Margaret Thatcher is the only female and the longest serving British Prime Minister in history. By the time she was elected Prime Minister in 1979, the Queen of England had little power, and most of that power was funneled through the Prime Minister. Thus, Margaret Thatcher held much of the power in the United Kingdom. She was an extraordinary woman who held a lot of power, and this post will look at her life, work, and legacy.
Margaret Thatcher grew up relatively normally. She had liberal leaning independent parents. She got a good education that eventually led to her becoming a chemist. She worked for BX Plastics, and upon getting a base in Conservative politics from reading material at Oxford, joined the local Conservative Association. She eventually rised through the ranks until she became the chair of the Dartford Conservative Association. She ran for office in 1950 and 1951, but she lost. She was supported in this by her parents and her husband. Her husband, who was wealthy, also funded her studies to pass the bar. In 1953, she qualified as a barrister.
She won a Conservative seat in Parliament. From there, she just went up and up in Parliament. Eventually she became the Education Secretary from 1970-1974. She then went on to become the leader of the opposition to the Labour Party. SHe finally beat the Labour Party when she was elected as Prime Minister in 1979.
As Prime Minister, Thatcher pursued Conservative policies. She lowered direct taxes while increasing indirect taxes. She also cut government spending in many key areas. She lowered unemployment. While all this was true, the recession of the early 1980's caused Thatcher to raise taxes. Under her, the UK's economy became revitalized. She curbed trade unions and re-established the UK as a world power. She was not afraid of argument, and a Russian called her "The Iron Lady" because she always stuck to her resolve.
She was a successful Prime Minister, and she was one of the most popular. Critics claim that she was divisive, and they claim that she was responsible for ending many programs that people claim were necessary for the UK. Thatcher has since said that she has no regrets, and these programs were all unnecessary drains on the economy. Overall, the UK was in an improved position after her time as Prime Minister.
This ends our look at European History with 20 Posts. All these women are vitally important to history. They should not be forgotten simply because of their sex.
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