Margaret Thatcher

Former Prime Minister
(1979-1990)

Very few British politicians have ever been as successful or as divisive as the "Iron Lady". The only woman to have served as British Prime Minister or as the leader of a major political party, Thatcher came to power determined to reverse a national decline, to restore “a once great nation that has somehow fallen behind”. The longest continuous serving prime minister
since the 19th century, Thatcher’s policies were tough and uncompromising, and her hard line against trade unions, her unpopular Poll Tax and the successful Falklands War, were particularly controversial. The Right believe that Thatcher helped to win the Cold War and created a decade of prosperity and private enterprise with her economic advancements. For them, Thatcher's victory against the miners and other trade unions was modern Britain's defining transformation. Though she was invited back to Downing Street by Gordon Brown, many on the Left still maintain that she ripped this country apart. They say that her reforms eroded our sense of community, and left millions behind to suffer.