Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

By: Nicolette Nadj

Class SPKS3, Marks Gymnasieskola

Finish date: 11 February 2010

Tutor: Frida Blank

Abstract

Margaret Thatcher were Great Britain's first female Prime Minister, but she is also remembered for reshaping almost every aspect of Britain's politics; reforming institutions, the economy,  and the foreign politics. The aim of this paper is to give a summary of her political achievements. My questions, which I am focusing on throughout the paper, is why did Margaret Thatcher find it necessary to start the Falklands war and how did she manage to renew her politics throughout three terms? I found that Margaret Thatcher was a very controversial politician, but she were also very true to her ideology and to her beliefs, therefore the people trusted her and reelected her.

Contents

1.0 Introduction 4

Introduction 1.1: Background 4

    Introduction 1.2: Aim.......................................................................................................................................4

Introduction 1.3:Method.................................................................................................................................4

  Introduction 1.4: Sources................................................................................................................................4

2.1 Results 5

3.1 Discussion 7

4.1 Conclusion 8

5.1 References......................................................................................................................................................9

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

Margaret Thatcher seems to me a very interesting woman. She was nicknamed "The Iron Lady", she more or less started the Falklands war, and she sold of some of the states assets and lots of other things that still can be noticed in the United Kingdom.  Whether you love her or hate her you have to have an opinion of her. I have not got one, maybe it is not that strange since I were not  even born when she forced to step down from the post as Prime Minister in 1990, but I hope that this paper will change that.   

1.2 Aim

My aim with this paper is to get clarity in Margaret Thatcher's political life. I have little knowledge what she   accomplished and I am very curious to find out. This paper will focus on her political life, not her personal, therefore it will have very little information about her childhood, marriage etc. My questions are:

•       I.            Why did she find it necessary to start a war against Argentina?

•    II.            How did she manage to renew her politics and keep the post as Prime Minister as long as three terms?

1.3 Method

The method I have used writing this paper is search information about Margaret Thatcher in encyclopedias and on the Internet.

1.4 Sources

The encyclopedia I have been using are The New Encyclopedia Britannica. The websites that have been shown to be most useful and trustable is Margaret Thatcher's personal website (www.margaretthatcher.org) and BBC's website (www.bbc.co.uk).  I have also used the Swedish edition of Wikipedia, because it had accurate and helpful information about the Falklands war. All of my sources have been very helpful. However, in my opinion, the biography of Margaret Thatcher on her official website is a bit angled to her advance. But this website also had the most information. I used the website a lot as a source, but I have tried to make my text a little bit more neutral, not as angled.

2.1 Results

Margaret Hilda Roberts (later Thatcher) was born on October 13 1925 in Grantham, England. She was brought up in a home where politics were a daily element; her father was a local councilor and often talked about his experiences with Margaret.

She was elected president of the student Conservative Association at Oxford and made herself known to the leadership of her party. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010) In 1950 she ran as the Conservative candidate at the General Elections and became the youngest woman to candidate in the country. She lost, and so did she unfortunately when she ran again the next year. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher was elected as Member of Parliament for the north London consciously Finchley. She continued representing Finchley until she was made a member of the House of Lords in 1992. (Goetz, Philip W. [editor], 1990, p. 157)

Between 1964 and 1970 she established her place among the senior figures in the party. Her first parliamentary post was junior minister for pensions in Harold Macmillan's government. (BBC's official website, updated 2010) When the conservatives under the premiership of Edward Heat once again returned to office Margaret Thatcher were appointed as Education Minister. But she had a hard time; the students in England tried to make revolt, protesters disrupted her speeches and she was heckled in the opposition press. Many of Margret Thatcher's fellow Conservatives found the situation uncomfortable but somehow she mastered the job and the riots were settling down. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010)

At this time the whole government was taking punches and was criticized for disappointing and not keeping its promises. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010) This, combined with the lost of a second General Election in October 1974, made many Conservatives wanting a new approach. Margaret Thatcher took the chance and ran again Edward Heath for the leadership. To the surprise of many, in February 1975 she defeated him and therefore became the first woman ever to lead a Western political party and to serve as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. At this time, the Labours led the country, but they were hardly criticized. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010)   The country went bankrupt in 1976 and in the winter of 1978/79 an epidemic of strikes fled over the country. Public majority swung against The Labours. In May 1979 the Conservatives won a Parliamentary majority of 43 at the General Election. The following day Margaret Thatcher could call herself Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Her first term went smoothly without any big crises, until 1982. In April that year, the Argentinean Junta invaded the Falklands and claimed that the islands should be under Argentinean rule instead of English. Margaret Thatcher did not put up with this and started a war about the matter. She worked with the US administration to try to work out a diplomatic solution and a British military Task Force was dispatched to retake the islands. Unfortunately diplomacy failed, but military action was successful and the Falklands were back under British control in June. The success in the war made Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives very popular and "the Falkland factor" is in general opinion what made the government re-elected in June 1983.  (Wikipedia's Swedish edition, updated 11 Feb 2010)

In October 1984 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) attempted to murder Margaret Thatcher and many of her fellow Conservatives by bombing the hotel were the party's annual conference were held. Margaret Thatcher remained unhurt but colleagues close to her were injured and dead. No twentieth-century British Prime Minister ever came closer to assassination. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010) She aroused IRA's hatred because of her refusal to meet their political demands.

