Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and is often regarded as a highly controversial and polarising figure in British history. Although many consider her to be the most successful post-war prime minister, there is also a large proportion of people who disliked her uncompromising style of leadership, some labelling it as cruel and heartless.
Nicknamed the ‘Iron Lady’, many praise her courage, spirit and determination to change things in Britain. Thatcher had an unfaltering belief in free market capitalism, which is a type of society operating on the principles of supply and demand in which prices are set and goods are bought and sold based on the demand of the people. The prices being set for the sole purpose of profit. She condemned socialism and is known for her role in the downfall of communism.
These views and strict methods allowed her to initiate privatisation. She saw it as ‘fundamental to improving Britain’s economic performance’ and it harmonised with her political ideology. At first, her government were cautious about privatisation and didn’t have strict plans to pursue it, but after some early successes, they generated momentum for further reforms. One of these was the Right to Buy law which allowed people living in Council houses to purchase these houses. This has helped reduce the number of British households living in council houses from 31% in 1981 to 7% today. She oversaw the sale and privatisation of over 50 major businesses. In response to Thatcher’s success with privatisation, the idea swept through many other nations in Europe, having a huge positive effect on the British and global economies. It spurred economic growth and improved living conditions as it gave an incentive for businesses to be run efficiently and therefore achieve improvements in the economy. These successes help perpetuate the view of Thatcher being an extremely successful post-war prime minister.
Another of Thatcher’s tightly held beliefs was that the trade unions were harmful to both ordinary trade unionists and the public. She was committed to reducing the power of the unions, whose leadership she accused of undermining parliamentary democracy and economic performance through strike action. Her eventual abolishment of trade unions was, to many British people, a devastating move. However, others saw it as necessary and that something had to change in the way trade unions were run. For example, in the 1970s, Britain was facing a high inflation problem and the governments methods to prevent this ended up increasing tensions with the UK's miners’ unions who argued that wage rises were not keeping pace with price rises. The national union of miner’s encouraged their workers not to do any more than the basic requirement of their jobs, leading the UK's fuel supplies dwindling. Thatcher won the election in 1979 and during her time in power, the battle with the unions continued, notably during the miners’ strike in 1984-5.
Although Thatcher’s battle with the trade unions was beneficial to the economy in some ways, there were also many disadvantages to her methods, including the miners’ strike which caused a lack of fuels, and loss of money in Britain, and extreme detriment to the workers who relied on trade unions and were benefitted by them. In some ways, her actions against trade unions were beneficial and would signify her success, however there were significant downsides as well, lessening the image of her as a successful prime minister.
Thatcher was the first ever female prime minister, and due to this, many people credit her for women being more likely to be able to rise to the top. By normalising female success in in a time where women had rarely been given the opportunity to be in power, she showed that women are equally as capable of leadership through her bold methods and decisiveness. However, despite this idea that she helped women, many argue that in reality she had no interest in social inequality, never advocating for equal pay or any feminist ideas. Although having a female prime minister was a major step forward for women, some still find it hard to pinpoint her as a feminist icon due to her blatant lack of care for issues involving women and social equality. In fact, she has been described as a ‘man dressed up in a suit skirt.’ One example of why some view her this way was her voting against the relaxation of divorce laws. Although the bill still passed, the fact she was against it does not sit well with many. In some ways the fact she was a woman in power could increase her being viewed as successful, however her actions, or lack of, show that in reality, she could’ve done so much more in the position she was in, which leads to some viewing her as less successful.
One major success of Thatcher’s was her pivotal role of ending the cold war. When she came to power in 1979, it was widely believed that the cold war couldn’t be won, however, due to her relationships with important figures, she ended up having a significant role in ending it. Thatcher had a good relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev and US president Ronald Reagan. Thatcher was anti-communist, and she and Gorbachev had both firmly believed in their respective nations political systems and weren’t going to change, however, their personal relations became increasingly friendly. According to Gorbachev, this, along with her status as President Ronald Reagans favourite foreign leader, helped enable them to achieve mutual understanding and contributed towards a change in the atmosphere between the countries and eventually to the end of the cold war.
However, despite her various successes, Margaret Thatcher’s policies were not always positive for everyone. She was known for social inequalities and mistreatment of the working class. The least well-off people were hit particularly badly, ending up with proportionally less income, and housing. In 1979, the post-tax income of the top 10% of the population was five times that of the bottom 10%, however, by 1997, after the conservative rule, this had doubled to ten times as much. Pensioners were particularly badly hit, with the proportion living below the poverty line rising from 13% to 43%, and child poverty more than doubled. When Thatcher introduced the Poll Tax, this meant that these people who were less well-off would not even be able to afford the ability to vote in an election. This caused many riots and rebellion, as well as administrative problems for local government. The poll tax was a huge miscalculation and clear example of her insensitivity. Although she is praised for the ‘Right to Buy’ bill, she initially had been opposed to this idea. The way she saw it, it would be unfair to those who had saved money to finance their own houses. This idea showcases her lack of care and understanding for those in less fortunate positions.
Despite the fact that her policies on inflation were not meant to cause harm to workers, they caused mass unemployment. By 1983, unemployment had risen above three million. It hit Northern Ireland particularly hard, where one in five people were out of work in this time, along with the industrial areas of northern England and Scotland. An economic boom later in the decade helped to bring unemployment down, but this was still a slow process. However, despite the clear figures, Thatcher insisted that they were going about it the right way, and that the unemployment figures rising were necessary for overall economic growth. Again, this shows her lack of care for the people in Britain and their welfare. However, around this time, she did increase youth opportunities by 25%, so more youth were coming out employed than used to be, however when compared to the overall number of people unemployed, the difference this made was relatively small.
Thatcher was also known for her implementation of Section 28, a clause which banned local authorities and schools from promoting homosexuality. This meant that councils were prohibited from funding books, plays, leaflets, films and other materials showing same sex relationships. Along with this, teachers were no longer allowed to educate people on this matter in schools. This clause was incredibly detrimental to young children who ended up being raised and educated in a way that was sheltered from LGBT people. This would lead to a lack of understanding and therefore upholding the prejudice and discrimination already in society. Again, this shows the social inequality rife during Thatcher’s leadership. All these examples of detriment to so many people in society illustrate how although she was a successful prime minister, that doesn’t mean she was a good one.
Some would argue that Margaret Thatcher was, in fact, the most successful prime minister. Although she had many faults, she left her mark on the nation. However, others have argued that the most successful post war prime minister was actually Clement Attlee, who was prime minister from 1945-1951. It was said that as opposed to Churchills inconclusively, Attlee was able to quickly make crisp, clear decisions during meetings. Although there was often a struggle with a weak balance of payments under his government, Attlee proceeded with a strict program of nationalisation, including the nationalisation of coal, electricity, gas and railways. A highlight of his time in power were the social reforms, such as the creation of the National Health Service. Overall, Attlee’s government was successful in many ways and laid foundations for the future of Britain.
In conclusion, its hard to say definitively whether Thatcher was the most successful post-war prime minister, primarily due to her polarising nature and controversial image. It is undeniable that she did a lot for the country, especially in terms of the economy, and took significant action in any way she thought was necessary. However, she did have her downfalls, especially in managing the people. The fact that there were also other prime ministers that did great things and made significant change, such as Attlee, furthers the difficulty in ranking her as the most successful, however, it is indisputable that Margaret Thatcher could be identified as extremely successful and one of the most successful post-war prime ministers.
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