One of Mrs Thatcher's key supporters, John - now Lord - Wakeham, reveals for the first time that it was he who told her to meet the cabinet one-on-one, something which allowed them to tell her the truth - that they did not think she could win the second ballot.
She ought to know where she stood. I made her know what the situation was and she then decided what she wanted to do. Many of Mrs Thatcher's supporters believe that this was bad advice and that if she had been given the chance to rally the support of her cabinet collectively, she could have survived. But instead she gave ministers the opportunity to tell her that she was losing support without facing the peer pressure of more loyal colleagues.
If she had fought on, the then-Chancellor John Major and Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd would not have thrown their hats into the ring and she would have gone head-to-head with Michael Heseltine once again. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, who was then Mrs Thatcher's political secretary, says the leader believed she could have won the second ballot but it would have come at too high a cost.
Michael, now Lord, Heseltine reveals that after losing the first ballot, it never crossed his mind that he could stand aside - but he now admits he should have considered the option. It was a year or so later that someone pointed out the option of saying 'I am not interested in winning on a technicality, I accept the verdict'. It did not occur to us to think of it. We should have done but didn't. I always believed I would be back. I never thought my political career was over, but I would not have created quite such animosity in the party.
Lord Heseltine says that if Mrs Thatcher had decided to fight on, he might have beaten her: "It is possible I would have won, but not certain. But I do know that when I heard that she was not going on, I knew there was no chance of me winning. Ken Clarke reveals that Mrs Thatcher tried to win his support by promising to stand down as prime minister before the election.
But during their one-on-one conversation, she insisted she could not go yet. There was no one else. She would go, she assured me. Thatcher soon proved herself wrong. While the Conservative Party lost power in , Thatcher became a dominant force in her political party. She was elected leader of the Conservative Party in , beating out Heath for the position.
With this victory, Thatcher became the first woman to serve as the opposition leader in the House of Commons. England was in a time of economic and political turmoil, with the government nearly bankrupt, unemployment on the rise and conflicts with labor unions. This instability helped return Conservatives to power in As party leader, Thatcher made history in May , when she was appointed Britain's first female prime minister.
As prime minister, Thatcher battled the country's recession by initially raising interest rates to control inflation.
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. 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 , 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 In her second term, from to , Thatcher handled a number of conflicts and crises, the most jarring of which may have been the assassination attempt against her in 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 That same year, she signed an agreement with the Chinese government regarding the future of Hong Kong.
Publicly, Thatcher voiced her support for Reagan's air raids on Libya in and allowed U. Returning for a third term in , Thatcher sought to implement a standard educational curriculum across the nation and make changes to the country's socialized medical system. However, 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. Hugely unpopular, this policy led to public protests and caused dissension within her party.
Thatcher initially pressed on for party leadership in , but eventually yielded to pressure from party members and announced her intentions to resign on November 22, In a statement, she said, "Having consulted widely among colleagues, I have concluded that the unity of the Party and the prospects of victory in a General Election would be better served if I stood down to enable Cabinet colleagues to enter the ballot for the leadership.
I should like to thank all those in Cabinet and outside who have given me such dedicated support. Not long after leaving office, Thatcher was appointed to the House of Lords, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, in 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 and The Path to Power Some assumed that Thatcher would, in due course, be deposed by the patrician men who still controlled her party.
Many talked as though there was something incongruous about the mere idea of a woman party leader. Many of the jokes about Thatcher were nastier and less amusing. At the time, though, it was far from clear how far Thatcher would be able, or would wish, to deliver on the promises of some of her radical supporters. In the short term, the most striking thing about the new party leader was simply her sex and the way in which she presented herself in this domain was a portent of her remarkable ability to make those who dealt with her from both sides of any debate feel uncomfortable.
Professor Richard Vinen specialises in twentieth century history and is the author of Thatcher's Britain. December will mark the Anniversary of the fall of Margaret Thatcher, coinciding with the end of the post-Brexit transition period. Browser does not support script. News Centre.
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