Margaret thatcher full biography of kirstie

Once elected to the House of Commons, Thatcher rapidly made her way. In she was invited to join the government as a junior minister at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. She became a skilful defender of policies before Parliament, marshalling arguments and statistics with effect. It was a style of speaking that fell short of high rhetoric; she might silence an opponent, but throughout her career as a Conservative frontbencher this most influential of politicians rarely sought to charm an audience and made few concessions to the growing political fashion for wearing hearts on sleeves.

Instead she became the archetypal conviction politician, at her best speaking off the cuff, or thinking on her feet in a television interview in combative and plain-spoken style. In her early years in Parliament, as at the General Election ofThatcher in some respects found her gender a political advantage. Politics was overwhelmingly the preserve of men when she began her career, and no woman had ever held the highest offices of state, let alone the Premiership.

But the margaret thatcher full biography of kirstie parties needed at least one prominent woman in a leading position. Thatcher was quickly understood to be the most talented Conservative woman in the Commons, and as such was likely to reach cabinet rank. She remained a frontbencher after Labour won the General Election and entered the shadow cabinet infollowing two successful and happy years as deputy to the Shadow Chancellor, Iain Macleod.

When the Conservatives won the General Election she entered the Cabinet as Education Secretary, a post thought appropriate for a woman, which she held for the entire term of the Heath government. And in a period of rising student militancy and political ill-feeling in Britain, she quickly became a special target for attack from the left in politics and the media.

By the end of that year she often found it difficult to get a hearing when she visited schools and universities. She had become a hate figure for many of her opponents. Thatcher withstood the pressure and emerged significantly toughened. However, the impression left on opponents — and even on some Conservatives — that her character was harsh and unfeeling, even un-feminine, had an enduring effect on her career.

The Heath Government marked her in other ways. A prices and incomes policy was introduced, which the trade unions met with hostility. The social life of the family was lived largely within the close community of the local congregation, bounded by strong traditions of self-help, charitable work, and personal truthfulness. The Roberts family ran a grocery business, bringing up their two daughters in a flat over the shop.

Margaret Roberts attended a local state school and from there won a place at Oxford, where she studied chemistry at Somerville College Her outlook was profoundly influenced by her scientific training. But chemistry took second place to politics in Margaret Thatcher's future plans. Conservative politics had always been a feature of her home life: her father was a local councillor in Grantham and talked through with her the issues of the day.

She was elected president of the student Conservative Association at Oxford and met many prominent politicians, making herself known to the leadership of her party at the time of its devastating defeat by Labour at the General Election of In her mid-twenties she ran as the Conservative candidate for the strong Labour seat of Dartford at the General Elections of andwinning national publicity as the youngest woman candidate in the country.

She lost both times, but cut the Labour majority sharply and hugely enjoyed the experience of campaigning. Aspects of her mature political style were formed in Dartford, a largely working class constituency which suffered as much as any from post-war rationing and shortages, as well as the rising level of taxation and state regulation. Unlike many Conservatives at that time, she had little difficulty getting a hearing from any audience and she spoke easily, with force and confidence, on issues that mattered to the voters.

It was in Dartford too that she met her husband, Denis Thatcher, a local businessman who ran his family's firm before becoming an executive in the oil industry. They married in Twins — Mark and Carol —were born to the couple in In the s Margaret Thatcher trained as a lawyer, specialising in taxation. She was elected to Parliament in as Member of Parliament MP for Finchley, a north London constituency, which she continued to represent until she was made a member of the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher in Within two years, she was given junior office in the administration of Harold Macmillan and during when the Conservatives were again in Oppositionestablished her place among the senior figures of the party, serving continuously as a shadow minister.

When the Conservatives returned to office inunder the premiership of Edward Heath, she achieved cabinet rank as Education Secretary. Margaret Thatcher had a rough ride as Education Minister. The early s saw student radicalism at its height and British politics at its least civil. Protesters disrupted her speeches, the opposition press vilified her, and education policy itself seemed set immovably in a leftwards course, which she and many Conservatives found uncomfortable.

But she mastered the job and was toughened by the experience. The Heath Government itself took a beating from events during its tenure and disappointed many. Elected on promises of economic revival through taming the trade unions and introducing more free market policies, it executed a series of policy reverses — nicknamed the 'U turns' — to become one of the most interventionist governments in British history, negotiating with the unions to introduce detailed control of wages, prices, and dividends.

Defeated at a General Election in Februarythe Heath Government left a legacy of inflation and industrial strife. Many Conservatives were ready for a new approach after the Heath Government and when the Party lost a second General Election in OctoberMargaret Thatcher ran against Heath for the leadership. To general surprise her own includedin February she defeated him on the first ballot and won the contest outright on the second, though challenged by half a dozen senior colleagues.

She became the first woman ever to lead a Western political party and to serve as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. The Labour Government of was one of the most crisis-prone in British history, leading the country to a state of virtual bankruptcy in when a collapse in the value of the currency on the foreign exchanges forced the government to negotiate credit from the International Monetary Fund IMF.

The IMF imposed tight expenditure controls on the government as a condition of the loan, which, ironically, improved Labour's public standing. By summerit even looked possible that it might win re-election. Trade union pay demands led to an epidemic of strikes and showed that the government had little influence over its allies in the labour movement.

