Margaret Tatcher Financial Times

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April8,201312:56pmThatcher:IronladywhochangedBritain

BySueCameronandJoeRogaly

PA

OutsideNumber10DowningStreet,MrsThatchertalkstothepressafterher1979

electionvictory

Shechangedusall.Wewentfrombeingapeoplewhosawourselvesaseternallyon

the downwardslidetoanation thatwas proudtobeBritish again. Ontheworld

stage too, she made Britain count once more. She was a startling presence who

brought a strong and controversial style to our diplomacy after years of Foreign

Officeblandness.

ThewordsarethoseofCharlesPowell,oneoftheclosestaidesoftheironlady

duringhertimeinpower.MargaretThatcher,whodiedonMondayaged87,notonlyrevolutionisedthesocialorderinherowncountrybutdidmuchtoreshape

worldpoliticsamidthecrumblingoftheSovietempire.The developed worlds first woman prime minister transformed a sclerotic UK

economy, all but neutered the trade unions and endeavoured to roll back the

frontiersofthestatewithapolicyof offloadingthegreatnationalisedindustriesand selling council houses to their occupants. Abroad, she was the indomitable

leader who won victory over Argentina in theFalklandswar, who decided thatMikhail Gorbachev was a Soviet leader she could do business with and who

inspiredarespectforThatcherismasapoliticalphilosophythatwasneverquite

matchedonthedomesticfront.


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Theflipsideofhercourage,toughnessandradicalismwasanarrogance,obstinacy

and remoteness that became more marked the longer she clung to office. ShecentralisedpowertoadegreenotseenbeforeinmodernBritain.Oneresultofthe

wayshedominatedgovernmentwasherfailuretohealthewoundsopenedupin

herownConservativepartyoverherplansforapolltaxandhernegativeapproach

totheUKsroleinEurope.Yetsuchwastheforceofherpresencethatwhatcameafterherwasdefinedintermsofherabsence.

Bornin1925inGrantham,Lincolnshire,MargaretHildaRobertswastheyoungerdaughterofacornershopgrocer,AlfredRoberts,andhiswifeBeatrice.Hewasa

self-made man, a Liberal alderman and a father whose tenets of integrity, hardworkandself-reliancewerestronginfluencesthroughouthercareer.Hisyounger

daughtersself-beliefmanifesteditselfearly.Toldbyateacherhowluckyshewas

tohavewonapoetryreadingcontest,the10-year-oldMargaretreplied:Iwasnotlucky.Ideservedit.

ThoughfarfrompoorbythestandardsofaprovincialtownintheDepression,theRobertsfamilyhadneitherhotrunningwaternoranindoorlavatory.Yetsheand

her sister Muriel were well-dressed theirmother was a seamstress and ina

class-consciouseratheambitiousMargarettookelocutionlessonswhenshewenttoKestevenandGranthamgirlsschool.ShereadchemistryatSomervilleCollege,

Oxford, then a huge achievement for a girl of her origins, and joined the

universitysConservativeAssociation,becomingitspresidentin1946.AfterOxfordsheworkedasaresearchchemistbutspentmuchtimeinDartford,

Kent,whereshebecamepartycandidate.ItwasahopelessseatforaTorybutather adoption meeting she was offered a lift home by a wealthy businessman, a

divorc some 10 years her senior called Denis Thatcher. As he later said: She

stood for Dartford twice and lost twice, and the second time she cried on my

shoulderImarriedher.Deniswastogiveherunstintingsupportemotionallyandfinanciallythroughouthercareer.

In1953 the couple had twins, Caroland Mark. Deniss wealth meantthey couldaffordafull-timenannysomotherhooddidnotstopherreadinglaw,passingher

Barexamsandin1959becomingMPfortheLondonseatofFinchley.She stood out from the beginning. Westminsters few women MPs tended to be

olderandunmarriedwhereasThatcher,apartfromhermasteryofdetailandher

fluencyasaspeaker,wasayoungmotherwithanalmostchocolate-boxprettiness.She was made parliamentary secretary to the pensions minister and after the

Conservatives1964defeatthenewpartyleader,EdwardHeath,promotedhertohis shadow cabinet even though he had been warned that if we take her well

neverbeabletogetridofher.WhenHeathwonthe1970electionshewasgiven

the cabinet post of education secretary. In the eyes of her contemporaries,however,shewasstillthetokenwomaninthegovernment.

She might have remained such, but for her performance as a minister and her

ability to capitalise on her luck. As education minister she approved morecomprehensive school schemes than anyone before or since, and she earned

notoriety by ending free milk for pupils over eight. Maggie Thatcher, milksnatcher,becamethefirstofmanyderogatoryslogansappliedtoherthroughout

herpoliticallife.

