Margaret Thatcher

British Political History
Margaret Thatcher
Sahibzada Rabbani
24/03/2013

What made Margaret Thatcher one of the most influential Prime Ministers in the twentieth century? Was it the strength of her personality, length of time in office, her politics, or combination of all of these and more?
INTRODUCTION
Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving Prime Minister of U.K in the twentieth century (1979 to 1990). Lady Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The daughter of a grocer, she went to Oxford University to study chemistry. She later went on to study Bar and become a prominent barrister specialising in taxation. Thatcher’s studies of bar were funded by her husband Denis Thatcher, a wealthy businessman, who she married in 1951. Thatcher became a Conservative member of parliament for Finchley in North London in 1959 after a very tough campaign1, serving as the MP until 1992. This thirty three year period gave her great insight and experience in British politics.
Her first parliamentary post was as a junior minister for pensions in Harold Macmillan's government. From 1964 to 1970, she served in a many different positions in Edward Heath's shadow cabinet. Heath became prime minister in 1970 and Thatcher was appointed secretary for education. During her first months in office she attracted a lot of attention due to spending cuts. She gave priority to academic needs in schools2 and abolished free milk in schools. After the Conservatives were defeated in 1974, Thatcher challenged Heath for the leadership of the party and won. In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives came to power and Thatcher became prime minister.
Victory of Falklands War in 1982 helped Thatcher to win in the 1983 general election. In 1984, she escaped death when the IRA planted a bomb at the Conservative party conference in Brighton in which five people died. This was in response to the treatment that Thatcher showed to the IRA and INLA prisoners who had gone on a hunger strike to gain the status of political prisoners. Thatcher was later described by the Sinn Féin as “the biggest bastard we have ever known.”3 Thatcher had a close political relationship with US president Ronald Reagan, based on a common loathing of communism. She was nicknamed the 'Iron Lady' by the Soviets for a powerfully anti-communist speech in 19774. In the 1987 general election, Thatcher won a third term in office. However, due to controversial policies such as her opposition of integrating with Europe made her unpopular within her party which eventually led her to resignation. In November 1990, she agreed to resign and was succeeded by John Major as party leader and prime minister. Thatcher was appointed in the House of Lords as a Baroness and continued delivering lectures internationally. She founded the Thatcher Foundation, which aimed to promote political and economic freedom, particularly in central and Eastern Europe.
Thatcher’s Policies
Margaret Thatcher was an exponent of denationalising private industries. She wanted to reform trade unions, lower taxes and reduce the overall expenditure. Despite such policies, unemployment increased during her reign.
In a nutshell Thatcher successfully took on the whole union movement, brought it back under the rule of law, and gave it back to its members. She transformed the nation’s view of the benefits of a market economy. She privatized the commanding heights of the economy thus transforming their fortunes and starting a worldwide movement. She taught the need for monetary continence if the people wish to enjoy low inflation. She enfranchised millions of former local authority serfs through the right to buy public housing. She made Brits walk tall again with a principled, firm and robust approach to foreign relations. She started the process which has now led to peace in Northern Ireland. She helped Ronald Reagan bring down Communist Russia and she ensured that all future British governments have to be much friendlier to laissez-faire capitalism than had been the case prior to 1979.5 However some were critical of her policies as Andrew Marr points out, “Thatcherism heralded an age of unparalleled consumption, credit, show-off wealth, quick bucks and sexual libertinism. That is the thing about freedom. When you free people, you can never be sure what you are freeing them for.”6
Privatisation was the main component of Thatcherism. After 1983, more than twenty nine billion pounds and an additional eighteen billion were raised from selling council houses.7 There were two elements of privatisation: Denationalisation and Liberalisation. The former is in regards to the sale of state shares and assets whilst the latter is regarding the eradication of statutory monopoly. The intention behind such policies was to promote economic freedom which in turn would increase political freedom. The same method was applied in regards to the housing policy and there was a dramatic increase in house ownership. However ownership in particular businesses did not widen the share of the ownership as it was hoped by Thatcher, as many shares and assets were sold to financial institutions and multi-national companies.