Public opinion swung against Labour and the Conservatives won a Parliamentary majority of 43 at the General Election of May The new government pledged to check and reverse Britain's economic decline. In the short-term, painful measures were required. As party leader, Thatcher made history in Maywhen she was appointed Britain's first female prime minister.

As prime minister, Thatcher battled the country's recession by initially raising interest rates to control inflation. She was best known for her destruction of Britain's traditional industries through her attacks on labor organizations such as the miner's union, and for the massive privatization of social housing and public transport. One of her staunchest allies was U.

President Ronald Reagana fellow conservative. The two shared similar right-wing, pro-corporate political philosophies. Thatcher faced a military challenge during her first term. In AprilArgentina invaded the Falkland Islands. This British territory had long been a source of conflict between the two nations, as the islands are located off the coast of Argentina.

Taking swift action, Thatcher sent British troops to the territory to retake the islands in what became known as the Falklands War. Argentina surrendered in June In her second term, from toThatcher handled a number of conflicts and crises, the most jarring of which may have been the assassination attempt against her in In a margaret thatcher full biography of kirstie by the Irish Republic Army, she was meant to be killed by a bomb planted at the Conservative Conference in Brighton in October.

Undaunted and unharmed, Thatcher insisted that the conference continue, and gave a speech the following day. As for foreign policy, Thatcher met with Mikhail Gorbachevthe Soviet leader, in That same year, she signed an agreement with the Chinese government regarding the future of Hong Kong. Publicly, Thatcher voiced her support for Reagan's air raids on Libya in and allowed U.

Returning for a third term inThatcher sought to implement a standard educational curriculum across the nation and make changes to the country's socialized medical system. However, she lost a lot of support due to her efforts to implement a fixed rate local tax—labeled a poll tax by many since she sought to disenfranchise those who did not pay it.

Hugely unpopular, this policy led to public protests and caused dissension within her party. Thatcher initially pressed on for party leadership inbut eventually yielded to pressure from party members and announced her intentions to resign on November 22, In a statement, she said, "Having consulted widely among colleagues, I have concluded that the unity of the Party and the prospects of victory in a General Election would be better served if I stood down to enable Cabinet colleagues to enter the ballot for the leadership.

I should like to thank all those in Cabinet and outside who have given me such dedicated support. Not long after leaving office, Thatcher was appointed to the House of Lords, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, in She wrote about her experiences as a world leader and a pioneering woman in the field of politics in two books: The Downing Street Years and The Path to Power Inshe published the book Statecraftin which she offered her views on international politics.

Around this time, Thatcher suffered a series of small strokes. She then suffered a great personal loss inwhen her husband of more than 50 years, Denis, died. The following year, Thatcher had to say goodbye to an old friend and ally, Ronald Reagan. This article is part of a series about. Secretary of State for Education and Science. Third ministry re-election budget budget leadership election budget leadership election and resignation Bruges speech Poll tax Sermon on the Mound.

Birthplace in Grantham. Commemorative plaque [ 6 ]. Margaret and her elder sister were raised in the bottom of two flats on North Parade. Family and childhood — Oxford — Post-Oxford career — Member of Parliament — Education Secretary — Leader of the Opposition — See also: Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher. With President Ford in the Oval Office With the Shah in the Niavaran Complex Main article: Britain Awake.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom — Main article: Premiership of Margaret Thatcher. Further information: First Thatcher ministrysecond Thatcher ministryand third Thatcher ministry. See also: budget. With President Carter in the Oval Office, With President Reagan in the Oval Office, With President Bush in Aspen, Colorado Crisis in the South Atlantic.

Apartheid in South Africa. See also: Bruges speech. Challenges to leadership and resignation. Main articles: Conservative Party leadership election and Conservative Party leadership election. Return to backbenches — Post-Commons — Extract from The Downing Street Years. Thatcherp. Final years — In the US, Death and funeral Main article: Death and funeral of Margaret Thatcher.

Thatcher's coffin being carried up the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. Related movements. Main article: Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher. Titles, awards and honours. Main article: List of honours of Margaret Thatcher. Orders of chivalry. The Garter UK, Good Hope RSA Merit UK, Saint John UK, Shown are the ribbons for each order bestowed on Thatcher.

The Downing Street Years. ISBN The Path to Power. Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World. Harper Perennial. Not the timbre so much as, well, the tone — the condescending explanatory whine which treats the squirming interlocutor as an eight-year-old child with personality deficiencies. It has been fascinating, recently, to watch her striving to eliminate this.

She was saying that she wouldn't dream of seeking the leadership. She sounded like a cat sliding down a blackboard. But the chemistry between them worked. Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously; she agreed with him about the importance of creating wealth, cutting taxes, and building up stronger defences against Soviet Russia; and both believed in liberty and free-market freedom, and in the need to outface what Reagan would later call 'the evil empire'.

Because they are here, they are subject to terrorist attack. It is inconceivable that they should be refused the right to use American aircraft and American pilots in the inherent right of self-defence, to defend their own people. In this she was less radical than her critics or some of her admirers supposed. Her concern was to focus more on abuse of the system, on bureaucracy and union militancy, and on the growth of what later came to be called the dependency culture, rather than on the system itself.

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Margaret thatcher full biography of kirstie

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