Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister had died on April 8, 2013 at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke in the Ritz Hotel suite she had lived in since December 2012.
The Conservative prime minister is remembered as the ‘Iron lady’ who helped end the Cold War and whose economic policies divided the nation.
Thatcher was born Margaret Roberts on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, eastern England, to a grocer. Thatcher’s father was also a preacher and a local politician, having held a seat on the local town council and serving as for a few years and served as the Mayor of Grantham from 1945 – 1946.
After attending grammar school, she graduated from Oxford University in 1947 with a degree in chemistry. She married businessman Denis Thatcher in 1951 and two years later had twins, Carol and Mark.
Thatcher while working as a chemist, got indulged into politics and joined the local Conservative Association. In the 1950 and 1951 general elections, she contested for a Labour seat in Parliament, though she lost both times but stood out among her competition as the youngest and only woman candidate.
Subsequently, she was elected to the House of Commons in 1959 and succeeded former prime minister Edward Heath as opposition Conservative leader in 1975. Four years later, in 1979, Thatcher became the first female prime minister of United Kingdom. She served the position for till 1990, being the longest serving prime minister in modern history, serving for over 11 years.
Thatcher used to emphasise on importance of being an independent thinker and self reliant. During her tenure as secretary of education, she abolished a program that provided free milk to schoolchildren which they had been receiving since World War II. Thatcher thought it was a waste of money and a waste of time and stopped the policy.
The decision provoked a storm of controversy with opponents taunting her with cries of ‘Mrs. Thatcher, milk snatcher.’
As prime minister, she implemented economic policies that accelerated the evolution of the British economy from statism to liberalism. It later came to be known as Thatcherism. Her supporters had said that these policies promoted personal freedom and broke down the class divisions that had riven Britain for centuries.
Margaret Thatcher had a strong anti-communism stance, and a speech she delivered in 1976 condemning communism earned her the nickname ‘Iron Lady’ in the Soviet press.
When Argentina invaded the remote British territory of the Falkland Islands in 1982, Thatcher dispatched troops and ships, securing victory in two months which illuminated her most significant international relationship with the then US president Ronald Reagan.
She is also known for breaking the back of the trade union movement, defeating the 1984-85 miners’ strike led by the trade union leader, Arthur Scargill.
In 1990, she announced her resignation after facing a leadership challenge and failing to receive the expected level of support. She was later appointed to the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. She also wrote her memoirs and delivered lectures around the world.
As her health deteriorated, her public appearances became increasingly rare. She was even forced to miss a planned 85th birthday party at Downing Street. She breathed her last on April 8, 2013 after a series of minor strokes and Dementia.
Thatcher’s legacy has had significant implications for not only UK but also the world. The political thinking that she and US president Ronald Reagan espoused, with the backing of renowned economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, became influential.