She formed analliance with Sir KeithJoseph,a torturedintellectual ofthe right,

who was appalled when Heath performed his great U-turn, back towards thecorporate state and the imposition of controls over prices and incomes. By the


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timetheHeathgovernmentfellinFebruary1974,Josephscirclewasincreasingly

influential.HeathlostasecondelectionthatOctoberyetdeclinedtostanddown.Had hedone so, any one of a number ofprominent male colleagues mighthave

succeededhim.ProbablyThatcherwouldnothavemadetheattempt.Butasthe

manoeuvringproceededthemenwrotethemselvesout.WhenJosephrefusedto

standfollowinganill-judgedspeechaboutworking-classinbreeding,shesaidshewoulddosobecausesomebodywithourviewpointhastostand.

AireyNeave,ananti-HeathbackbencherwhowaslatermurderedbytheINLA,puthisorganisingtalents,andalistofsupportersalreadygarnered,atherdisposal.

ShetrouncedHeathonthefirstballotandclinchedtheleadershipagainstapileofsecond-rounders.AsOppositionleadersheandherteamevolvedastatementof

principlesentitledTheRightApproachtotheEconomy.Itsessencewasmonetary

andfiscalprudence,thedetachmentofthetradeunionsfromthemanagementofnational affairs and a reduction in the role of the state. It became a foundation

documentofThatcherism.Soonshehadmadehermark,notjustathomebutalsoontheworldstagemuch

helpedbyanearlyspeechattackingtheSovietUnion,whichledtheRedArmyto

comeupwiththeironladyepithet.Oppositionsoftendependontheincumbentgovernmentdestroyingitself.Labour

obliged.The1978-79winterofdiscontentwasmarkedbypublicsectorstrikes

thatleftrubbishpiledhighinthestreetsandthedeadunburied.Labourselectoralhopesweredestroyedforadecade.

WhenThatchercametopowerin1979theBritishpolitywasinamess.Inflationand unemployment were rising and the unions to many seemed out of control.

Against all conventional wisdom, she took an axe to public spending. At one

celebrated meeting she even demanded an extra 1bn cut in spite of warnings

fromthosepresentthatthecountrywouldfallapart.Resisting calls for a softer line, she told the 1980 Tory conference: To those

waitingforthefavouritemediacatchphrasetheU-turn,Ihaveonlyonethingtosay:U-turnifyouwantto.Theladysnotforturning.

The economic medicine was hard to stomach. Unemployment rose above 3m,manufacturing output fell and the new prime ministers poll rating slid. Yet by

1983, inflation was down below 4 per cent from a peak of 22 per cent and the

Conservativesratingswereupagain.YearslaterLordCarrington,whobecameherforeignsecretary,said:Herfinesthourreallywaswiththeeconomyandchanging

peoplesperceptionsofwhatweoughttobedoing.Itwas,hesaid,greatereventhanherdisplayofleadershipintheFalklandswar.

WhenArgentinainvadedtheFalklandIslandsin1982,Thatcherbarelyhesitated

before sending a 25,000-strong military task force to reclaim the tiny colony.Victoryandherunswervingpurposethroughoutthewarcementedherimageof

determination at home and abroad. So too did her successful, table-thumping

battles to reduce the UKs contribution to the European Community budget,insisting: I want my money back. Despite being described by Franois

Mitterrand,thenthepresidentofFrance,ashavingthelipsofMarilynMonroeandthe eyes of Caligula, her European and global fan club multiplied. Her election

victoryin1983,againstaLabourpartyledbytheelderlyMichaelFoot,seemsin

retrospecttohavebeenalmosttooeasy.

IfBritainsmilitarytriumphintheSouthAtlanticwasthemostdramaticeventofherfirstterm,thevanquishingona peacetimebattlefieldoftheNationalUnionof


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Mineworkerswastheoutstandingvictoryofhersecond.Itwasabloodyconflict

withcommunitiestornapartandpitchedbattlesbetweenminersandthepolice.YettheNUM,previouslyregardedasinvinciblebyanygovernment,waseventually

forcedtobackdown.

Ontheeconomicfront,Thatchercontinuedthebattletorollbackthefrontiersof

thestate.PrivatisationbeganwithNationalFreightand wasextendedto includesteel, gas,telecommunicationsandwater.State supportforprivate industrywas

phasedout.Localauthorityhomesweresoldatadiscounttotenants,dramaticallyboosting home ownership though at the cost of an enduring void in housing

provisionforthepoor.Theseadvancestowardsanincreasinglyliberaldomesticeconomy,withinaworld

marketplacewhereBritainwasagainrespected,begantoappearunstoppable.So

did she. At the 1984 Tory conference in Brighton, five died and others wereseriouslyinjuredwhenanIRAbombrippedthroughtheGrandHoteljustbefore

3am. The prime target survived. Next morning, condemning the attack as anattempttocrippledemocracy,shetoldreporters:ThisisthedayIwasnotmeant

tosee . . .