Thatcher’s attitude towards trade unions became a popular mantra for the conservative party. Unions were told to follow strict procedures in regards to strikes, political contributions, and even elections amongst the leadership. The Miners’ strike is a good example of the relationship dynamics between unions and Thatcher’s government. The strike was declared illegal8 and at the end one hundred and fifty coal mines were closed from one hundred and seventy-four. This resulted in unemployment by the thousands and entire communities suffered. Thatcher with clever rhetoric aligned this situation with that of Falkland Islands saying, “We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty.”9
Foreign affairs played an important part in moulding Thatcher’s popularity and authority amongst the citizens. She aligned herself with the American president Ronald Reagan against Russian Communism. She displayed British naval power when Argentina attacked the Falkland Islands. She distanced herself from certain aspects of the European Community as it did serve British interests.
Towards the end of 1990 she became unpopular in the party and reluctantly resigned as Prime Minister. Even at this stage she felt that she had been successful and that she had been betrayed by others.10
Thatcher’s Personality
Margaret Thatcher had a very strong personal political and moral personality. She could turn to a room full of powerful men and in effect simply say “I know this is right; you know this is right; the only question is how we do it.”11 An effective example of such a strong leadership is her response to the hostage crisis in April 1980 when a group of Iranian terrorists stormed the Iranian embassy in London and captured 26 hostages. Thatcher involved the Special Air Service. When the terrorists killed a hostage, Thatcher immediately responded by saying “Go in” and the nation watched how the SAS effectively killed the terrorists and saved nineteen out of the twenty hostages.
Thatcher as a chief outlined clear principles and this was articulated to the Indians very clearly as seen in the aforementioned example. Thatcher also had the ability to simplify and communicate matters well. She could explain things in a very simplified manner which made it very easy to follow.
Thatcher expected and got a lot out of those around her, yet she also listened to everyone and took other opinions on board. The sale of public housing came from those who were on the Left. The balance she struck between her own judgements and that of others can be understood from her following quote:
“I kept tight personal control over decisions relating to the strategic defence initiative and our reaction to it.… I was also passionately interested in the technical developments and strategic implications. This was one of those areas in which only a firm grasp of the scientific concepts involved allows the right policy decisions to be made. Laid back generalists from the foreign office — let alone the ministerial muddlers in charge of them — could not be relied upon. By contrast, I was in my element.”12
As a prime minister, Thatcher had very smart and dedicated people with her. The stereotype of the Tories as a ‘stupid party’ rapidly changed under the leadership of Thatcher. Thatcher had industry experts such as John Hoskyns, academics such as Alan Walters, and young men who had graduated from university in her proximity. This ensured that she was given the best and the most accurate advise when demanded to take action.
Thatcher did not try to do everything all at once. She tackled each problem one at a time and she brought a gradual change in policies rather than implementing radical and immediate changes. For example in the 1980 Employment Act she abolished statutory recognition procedure, extended the right to refuse to join a union, and limited picketing. Then in the 1982 Employment Act she prohibited action to force contracts with union employees, weakened the closed shop, and removed some union immunities. In the 1984 Employment Act she weakened union immunities, required pre-strike balloting of union members, and strengthened employers’ power to get injunctions. Finally in the 1988 Employment Act she removed further union immunities and extended the right of the individual to work against a union.13 conclusion In conclusion it is very difficult to pin-point one factor to determine the influence and success of Thatcher as a Prime Minister, rather there were a combination of factors. Thatcher had a very strong personality and this was vibrant in her politics, which made her policies very influential. This amalgamation led to her success of being elected for three consecutive terms. These three factors led her to be one of the most influential Prime Ministers of the twentieth century. Blundell confirms this in his description of Thatcher. “She was the first woman leader of a major Western political party; she was the only person in the 20th century to win three successive British general elections; she was the longest serving Prime Minister of that century; she was voted the 16th greatest Briton ever by the left-leaning BBC; and historian Francis Beckett ranks her number one ‘Prime Minister’ of the 20 who served in the 20th century! And in 2005 senior British commentator Charles Moore dubbed her (with no offence to HM the Queen) ‘the greatest living Englishwoman.’”14