The First Female Prime Minister

In the views of the politicians, the economy was not one of a ‘Golden Age’. As the British Cabinet Paper wrote, ‘It is clear that ever since the end of the war we have tried to do too much…we have only rarely been free from danger of economic crisis’. This illustrates the fact that although the economy was not falling apart, it was not stable and not prosperous. There was also a lack of a plan to deal with the economy; the government merely adjusted the system as it went along, which sometimes resulted in high rises of inflation or sudden consumer booms that did not correlate with its ability to pay for them – causing a deficit.

Prior to 1921, men were the only members of the Canadian parliamentary system. With the first Canadian women being elected into the Canadian parliament in 1921, women have had the ability to participate and become elected into the House of Commons. Since then, Canadian women’s participation in the House of Commons has substantially increased from 1 female seat holder in 1921 to the present day 64 seats held by women. Although this increase is seemed as substantial, the debate about the underrepresentation of women in politics has been a central topic of debate by politicians, scholars and the general public in Canada. Although it is widely agreed that representation of women in the House of Commons needs to increase, there are two

During an era were women were not commonly seen outside the home, Margaret Chase Smith was a groundbreaking politician, who achieved many monumental “firsts” as a female in politics. She was the first woman to serve in both the United States House and Senate, the first woman to hold a Senate seat as Republican, and first women to be elected to Senate without first being appointed to it. During her time in office, Margaret Smith protested strongly against gender inequality and was a supporter of the idea that women should seek higher opportunity in both business and politics. She also fought against the ideals of McCarthyism. While in office, she stated her two primary goals were to keep her job in Washington and retain a close, informed relationship

From 1896 to 1911 Sir Wilfrid Laurier served as the Canadian prime minister. This was a period when Canada shifted from being agricultural to being proto-industrial. It was also a period of tremendous social and political tension in Canada. Laurier’s ability to compromise between the French and the English Canadians demands is what made him very successful and defined his time as leader. These compromises are seen through the settlement of the Manitoba School Question in 1896, Canada’s participation in the Boer War in 1899, and the Naval Service Act in 1910.

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.

Margaret Sinclair was born on September 10, 1948 which makes her just under 3 decades younger than her first husband Pierre Trudeau. Her first encounter with Pierre occurred in Tahiti(they weren’t traveling together) when she was 18 years old and on a family vacation. Their meeting lead to a marriage wich occurred in secret on March 4, 1971 in Vancouver. Her family wasn't even aware that they were gathering for a wedding, they believed it was for a family portrait. This marriage made her the youngest First Lady in the world ever back then as she was only 22 years old. First Lady is another occupation Margaret has had, the other professions she’s had are actress, photographer, writer and television show host. Her job as television show host

Former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, had the opinion “To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values, and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects”. Without a general consensus, the people were left feeling oppressed by the localized taxation. The Poll Tax Riot ended the British poll tax and Margaret Thatcher's term as prime minister through riots and refusals, subsequently showing how civil disobedience can affect a nation's government and society. An abundance of circumstance brought about the Poll Tax Riots. A “poll tax” is a flat tax which is not based on income or status (Nally 3). Some

Thatcher from the start also wanted to promote freedom and she thought by ridding the country of trade unions she would achieve this. This hatred stemmed from when Labour was in power, this is because trade unions had way too much power and influence on the economy and government. Trade unions damaged economic performance as they essentially held Britain to ransom by enforcing 4 working days a week and endless amounts of strikes and wage demands. Thatcher attempted to target the miners as they were the backbone of trade unions and they were seen as the most powerful. She introduced a law where walkouts were no longer allowed and strikes ballots were required, if unions did not comply there were consequences.

It is a common effect of times of economic struggle that those in leadership come under scrutiny and a result of that there is often a political shift within the country. This evident throughout history and led to the creation of prominent groups and movements such as Nazis and Communism. In tough times it people of vent their frustrations at those in charge when the tough times happened. In this investigation I will using this to compare the two countries on the severity of their recession as history shows that those who steer towards a darker and more radical political path usual have greater economic uncertainty. A recession of this calibre would obviously have resounding effects on the political system. In Wales, the Labour party got the

Her economic policies were another success for Thatcher’s regime. Thatcher’s policies were monumental changes for Britain. Privatisation and deregulation were famous changes implemented by Thatcher. The policy of Privatisation has been called "a crucial ingredient of Thatcherism". After the 1983 election the sale of state utilities accelerated; more than £29 billion was raised from the sale of nationalised industries, and another £18 billion from the sale of council houses. The process of privatisation, especially the preparation of nationalised industries for privatisation, was associated with marked improvements in performance, particularly in terms of labour productivity. Some of the privatised industries including gas, water, and electricity, were natural monopolies for which privatisation involved little increase in competition. The privatisation allowed people to become more involved in the buying of shares in companies. Although this did not work as well as Thatcher would have hoped as many of the richer part of society bought as many shares at they could. Many people denounced this policy as an Elitist policy. The privatisation of public companies was combined with financial deregulation in an attempt to encourage economic growth. Geoffrey Howe Thatcher’s Chancellor of the

Thatcher reduced trade union power. She was helped also by rapidly rising unemployment which acted as a major disincentive to many going on strike or pressing to hard for higher wages.

During the 1960s, and the 1970s Britain economy decline with factors of productivity, inflation, strike and rising living standard Many historians refer Britain as the “sick man of Europe”, and the blame for its decline were faunlike to new plant and machinery, rise of competition, loss of market, childish management and poor working practices. With high inflation, careless trade union power and low growth made Britain the weak line I the international capitalist economic system. In order to improve inflation, the try to agree to annual wage rise with in workplace. This policy idea was to manage price down but inflation was so much that that policy needed with Edward heath government. Another measure took to boost the economic was in order reduce unemployment by in extra imports, which damage the trade balance even more which caused more inflation. The “Winter of Discontent” in 1979 was another event, the strikes against the labor government’s income rules showed that Britain was not able to governor and destroy britian reputation.

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.

As non-European companies raised the standard of competition, the prices likewise fell and the market for many European products collapsed. This directly affected the employment rate throughout Europe in many of the industries, as many jobs were no longer needed. As this need declined, labor began to demand the retention of jobs, wages, and benefits, making labor more costly (Drouin,12). The unemployment rate in Europe went from 4-5% in the 1950-60s to 10-12% during the 1970-80s (Dr. Shearer - lecture). For example, after World War II the mining workforce in the UK fell from 718,000 to 43,000, with the majority of the jobs lost during 1975-85 (Judt, 459). The steel industry also suffered. As non-European countries entered the market, the European steel industry collapsed. For example, British steelworkers lost 166,000 jobs between 1974-1986 (Judt, 459). As unemployment increased throughout Western Europe, there was a movement towards the service sector.

The economic reforms initiated by Prime Minister Margret Thatcher since 1980’s has made the United Kingdom record steady economic growth in the 1990s. However, successive Labour governments increased government spending significantly. Since 2010, the government upheld austerity as the principal of its economic policy. In 2014, the country recorded its strongest economic growth since 2007 of 2.387 trillion dollars with GDP per capita at 39,350.64 dollars. The GDP increased significantly because of the enhanced performance of the construction, manufacturing, and services sectors. Retail sales also increased with unemployment relatively at lowest