The life and death of Margaret Thatcher

[Storyteller.]

The life and death of Margaret Thatcher
By Adam (Rachael98)

On the 8th of April 2013, Margaret Thatcher died from a stroke in her suite at the Ritz. Baroness Thatcher was the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from May 1979 until November 1990. During her long period in power, she made many controversial changes, many of which still incite powerful feelings today. She worked her way through the ranks to get the very top of the political ladder throughout her life. Whatever anyone's feelings on "The Iron Lady" she had a massive impact upon Britain and the World.

Young Life
Margaret Thatcher was born as Margaret Roberts on 13th October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, to a family who strongly promoted hard work and achievement. Her father owned a grocery shop, and was heavily involved in local politics. At school, Margaret demonstrated how much the attitude of hard work and achievement that her family had brought her up with influenced her. She achieved highly throughout her school years and took part in many varied extracurricular activities. She graduated from Oxford in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry; this was felt by her to be one of her most important achievements. At university, she was the president of the Oxford University Conservative Association - an organisation made up of Oxford Undergraduates who were right-wing supporters affiliated with the main Conservative Party.

Denis Thatcher
At age 25, Margaret Roberts met Denis Thatcher. Two years later, the millionaire married Margaret Roberts. He funded her studies to become a barrister, and she qualified in 1953. The couple also had twin children in 1953, Carol and Mark. They lived together until Denis' death in the summer of 2003. Thatcher was devastated at the loss of her closest friend who had supported her for many years.

Rise to Power
Margaret Thatcher was the Conservative, or right-wing, candidate in Dartford; the seat was held by the other big party, Labour, with a majority of well over 6,000 votes. However, during her time in Dartford, she reduced the majority to only around 1,000 votes. She eventually was elected in 1959, for Finchley.

Her party lost in 1964, but she become spokeswoman for "Housing and Land". Here, she spoke about one of her most famous contributions to Britain: the introduction of "council houses". These are houses owned by the local authority, which those unable to afford their own housing could rent. The introduction of council houses - which remain a large part of Britain's housing today - meant that for the first time, people had far more independence in their living arrangements. Young couples would be able to move in to their own house after they got married, and raise their family there. Thatcher voted to legalise male homosexuality and abortion - she was one of very few to do so. For many years, Thatcher had been noted as a possible future Prime Minister, though she was only introduced to the Cabinet in 1970.

Education Secretary
Although having supported reintroduction of the birch (beating children) as an MP, Margaret Thatcher caused most controversy by removing free milk in schools as a method of reducing spending. Although it has since been found that she was pressured into doing so heavily by the Treasury, she is still sometimes remembered as "Maggie Thatcher, Milk Snatcher".

Opposition and Prime Minister
After the Labour party defeated the Conservatives, its leader Ted Heath's power was questioned. Margaret Thatcher became Leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, after Heath resigned and she beat William Whitelaw. She advocated lower taxes to stimulate business. After heavily criticising the USSR, she was branded "The Iron Lady" - this term is probably how she is best known today. After very damaging campaigns by the Conservatives, and strikes across the country, Labour lost power in 1979 and Margaret Thatcher became the first ever female Prime Minister.

Economy
Although at the beginning of her time in power, Thatcher's economic policies did not seem to work well, she stuck to her plan and it paid off. By the late 1980s, the British economy was doing well. However, in the most controversial move during her time as Prime Minister, she introduced a "Community Charge", now known better as "Poll Tax". This is what many of her critics cite as one of their main reasons for disliking her legacy. A huge demonstration in London was held over Poll Tax, though this led to rioting and over 100 people injured.

Margaret Thatcher disliked the power that Trade Unions, or bodies of workers, had, and set about making laws to reduce their influence. Miners' strikes caused problems for the economy, but Margaret Thatcher had prepared for this and eventually succeeded in reducing unions' power. Margaret Thatcher also privatised many industries, or relinquishing government control and opening it up to private businesses, to make industries competitive; this created many millions of pounds extra profit, and boosted the economy massively.

International Relationships
Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister during the Falklands Conflict in which the United Kingdom regained the Falklands from Argentina - this has been heavily debated as well. She proved herself as a true leader of her country, providing strong words of encouragement to Britain, and then winning the conflict. Margaret Thatcher is also famous for her "Iron" stance on the IRA, or the Irish Republican Army (a terrorist organisation which was prevalent in the UK mostly during the late 20th century, though still exists today), and terrorism in Northern Ireland despite the fact that she was almost blown up in a terrorist plot focused on her assassination[. She very bluntly refused most of the requests from the IRA and was not politically fazed by their attempts to murder her.

Thatcher was also heavily involved in the ending of the Cold War. Acting as a middle party, she successfully used her diplomatic status to bring the tension between the USA and Russia down. She was very pro-USA defence relationships, influencing the UK and USA's strong relationships today greatly. However, she was heavily criticised for introducing Trident, Britain's Nuclear Missile program. Again, she did what she felt was right in this situation and Trident has been used up until the present day.

End of Political Career
Despite her massive contributions to Britain, which still influence the country today, there was growing discontent about many of her policies towards the end of the 1980s. Her career famously ended in tears as her Deputy Prime Minister delivered a fatal resignation speech, her Cabinet turned on her and Michael Heseltine challenged her for the leadership of her party. Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street on the 14th November 1990 feeling betrayed by her party.

Health Problems and Death
After suffering from strokes in 2002, Margaret Thatcher withdrew from public speaking. Although she continued to attend some public events, it was revealed by her daughter in 2005 that she was suffering from Dementia. On 8th April 2013, it was announced that Baroness Thatcher had been found dead at the age of 87 in her Ritz Suite.

There were mixed reactions across Britain. Many people celebrated her as the best Prime Minister Britain had ever had, whilst others, particularly those affected by her Poll Tax, took to the streets of London to protest her legacy, and partied into the night. Many, including the usually impartial BBC, criticised the celebrations, calling them 'distasteful'. The song "Ding, Dong! The Witch is Dead!" from the Wizard of Oz rocketed to the top of the charts, as it was the quintessential protest song of her leadership.

Legacy
Much debate will be had on what Baroness Thatcher's legacy was, but most agree that she was a strong leader who did what she believed in, and should be admired as such, even by those who did not agree with her policies. To this day, "Thatcherism" is a common political term, and her actions have shaped the United Kingdom and international landscape massively.

Further Reading
Margaret Thatcher lead a long, interesting life and this article summarises only some of it. You can find out much more about her life using a few of these links, which we've compiled...
* BBC News Obituary (external link)
The BBC's full article on the death of Margaret Thatcher.
* TeenHelp's Current Events and Debates Thread
The reactions of TeenHelp members to her death in the Current Events forum.