On May 4th, 1979, Margaret Thatcher was appointed
as the first woman PM in British History. She's already been in
Parliament for twenty years, having first been elected in 1959, and had been a
force in the party for ten. In the early 70s, she was secretary for
education and science, becoming famous as "Thatcher, milk snatcher,” after her
abolition of the universal free school milk scheme. This
approach to government would be the hallmark of her time as PM.
She would lead the conservative resurgence in the
west, becoming a close ally to Ronald Reagan. She would also be the first
leader in the west who would regard Mikhail Gorbachev someone they could work with. She would also perfect the "conservative as
victim" attitude so common with her brethren on the right here in the
states, as seen in statements like, "If my critics saw me walking
over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim."
Thatcher presided over 10 years of conservative rule with all the policies that we've seen here with Reagan and those that have followed: lower taxes (especially on the wealthy), attacks on unions, the dismantling of social programs, etc. Her legacy lives on...
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