of economic damage with trade unions, he was defeated in two general elections in 1974. .
In the second round on February 11, 1975, she was elected the opposition leader by a majority knockout, with 79 votes for Willie Whitelaw, 19 each for Jim Pryor and Jeffrey Howe and 11 for John Payton. I won the vote.
She became the first female leader of a major British political party.
Four years later, she defeated Labour’s Jim Callahan in the general election and became the first female prime minister of the UK.
She won two more elections and became prime minister for 11 years before being kicked out by the party in the fall of 1990.
Thatcher at the 1985 Conservative Conference in Blackpool. Photo: Reuters
“It needs an impact.”
That was over 30 years ago and doesn’t explain why she is such a powerful icon today.
The explanation is partly in the way her policies have partly changed Britain to her political success and the power of her character.
As she wrote in her letter to her daughter Carol, “the brain power is not enough. We need personality and influence.”
I began covering British politics around 1983 and frequently interviewed Mrs Thatcher.
Young Adam Boulton interviewing Thatcher
She was great to talk to, as she was even engaged to a young reporter and seemed to enjoy being challenged while asserting her position with confidence.
In her later years on Downing Street, she lost this openness and the ability to deal with those who opposed her.
A few months before her downfall, I remember minister Chris Patten complaining, “She’s going to have to go. She stopped listening.”
In diplomacy, her year of power, a military victory to seize the Falkland Islands, US President Ronald Reagan, stopped with Mikhail Gorbachev as the Soviet Union fell apart, and membership of the European Union It included a skeptical approach to. .
Ronald Reagan and Thatcher speak outside their oval office in July 1987. PIC: AP/Scott Apple White
At home, Ir Kiel praises her for the “meaningful change” she made to the UK. “.
The prime minister is now turning his eyes to the private sector to provide homes and build infrastructure.
Milk Natcher
Thatcher’s former speechwriter, John O’Sullivan, sees her election as Tory’s leader as “the first big victory for radical conservatism.”
She sold council homes to create a “property-owned democracy” and began privatizing many nationalized industries.
There was a widespread deindustrialization of deregulation along with traditional heavy industries in the UK, which led to a boom in the services and financial sector.
She confronted the power of the trade union and defeated the National Union of Miners strike.
Marching in Nottinghamshire in May 1984. PIC: PA Archive
Naturally, she has become a hatred figure for many on the left and for the central part of British politics.
Children’s primary schools in the 1980s and 90s had playground rhymes about “Margaret Thatcher Milk Natcher.”
There’s a song in the 2005 Billy Lear the Musical called “Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher / Because We’re All Near Your Death.”
The audience voted to keep it when he passed away in 2013.
Iron female apprentice
Thatcher’s legacy was complicated for conservative politicians.
They continue to debate whether her Prime Thatcher was on leave in the 2016 referendum or remained a voter.
read more:
Iron Lady’s obituary
Thatcher refused to share the flight with the Panda
30 years after Thatcher’s No. 10 exit
She campaigned to join the EEC, enjoying sparring as Brussels and Prime Minister, but became a fierce critic with the decline of the streets after her down.
Her immediate successor, John Major, was built on Thatchait’s policy, but was extremely critical of her actions as a self-declared “rear seat driver.”
All Tory leaders since the Major have claimed to be her apprentices.
It’s cold in workers’ land so warm
On the labor side, attitudes have generally warmed over the years.
Labour leader Neil Kinnock, beaten by Thatcher in 1992 and 1997, argues that the only thing he praises about her is her success as a woman. John Smith challenged her financial approach.
Tony Blair invited her for a private discussion on No. 10 shortly after winning the general election, and continued to treat her with careful respect.
Gordon Brown went further. He welcomed the then 81-year-old child to tea on Downing Street and told journalists:
Thatcher and Gordon Brown before No. 10 in 2007. Photo: Reuters/Luke McGregor
After her death, Ed Miliband paid tribute to the woman who “broken the mold.”
The exception was leftist Jeremy Corbyn, who led the Labour Party between 2015 and 2020.
He stuck with Barb, who had been aiming to become Prime Minister Thatcher when he was a backbench Labour MP. Heating is a legacy of Thatcherism.
Today, Ir Kiel is pleased to perform Thatcherian poses.
Ironically, some conservatives are celebrating Thatcher this year, while others want to move on.
Kwasi Kwarten, who briefly served as Liz Truss’ “Kamikaze” Prime Minister, chose the anniversary to warn “modern politicians.”
This debate remains as lively as ever about Thatcher and her legacy.
Thatcher arrived on Downing Street after winning her first general election. Photo: PA
She has not been forgotten – whether people actually knew her when she was alive.
One thing everyone agrees is that she always enjoyed a good argument until the year faded.
Along with Churchill and Blair, she is one of the most memorable British Prime Ministers of her century, and her much controversial political soul moves on to the next.
