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Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady of UK

Almost all of you would have heard of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Known as the 'Iron Lady' for her strength, resolve and toughness, Thatcher was the British Premier from 1979-1990, and is, to date, the only woman to have held this post. She was one of the most important British politicians in recent history, and was equally loved and hated by her people.

Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts on October 13, 1925 in Lincolnshire, England. Her father, Alfred Roberts owned a grocer's shop, was active in local politics, and was a Methodist lay preacher. Her mother was Beatrice. Margaret had one sister.

Research chemist

She attended a girls' grammar school, where she did well, and joined Somerville College, Oxford in 1944 to study Chemistry. She became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1946, and after graduating, worked as a research chemist.

It would interest you to know that in her company, she helped develop preservation methods for ice-cream; in fact, she was a member of the team that developed the first soft frozen ice-cream. She was also a member of the Association of Scientific Workers.

Thatcher became active in politics and contested a seat from the Conservative Party at the 1950 and 1951 elections.

She was the youngest female Conservative candidate for office. She met Denis Thatcher, a wealthy businessman, and married him in 1951. Thatcher qualified as a barrister in 1953, the same year her twin children were born.

Thatcher won the Finchley seat in 1959 and became a member of the House of Commons. She was promoted to the front bench as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance in 1961, and held this post until the Conservatives lost power in the 1964 election.

She moved to the Shadow (the alternative Cabinet run by the Opposition party) Treasury team after 1966, earning a reputation as a conference speaker.

The Conservatives won the 1970 general election and came into power and Thatcher became Secretary of State for Education and Science. Although she was forced to make some unpopular budget cuts in this role, she was also responsible for some good moves.

The Conservatives were defeated in 1974, and Thatcher was appointed Shadow Environment Secretary. After defeating other party leaders in a vote, she became the leader of the Conservative Party in 1975.

Nickname

Her nickname of 'Iron Lady' was given by a Soviet Defence Ministry newspaper after a speech she made in 1976 attacking the Soviet Union. She personally welcomed the name, which came to be associated with her image as a firm and steadfast person.

The 1979 general election was won by the Conservatives and Thatcher was appointed UK's first female Prime Minister on May 4, 1979. She took on the task of reversing the UK's economic decline and reducing the role of the state in the economy. She raised taxes almost immediately, resulting in rises in inflation and unemployment. Despite intense criticism, she stuck to her policy.

Then came the Falklands War! The Falkland Islands, located close to South America, was British territory, but had been claimed by Argentina since the 1830s. On April 2, 1982, the military which was then ruling Argentina, invaded the islands.

Thatcher immediately sent a naval task force to recapture the Islands. The success of this mission gave rise to feelings of patriotism and support for Thatcher.

These sentiments and signs of economic recovery in early 1983 helped the Conservatives to win the 1983 general election, and Thatcher to win another term.

She narrowly missed injury on October 1984, when a bomb exploded at the Brighton hotel where she was staying for the Conservative Party Conference. Five people died in this attack, but the conference opened on time the next day and Thatcher's speech brought her worldwide approval.

With the Conservatives' win in the 1987 general election, Thatcher became the longest continuously serving UK Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool (1812-1827), and the first to win three successive elections since Lord Palmerston in 1865.

Her popularity again started to decline around 1989, and she was challenged for the leadership by her own party members. Although she entered the contest for the leadership, she announced to the Cabinet, her decision not to contest the ballot, which was actually her resignation statement on November 22, 1990. Afterwards, she supported John Major as her successor; he won the leadership contest and also became the next premier.

In 1992, Thatcher was awarded a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, and raised to the House of Lords. She was hired as a "geopolitical consultant" by a private firm in 1992. Between 1993 and 2000, she served as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary in USA. She was also Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, from which she retired in 1998.

Autobiographies

Thatcher has written two volumes of autobiographies, The Path to Power and The Downing Street Years. The latter was televised by the BBC in 1993.

In 1998, she donated two million pounds to the Cambridge University for the award of a Margaret Thatcher Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies. She lost her husband on June 26, 2003.

Thatcher continues to be active in various fields. Her 80th birthday was celebrated in October 2005.

Thatcher has been credited for the economic reforms she introduced, which brought the British economy out of the doldrums of the 1970s to its present-day success.

At the same time, she is criticised for abolishing welfare measures, destroying UK's manufacturing base, and unemployment. A 2002 poll conducted by a television station found her at number 16 in a list of '100 Greatest Britons', which was the highest placing for a living person.

She was also at number 3 in the 2003 list of '100 Worst Britons', which had only living persons. In a list compiled by the publication New Statesman this year, she was voted fifth in a list of 'Heroes of our time'. She was also named a 'Hero of Freedom' by the magazine Reason.