The Iron Lady of British politics, Margaret Thatcher was the longest continuously serving prime British prime minister since 1827. [1]
On 13th December, 1951 she married Denis Thatcher, a successful businessman. [2] Her marriage enabled her to finish her studies for the bar [to become a lawyer] and devote herself to politics. [3] In October 1970 she created great controversy by bringing an end to free school milk for children over seven and increasing school meal charges. [4]
| Newspaper headline: TORY LEADERSHIP IS WON DECISIVELY BY MRS. THATCHER; 4 Male Opponents Beaten [5] |
On February 4, 1975 Thatcher defeated Edward Heath by 130 votes to 119 and became the first woman leader of a major political party. Heath took the defeat badly and refused to serve in Thatcher's shadow cabinet. [6]
Some of Mrs. Thatcher's support undoubtedly came from disgruntled backbench M.P.s who felt that their talent had gone unrecognized and untapped by Heath. As the notoriously hardheaded Mrs. Thatcher put it, "I'll always be fond of dear Ted, but there's no sympathy in politics." [7]
She was sarcastically called the "Iron Lady" by the Soviet press, but she chose to adopt the title, believing it illustrated her resolve and strength in the face of adversaries, as well as adversity. [8]
[Her] twin children, Carol and Mark, were born in 1953. Denis was an oil company executive; he died in 2003... Mark Thatcher was arrested at his South African home in 2004 on a charge of financing an attempted coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. [9]
[1] Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Margaret Thatcher." About.com: Women's History, 2008. <http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_margaret_thatcher.htm> (Accessed on February 10, 2009.)
[2] Simkin, John. "Margaret Thatcher." Spartacus Educational <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDthatcher.htm> (Accessed on February 10, 2009.)
[3] "Margaret Thatcher: British Prime Minister." Cold War Knowledge Bank: Profiles, CNN.com. <http://web.archive.org/web/20080214200239/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/
profiles/thatcher/> (Accessed on February 10, 2009.)
[4] Simkin, “Margaret Thatcher.”
[5] Eder, Richard. "Tory Leadership is Won Decisively by Mrs. Thatcher." The New York Times, February 12, 1975. <http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F13F83C5A157B93C0A81789D85F418785F9>
[6] "No Time for Post-Mortems." Time, February 17, 1975. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912866,00.html>
[7] Ibid.
[8] “Margaret Thatcher: British Prime Minister.”
[9] "Margaret Thatcher." Answers.com. <http://www.answers.com/topic/margaret-thatcher> (Accessed on February 10, 2009.)
