Margaret Thatcher Research Paper

Hailey Geritano

Margaret Thatcher was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Thatcher became Britain's Conservative Party leader in 1975 and in 1979, was elected the first female Prime Minister. Thatcher had a persistent attitude which is what kept her in that position for three terms. Thatcher beat the battle of having prejudice against her for being a woman and an important political figure. She showed her determination and her skills of leadership by successfully leading Britain through several hardships. Margaret Thatcher had a significant impact on history because of her role as the first female Prime Minister, her foreign policy, and her domestic policies. Margaret Thatcher was a very important figure for women all

Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Great Britain was struggling due to a strained relationship with the United States and various other factors including a weakened military. One of Margaret Thatcher’s primary goals was to rebuild Great Britain’s relationship with the United States, which she did successfully. In April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands were “a British colony since 1892 and British possession since 1833.” Thatcher sent British troops to the territory to take on the islands. Argentina surrendered in June 1982. Her execution of the Falklands War with Operation Corporate was a big boom in popularity for her and her approval ratings skyrocketed. Thatcher pursued a close relationship with the United States president at the time who was Ronald Reagan. Reagan supported much of Thatcher’s decisions and ideology, also known as Thatcherism. In October of 1984, the Irish Republican Army bombed the hotel in which Thatcher and many of her cabinet members were staying in during the Conservative party conference. In 1985, Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement with the Irish Prime Minister, Garret Fitzgerald. “The treaty established the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, which gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Ireland’s government and confirmed Northern Ireland’s constitutional position. The agreement did not end violence between the opposing

Major achievements she did was the reduction of the influence of trade unions and privatizing certain industries. Thatcher's government promised to turn around Great Britain's economic decline. Between many of her accomplishments, one role that was so successfully done was the transformation of British labor markets and the labor union movement. When Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, British labor unions were very unaccommodating and unchangeable. By the time Thatcher left in 1990, the labor union was weakened. Low taxation was a key issue during this time. There were high levels of income tax for the wealthier. “Thatcher progressively cut income tax - the basic rate of tax fell to 25%, while the higher rate was slashed from 83% to 40%.”. To many people in the British workforce were devastated by this change. However, trade unions were too powerful and needed to be improved. In the late 1970’s, Great Britain was facing a high inflation problem. “Margaret Thatcher's demolition job on the industrial might of the British trade union movement helped to generate an economic revolution. “ Britain's economic growth rate reached 5 percent. Corporate profits and investing increased, consumer prices were stable with inflation falling to mere 4 percent”. In the late 1970s, millions of days a year were being lost through strike action but at the end of her premiership stoppages were a fraction of what they had once