Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Original Autograph, United Kingdom (L6443) For Sale

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness 13 October 1925– 8 April 2013),was a British politician and stateswoman who served asPrime Minister of the United Kingdomfrom 1979 to 1990 andLeader of the Conservative Partyfrom 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime minister and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies that became known asThatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the \"Iron Lady\", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style.

Thatcher studied chemistry atSomerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a researchchemistbefore becoming abarrister. She waselected Member of ParliamentforFinchleyin1959.Edward Heathappointed herSecretary of State for Education and Sciencein his1970–1974 government. In 1975, she defeated Heath in theConservative Party leadership electionto becomeLeader of the Opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom.

On becoming prime minister after winning the1979 general election, Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and Britain\'s struggles in the wake of theWinter of Discontentandan oncoming recession.[nb 1]Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasisedderegulation(particularlyof the financial sector), the privatisation ofstate-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence oftrade unions. Her popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment. Victory in the 1982Falklands Warand the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in herlandslidere-election in1983. She survived an assassination attempt by theProvisional IRAin the 1984Brighton hotel bombingand achieved a political victory against theNational Union of Mineworkersin the1984–85 miners\' strike.

Thatcher was re-elected for a third term with another landslide in1987, but her subsequent support for theCommunity Charge(also known as the \"poll tax\") was widely unpopular, and her increasinglyEuroscepticviews on theEuropean Communitywere not shared by others in her cabinet. She resigned as prime minister and party leader in 1990, after achallenge was launched to her leadership, and was succeeded byJohn Major, theChancellor of the Exchequer.[nb 2]After retiring from theCommonsin 1992, she was given alife peerageas Baroness Thatcher (ofKestevenin theCounty of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in theHouse of Lords. In 2013, shedied of a strokeatthe Ritz Hotel, London, at the age of 87.

A polarising figure in British politics, Thatcher is nonetheless viewed favourably inhistorical rankingsand public opinion of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted arealignmenttowardsneoliberalpolicies in Britain, with the complicated legacy attributed to Thatcherism debated into the 21st century.