X Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2018

The article is devoted to the 71^th Prime Minister of Great Britain; one of the outstanding personalities in the history of the Great Britain. She is a great politician, who has very seriously influenced the development of her country.

The path of Margaret Thatcher to power began in 1950 and ended in 1979, when she was electedof Prime Minister of Great Britain. Margaret Thatcher became the first and the only woman who held the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain. She earned the nickname ‘Iron Lady’ because of her leadership style and radical ideologies, which came to be known as ‘Thatcherism’.

In 1959, she was elected as MP for the seat of Finchley. Mrs Thatcher progressed through the ranks of the Conservative party to become education minister in Ed Heath’s government of the early 1970s. It was as education minister that Mrs Thatcher developed a rather crude nickname of “Maggie Thatcher – the milk snatcher”. This was due to her policy as education secretary to end free school milk. However, although she was tipped as a rising star in the Conservative party, even as a cabinet minister, Mrs Thatcher proclaimed that Britain would never have a female prime minister.

In 1975 Mrs Thatcher defeated Edward Heath and was elected leader of the Conservative Party, and she became leader of the Opposition. During the 1970s, Thatcher became acquainted with the ideological ideas of neo-conservative economists – influenced by figures such as Hayek and Friedman, they proposed less government, lower taxes and an end to Keynesian economics. This gave Thatcher a strong ideological stance, which she used to influence party policy.

Mrs Thatcher was elected Prime Minister in the Conservative landslide of 1979. First of all, as prime minister, Thatcher battled the country's recession by initially raising interest rates to control inflation. Certainly, she was best known for her destruction of Britain's traditional industries through her attacks on labor organizations such as the miner's union, and for the massive privatization of social housing and public transport. One of her staunchest allies was U.S. President Ronald Reagan, a fellow conservative. The two shared similar right-wing, pro-corporate political philosophies.

Thatcher faced a military challenge during her first term. In April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland islands. This British territory had long been a source of conflict between the two nations, as the islands are located off the coast of Argentina. Taking swift action, Thatcher sent British troops to the territory to retake the islands in what became known as the Falklands War. Argentina surrendered in June 1982.

In her second term, from 1983 to 1987, Thatcher handled a number of conflicts and crises, the most jarring of which may have been the assassination attempt against her in 1984. In a plot by the Irish Republic Army, she was meant to be killed by a bomb planted at the Conservative Conference in Brighton in October. Undaunted and unharmed, Thatcher insisted that the conference continue, and gave a speech the following day.

As for foreign policy, Thatcher met with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, in 1984. Then, she signed an agreement with the Chinese government regarding the future of Hong Kong. Publicly, Thatcher voiced her support for Ronald Reagan's air raids on Libya in 1986 and allowed U.S. forces to use British bases to help carry out the attack.

Returning for a third term in 1987, Thatcher sought to implement a standard educational curriculum across the nation and make changes to the country's socialized medical system. Nevertheless, she lost a lot of support due to her efforts to implement a fixed rate local tax—labeled a poll tax by many since she sought to disenfranchise those who did not pay it. Actually, this policy led to public protests and caused dissention within her party.

Thatcher initially pressed on for party leadership in 1990, but eventually yielded to pressure from party members and announced her intentions to resign on November 22, 1990.

Not long after leaving office, Thatcher was appointed to the House of Lords, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, in 1992. She wrote about her experiences as a world leader and a pioneering woman in the field of politics in two books: The Downing Street Years (1993) and The Path to Power (1995). In 2002, she published the book Statecraft, in which she offered her views on international politics.

Around this time, Thatcher suffered a series of small strokes. She then suffered a great personal loss in 2003, when her husband of more than 50 years, Denis, died. The following year, Thatcher had to say goodbye to an old friend and ally, Ronald Reagan. In fragile health, Thatcher gave a eulogy at his funeral via video link, praising Reagan as a man who "sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism."

In 2005, Thatcher celebrated her 80th birthday. A huge event was held in her honor and was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair and nearly 600 other friends, family members and former colleagues. Two years later, a sculpture of the strong conservative leader was unveiled in the House of Commons.

Margaret Thatcher's health made headlines in 2010, when she missed a celebration at 10 Downing Street, held in honor of her 85th birthday by David Cameron. Later, in November 2010, Thatcher spent two weeks in the hospital for a condition that was later revealed to cause painful muscle inflammation. In 2011, she sat out such a number of major events, including the wedding of Prince William in April. The closure has been seen by some to mark the end of her public life.

Battling memory problems in her later years due to her strokes, Thatcher retreated from the spotlight, living in near seclusion at her home in London's Belgravia neighborhood. Margaret Thatcher died on April 8, 2013, at the age of 87.

Margaret Thatcher is certainly an outstanding fig­ure in Britain'spolitical life. She was elected for three terms successively as a Prime Minister, serving for 11 years, longer than any other British prime minister of the 20th century. She brought long-needed changes to British government and society. When Margaret Thatcher came to power, she decided to change everything abruptly. Those who were ready to follow her were offered new opportunities and optimism. Margaret Thatcher managed to revive the authority of the United Kingdom and ensure the superiority of forces in favor of conservatives.

References

Aitken J. Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality, 2013.

Campbell J., Freeman D. The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, From Grocer's Daughter to Prime Minister, 2011.

Margaret Thatcher - URL: https://uznayvse.ru/znamenitosti/biografiya-margaret-tetcher.html.

Margaret Thatcher Biography.com – URL: https://www.biography.com/people/margaret-thatcher-9504796.

Ogden С. Maggie: An Intimate Portrait of a Woman in Power, 1992.

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