Margaret Thatcher
Britain since 1945
Margaret Thatcher came from Grantham in Lincolnshire, the daughter of a grocer, and trained as a chemist and a lawyer. In 1959, she was elected to Parliament as a Conservative MP.
When the Conservative Party won the general election, Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, the first woman ever to hold the job in the UK. She went on to serve longer than any other Prime Minister of the twentieth century, and her years in office brought a number of important economic reforms. John Major was Prime Minister after her, and he helped establish the Northern Ireland peace process.
Her time in Downing Street was tested early by a crisis far from home. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, a British territory in the South Atlantic. Britain sent a naval task force and recovered the islands. Thatcher also worked closely with the American President, Ronald Reagan, and was among the first Western leaders to welcome the changes in the Soviet Union's leadership, which in time led to the end of the Cold War.
What to remember
| Argentina invading the Falkland Islands | 1982 |
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| Margaret Thatcher becoming the first woman Prime Minister | 1979 Thatcher went on to become the UK's longest-serving 20th-century Prime Minister. |
| Margaret Thatcher first being elected as a Conservative MP | 1959 Cabinet minister from 1970, as Secretary of State for Education and Science. |
| Margaret Thatcher | Grantham in Lincolnshire The daughter of a grocer. |
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| Worked closely with the United States President, Ronald Reagan | Margaret Thatcher And was among the first Western leaders to welcome the changes in the Soviet Union that ended the Cold War. |
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| Became the first woman Prime Minister, in 1979 | Margaret Thatcher |
| Margaret Thatcher | John Major He helped establish the Northern Ireland peace process. |
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Everything in Britain since 1945or the whole course, from the beginning