Essay Of Thatcherism

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This essay is going to assess the success and failures of Thatcherism. This essay will discuss the positives and negatives from the start of Margaret Thatcher’s reign as Prime Minister from 1979 to the end of her reign in 1990. There will be strong key points about the positives and negatives of Thatcherism included and they will be supported by strong an accurate sources ranging from books to online articles. The essay will be structured by first starting with a positive point about Thatcherism then followed by a negative point and at the end of the essay there will be a final conclusion to summarise everything that has been discussed within the essay and then a final round up on whether or not Margaret Thatcher was successful in her reign as Prime Minister and whether she is one of the most successful Prime Ministers to date.

During the Winter of Discontent in 1979, Britain had high inflation rate, an income tax rate of 83% and more people were becoming unemployed. There were controls of price, dividend, currency and wage. The government accounted for about 30% of the work force. The state controlled most major industries such as British Aerospace, British Airways, British Telecom, British Steel, British Leyland, the British National Oil Corporation, Associated British Ports, Cable and Wireless, Rolls Royce. But when Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister in 1979 she used outstanding political skill and will and she reversed Britain’s socialist direction and moved the economy to embrace a free enterprise. From an article via the website of the Reason Foundation in 2006, Thatcher stated: “We understood that a system of free enterprise has a universal truth at its heart: to create a genuine market in a state you have to tak...

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...ot of popularity across the country.

In conclusion, Thatcherism had its great moments, like defending the Falklands, and it had its worst moments, introduction of the Poll Tax. the Thatcherism reign can be seen as a success as it reigned for 11 years which no Prime Minister has been able to achieve to date. She had a full on plan before she was elected as PM and a lot of her plan had great success. Yes, the Poll tax was probably her downfall, but everybody can make mistakes, and maybe if she hadn't introduced it, she may have been in power longer. It was impossible for Thatcher to please everyone across the country, she proved she was able to defend her country when needed and was able to overcome the overpowered trade unions. Overall, Thatcherism can be seen as a success as it has dramatically changed the way we live our lives today, whether it is for good or bad.

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