Thatcher and Thatcherism Essay

But has the Conservative party actually abandoned Thatcherism? Considering the points displayed in this essay, I have come to the conclusion that Cameron’s ‘progressive’ party may not so adverse to Thatcherism at all. The most important issues over specific reforms raised by the current Conservative Government seem to be highly influenced by the ideas of Thatcher. What is essential to point out is that times have evolved since the Thatcher timeframe and the Conservatives have had to evolve along with these times and adapt their attitudes to gain support from the electorate who view the ‘Iron Lady’s’ concepts as out of date. As to any argument, there are two sides to the story; let us remember that Cameron’s Government has only had the chance

It is important to give a brief explanation as to what is meant by the term Thatcherism in British political discourse. Thatcherism according to Heffernan suggests that there are several contradictory explanations to the meaning of Thatcherism. He contends that Thatcherism could be explained via “a short hand description of what the Thatcher-led Conservative governments did at any one time” or similarly it could be explained as “ a popular political movement, a policy style; a form of leadership; or.an ideological project, a vehicle which advanced a post-social democratic neo-liberal political agenda‘ (Heffernan, 2001). The term Thatcherism is therefore an umbrella term that not only describes the Leader of the ruling

Margaret Thatcher was elected into office as the Conservative Party leader in 1979 in Britain. She replaced the Labour party’s James Callaghan, and ended the Labour party’s 5 year leadership. Thatcher was elected around the same time as her North American counterparts Ronald Raegan and Brian Mulroney who had similar conservative economic ideologies, which led to a change in global economy. She shrunk the public sector to favour privatized industry. She came into power seeking to reduce inflation, reduce the budget deficit, increase economic efficiency, increase home ownership, and reduce power of the trade unions. As will become evident, Thatcher’s controversial election changed western economics into a more capitalist market which led to great economic growth in the UK and other western countries, greater social inequality in Britain, and helped pave the way to power for women in the western world.

During her term in the office, Margaret transformed almost every facet of British politics, she revitalized the economy, rebuilding the outdated establishment, and electrifying the nation’s foreign policy. Margaret Thatcher challenge and did very much to topple the attitude of decline, which had become rooted in the nation. She strived for national recovery with great energy and assurance.

She stood her ground and believed she did not need to marry a man to rule a nation. If can do this then women today need to look to her and see that they can accomplish anything and do not need a man to do so. The interesting thing about this is that she had no idea of women’s rights at the time. According to the playwright Joanna Carrick who wrote the play “Progress” is quoted as saying “The idea of women’s rights and women being allowed to do all of the things that men can do just wouldn’t occur to her and yet as an individual she was that; she lived that (ideal).” She then goes on to talk about her intellegience and athletic ability.

As time went on, her followers grew. She was excellent at organizing and planning. Ultimately she had hundreds of volunteers that joined her in her quest for reform. The Queen admired Her work and she was one of the first women to speak in parliament. She spoke passionately on prison reform and human rights.

She did however, recieve major press coverage as the youngest and the only female candidate. She ran several more times before finally being elected as MP for the safe seat in the Conservative party of Finchley. When the Conservative Party won the 1970 general election, she was appointed the Education Secretary. Over time, she became fed up with the current leadership and decided to run for leader of the party. In 1975, that's just what she became as she was elected leader by her fellow MPs. In 1979, she was elected Prime Minister, which for the first time was a position held by a woman. Initally, riots plauged England due to a failing economy, and Thatcher's job approval rating fell dramatically. However, by 1987 the economy had turned around, and Thatcher and the the Conservative Party were comfortably ahead in polls and opinion. In 1990, discontent hit the Conservative Party, when it showed that they were slipping behind Labour in the polls. This along with Thatcher's ever growing combative personality, along with little regard for her collagues' opinions, made her MP's vote against her to replace the head of the party. She decided to step down as Prime Minister after three terms in late

Margaret Thatcher is known for her famous name “the Iron Lady”, a woman who divided a nation. When Thatcher came to power in 1979, she wanted to make big changes to how the country was run and wanted to transform Great Britain. Therefore, she did, but not everyone was convinced with change. Thatcher inherited an economy in chaos, and she made her first to job to turn that around. The movement that she started is known as Thatcherism.

He believes that she is given less credit than she deserves. However, he agrees that Mrs. Thatcher wanted to lead the Cabinet as well as the government entirely by herself. Unlike Attlee who rarely ever opposed other views or opinions, Mrs. Thatcher rarely ever asked for others opinion stating, “As Prime Minister I could not waste time having internal arguments. “(401)

Margaret Thatcher as Margaret Hilda Roberts was born October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England to Alfred Roberts, a grocer, preacher, and local mayor, and Beatrice Ethel. She, along with her younger sister, Muriel, spent most of their childhood in Grantham, helping with their father’s grocery business. Margaret’s father was active in local politics and brought up Margaret and Muriel as strict Methodists. He became Mayor of Grantham in 1945, but lost his position as alderman in 1952, when the Labor Party came into power. Margaret won a scholarship to Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School, where she was head girl for the academic year 1942-1943. Her school reports showed academic consistency and brilliance in many extracurricular activities. In

No British politician polarized opinion like Margaret Thatcher did. Loved and hated in equal measure, she dominated the political landscape for fifteen years, first as Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Conservative Party, and then as Prime Minister. Strengthened by her ideas, she had a vision for the United Kingdom, one that put it back on recovery and destroyed the socialist state established by the Post-War consensus. She took on the image of the 'Iron Lady ' and fought for economic and political freedom around the world. Her new approach and personal style revolutionized not just Britain, but in fact, the entire world.

Margaret Thatcher, appropriately nicknamed the Iron Lady (Pearce, 2004) for her strong will and confrontational style in British politics, became the first female Prime Minister for Great Britain as the leader of the Conservative party. Her style and influence helped change the political landscape in Britain and her leadership helped bring an end to the Cold War (Brown, 2008). From her early childhood, Thatcher was preparing herself for such an opportunity. An analysis of Thatcher’s leadership style and exercise of influence may explain her political influence on Great Britain and the world. Power Base

Overall in terms of political achievements for genders by Thatcher marked a landslide for feminism as a result of her own pursuit for political gain,

Margaret Thatcher is a household name in England for many reasons. The chief reason is because she became the first woman to be elected as Prime Minister of England. She was elected as Prime Minister in 1979-1990.. Until that time, although England was led by queens, the prime minister position in England was only held by men. Margaret changed all of that and won by a landslide. In this essay we will discuss 1) brief history of the life of Margaret Thatcher and 2)the concept called Thatcherism named after her 3) and the role that Thatcherism played in reshaping the economic structure of England.

During her sovereignty which lasted eleven and a half years (May 1979-November 1990), she turned Britain upside down with her policies of fighting inflation, tackling the unions, intensify the British image in foreign affairs, the