Home » Topics » World Leaders » Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was born as Margaret Hilda Roberts on October 13, 1925 in the small English town of Grantham, Lincolnshire. She was the daughter of Beatrice Roberts and local grocer Alfred Roberts. As a Methodist family, the Roberts led a very conservative lifestyle but still participated in local gatherings and social work.
Margaret Roberts attended the local Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School where she excelled in chemistry, which won her the opportunity to further her studies in chemistry at the Somerville College of Oxford University. She studied at Oxford from 1943 to 1947 under the tutelage of Nobel prizewinner Dorothy Dodgkin. Despite her excellent aptitude for chemistry, she constantly leaned towards favoring politics as her biggest passion in life. During her academic years, she became the student president of the Conservative Association. She utilized this position to build contacts with numerous public personalities and rise within the framework of British politics.
Margaret Roberts ran for the Dartford Labour seat during the 1950 and 1951 General Elections. Although she lost both of the elections, she gained nationwide recognition as being the youngest female candidate to participate. Her speeches were confident and assertive, and she had a certain charm when it came to gathering people around her and addressing them with her views as well as responding effectively towards public concerns. During this early growth in her political career she also met her future husband in Dartford, successful businessman Denis Thatcher, and hence changed her name to Margaret Thatcher.
Margaret Thatcher was elected as a member of the Parliament for Finchley in 1959. She advanced to the position of Education Minister in 1970 after the Conservatives won the election, although she struggled to maintain her role as a leader of the education system as students frequently protested during her speeches demanding for educational reform. Nevertheless, she learned from the experience and developed a thick skin towards criticism.
During the late 1970's, Margaret Thatcher's political career underwent various turbulences due to the Labour Government having to face several challenging issues. Britain was undergoing an economical collapse with huge drops in the value of the British pound. The country was sinking deeper into debt as it took loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Although much of the nation was in dismay, the Labour Government tried to keep hopes high by presenting new budget plans that would help cut down on costs for running the country. However, this led to further public unrest as trade unions became frustrated by pay cuts and went on several strikes demanding better pay. As a result, the popularity of the Labour Government greatly decreased and in May of 1979, the Conservatives won the General Election. Since Margaret Thatcher had become a very interconnected member of the Conservative Party by this time, she was selected to become the Prime Minister and focus on Britain's troublesome internal affairs.
Margaret Thatcher and her colleagues promised to revive the economy of the United Kingdom. However, they made it clear that this would have to be done at a cost that almost everyone would have to bear. Thatcher played a vital role in reforming the taxation system by increasing indirect taxes in order to decrease direct taxes. Working with other members of the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher was able to monitor and control the rising inflation rate. She also made efforts to revive industrial growth in the United Kingdom. She also played a vital role in regaining British control over the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War, a challenging task that most other European politicians refrained from attempting. Winning the Falklands War enabled Margaret Thatcher to develop foreign policies that are more favorable for the British and prevent Britain from going into economic recession.
The Mirror (London, England); April 8, 2016
The Mirror (London, England); April 8, 2016
The Mirror (London, England); April 7, 2016
The Mirror (London, England); April 7, 2016
The Mirror (London, England); April 4, 2016
Daily Mail (London); August 14, 2007
The Washington Post; April 8, 2013
Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME); April 8, 2013
The Washington Post; April 9, 2013
The Washington Post; April 9, 2013
HighBeam Research is operated by Cengage Learning. © Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.
The HighBeam advertising network includes: womensforum.com GlamFamily
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
<a href="https://www.highbeam.com/topics/margaret-thatcher-t10771" title="Margaret Thatcher - Pictures, News and Articles - HighBeam Research">Margaret Thatcher - Pictures, News and Articles - HighBeam Research</a>
Your RSS feed has been created
If your RSS reader did not automatically grab the feed, you can copy and paste the URL below into your RSS reader.
http://services.highbeam.com/rss/HBR/Margaret+Thatcher?sort=dt&sortdir;=d