It was her opposition to communism that helped bring about what she laterregarded as her greatest achievement: the collapse of the Soviet empire. Her

decadeinDowningStreetcoincidedwithRonaldReaganseightyearsintheWhite

House and the two became political soul mates. She supported Reagan as hebrought the Russians to their knees by his willingness to outspend them on

defence. At the same time she encouraged Mr Gorbachevs reform programme,recognisingthatitcouldhelpdestroycollectivismfromwithin.Shewonthehearts

of much of the Soviet public in a barnstorming visit in 1987. Complete with a

stunning new wardrobe, as one aide said she came on like a modern Tsarina.

BarelytwoyearslatertheBerlinWallfell.Athome,however,herattitudetoEuropewasthecauseofpoliticalsetbacks.One

ofthebiggestwasthedramaticdeparturefromhercabinetofMichaelHeseltine,whowalkedoutfollowingarowoverwhethertheAmericansorEuropeansshould

rescuetheWestlandhelicoptercompany.Onthesurfacesheremainedunruffled.She even recovered, although only temporarily, from the resignation of Nigel

Lawsonaschancelloroftheexchequer.

Yeteachnewdeparturelefthermoreisolated.Eachwas,inessence,areplayoftheargumentovertheUKsplaceinEurope.Asprimeministershehadsanctionedthe

SingleEuropeanAct,creatingagenuinesinglemarket.YetshehatedanyideaofaEuropeansuperstate.InanoutspokenspeechatBrugesin1988,sheinsisted:We

haventworkedalltheseyearstofreeBritainfromtheparalysisofsocialismonly

toseeitcreepinthroughthebackdoorofcentralcontrolandbureaucracyfromBrussels.

Her strident tone dismayed pro-Europeans in her cabinet. Thatcher was

unrepentant and the wound festered. So too did that caused by her plans tointroduce a regressive local government poll tax in the face of widescale

oppositionfromTories.Bythetimeofher10thanniversaryasprimeminister,itcouldbeseenbyothers,butnotbyher,thatshehadbeeninofficelongenough.In

1989 a pro-European backbencher, Sir Anthony Meyer, stood against her and

garnered enough votes to show there was real discontent in the parliamentary

party.


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The coup de grce came the following year from Geoffrey Howe, her former

chancellor and foreign secretary, who stunned the House of Commons bysuggesting in his resignation speech that Thatchers attitude was like sending

your opening batsmen tothe crease only for them tofind,the moment the first

ballsare bowled, that theirbatshavebeenbroken before the game bythe team

captain.AfewdayslaterMrHeseltine,herlong-timeopponent,stoodagainsther.A badly

organisedcampaign,andanarrogancethatsawherflyingofftoParisonthenightofthevote,broughtaboutwhatmanyhadbelievedunthinkable:shefailedto win

outrightonthefirstballot.She had been proved mortal. Discontent over poll tax, her anti-European stance

andherimperiousstyleledhercabinet,onebyone,totellherthatsheshouldgo.

The trauma of her unseating was to ravage Tory unity for years. One smallconsolationforherwasthatJohnMajor,notMrHeseltine,succeededher.

HerfinalspeechasprimeministerintheCommonswasabravuraperformanceasshedefendedherrecord,evenatonepointinsisting:Imenjoyingthis!

AlthoughtheystayedinpoweruntiloustedbyTonyBlairandNewLabourin1997,

the Tories weredeeply scarredbythemanner ofherdeparture.It was tobe 20yearsbeforeit entirelyregaineditsconfidenceandmomentum.Thatcherlivedto

seeherpartyreturntopowerunderDavidCameronin2010butshewastoofrail

toattendthe85thbirthdaypartyinNumber10thathadbeenarrangedforher.She had never fully recovered from her abrupt and forced exit from frontline

politics.In1992shewenttotheHouseofLordsasBaronessThatcherofKesteven.For a while, on the international lecture circuit she received ecstatic receptions

fromforeignaudiences,amazedthattheBritishhadditchedher.Butitwasnotthe

same.

Herhealthstartedtodeteriorate.In2004SirDenis,madeahereditarybaronetinhiswifesresignationhonours,diedandshewasleftalone.Shebattledon,buther

bestmomentswerewhenshemetoldfriendstotalkaboutpasttriumphsandtodreamofmarchingintoDowningStreetandmakingBritaingreatagain.

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