| Margaret Thatcher was the longest Prime Minister of the 20th century.
Her style and her views appealed to many British people who had lost
confidence in the welfare state and in the direction the nation had
taken. In some ways she was the first genuine leader the nation had
since the time of Churchill.
Margaret Thatcher began her career in politics, when she became a
Conservative Member of Parliament. in 1979 she was elected as Britain's
first woman Prime Minister.
From the start, her autocratic style earned her the nickname of
"The Iron Lady". Her abrasive manner has attracted some criticism.
During the Falklands War of 1982, however, Margaret Thatcher's militant
patriotism found her many supporters, and she became something of a
popular hero-figure, much as Winston Churchill had been in the Second
World War.
Margaret Thatcher was re-elected Prime Minister in the general
elections of 1983 and 1987.
2
Margaret Thatcher (Margaret Robins) was born in 1925. Her father had a
grocer's shop but he was also very interested in local politics.
Margaret was a good student and won a scholarship to Oxford to study
chemistry. Then she worked as a research chemist until she met and
married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman. Then she decided to
study law. She was already involved in politics and gave up law when she
was elected to the Parliament in 1959. From 1970 to 1974 she was
Secretary of State for Education. In 1975 she became leader of the
Conservative Party which was the Opposition. In 1979 she beat the Labour
Party and took office as Prime Minister, Britain's first woman Prime
Minister.
Thatcher privatized publicly-owned industries and made cuts in
state education, hospitals and welfare benefits. In early 's, Britain
was facing unemployment, inflation, problems of Northern Ireland. In
1982, Britain became involved in an undeclared war against Argentina in
the Falkland Islands. After the victory in the Falklands, she had an
image of a strong, authoritative leader. In the 1983 election campaign,
she won with a large majority of votes. In 19i she won her third term as
Prime Minister defeating the Labour Party which suffered from loss of
votes due to the newly formed alliance with Liberal.
On November 22,1990, Mrs. Thatcher resigned. The "Iron Lady" who
believed it was her destiny to reshape the British nation shed tears as
she made the historic announcement. Three men were candidates for the
post of Prime Minister. John Major was to win.
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