The Thatcher Government pursued with their job ruling The United Kingdom and started to sale off state assets trough offering shares to the public with generous terms for small investors. The Government also encouraged people to save trough the stock market, to buy their own homes and to make private pension provision. These things have greatly increased the personal wealth of the British Population. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010)  

In January 1986 the Defense Minister, Michael Heseltine, suddenly resigned. As he resigned, the enduring divisions between left and right in the Thatcher Cabinet were publicly exposed. His resignation was based on the business troubles of the British helicopter manufacturer, Westland. The "Westland Affair" challenged Margaret Thatcher's leadership; some of the government thought that she maybe had gone on too long and that she was tired. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010) She also got lots of criticism when she in April the same year allowed US warplanes to fly from British bases to attack targets in Libya. Her response to all this was typical for her; she looked forward for a third Thatcher Government and had a bunch of reforms she wanted to launch. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010)  The government returned with a Parliamentary majority in June 1987.

As soon as Margaret Thatcher had become Conservative leader in 1975 she had a tough line against Soviet in speeches. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010) For this the Soviets dubbed her "The Iron Lady". During the 1980s she supported Reagan's defense policies. She played a constructive part in the diplomacy that smoothed the break-up of the Soviet Empire and the Soviet Union itself. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010)

In November 1990 Sir Geoffrey Howe, Margaret Thatcher's longest serving Cabinet minister, resigned and in his resign speech he challenged Margaret Thatcher's leadership of her party by Michael Heseltine. The background for this challenge was her controversial politics which divided the Conservative Party. (BBC's official website, updated 2010) The things that not everybody approved of were e.g. the poll tax and her opposition to any closer integration with Europe. (BBC's official website, updated 2010) She won a majority of the votes in the ballot that followed, yet under party rules the margin was insufficient. A second ballot was required. But many of her colleagues doubted that she could win a fourth General Election and unexpectedly deserted her leadership, leaving her no other choice but to withdraw. Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister on November 28 1990. John Major succeeded her and served in the post until The Labours won the General Election in May 1997. (Margaret Thatcher's official website, updated 2010)

After 1990 Margaret Thatcher remained a potent political figure. She wrote two memoirs, both of them became best-sellers, and a book of reflections on international politics. In March 2002 she announced an end to her career in public speaking after having several small strokes.

3.1 Discussion

The Margaret Thatcher-era seems without a doubt to be one of the most interesting ones in Great Britain's history. It seems to me like she accomplished a lot which is still noticeable in Great Britain, and that is impressing for a people that ruled the country only for little over eleven years, which maybe is a long time for a politician but a short time in the history of a country.

There is many people that is criticizing her, especially for the Falklands war, but I think that these people are ignorant. If Margaret Thatcher were such a bad Prime Minister, why did she then get reelected three times? She had to do something right. And regarding the Falklands war I think she did the right thing starting a war. The population on the islands is English since generations back, they have no interest in being Argentinean citizens. Also, the Argentinean Junta was a fascistic group and those should always be met with resistance. It is mostly afterwards that she have gotten critic for how she handled the crisis, back in 1982 she got praise and were more or less reelected for it. If she had ignored what was happening in the Falklands and let the Argentinean Junta win the war she would have got critics for that to.

I like her conviction not to negotiate with terrorists; she showed that not only in the Falklands war but also how she handed the IRA and the Soviet Union.

In the introduction I wrote that I wanted to get an opinion of Margaret Thatcher and I can proudly say that I got one. I like her. I think she did a god job as Prime Minister, I like her ideology and I fully support her decision to sell out state assets. She maybe was not the perfect politician (but who is?) and she did a few mistakes but her accomplishments fully overshadow her mistakes. The massive criticism against Margaret Thatcher is fully unnecessary.

4.1 Conclusion

As I have been writing several times; Margaret Thatcher were, and is, a controversial politician who performed when she had to. That is the picture I have got from writing this paper.

I had two questions about her and I am satisfied with the answers that I got doing this paper. I have answered them in the text but I shall also write direct answers too them.

On of the most memorable things Margaret Thatcher did during her eleven years as Prime Minister was starting the Falklands war. She did this because the Falklands, which are a group of islands under British rule outside of the Argentinean coast, were invaded by an Argentinean fasci...