The Iron Lady or Milk Snatcher: Margaret Thatcher
Only someone with a bold, passionate and unique mind, could revolutionise one of the oldest and most proudly supported political groups, in one of the world's most dominant forces, Great Britain. No Prime Minister of modern times has sought to change Britain and its place in the world as radically as Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was a crusader and held tremendous faith in her political party. A fitting quote highlighting her faith was coined after her successful 1979 election. 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is an error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope.'
Her ideologies in regards to government reflected on the application of a philosophy rather than the implementation of a continual administrative programme. Foundationally, Thatcher’s conservatism was based on very simple, yet traditional conservative values, such as privatisation, enterprise, choice, competition, liberty and freedom. She also had some very basic and well-thought convictions, such as, a strong belief in not spending money you hadn’t earnt, that governments aren’t responsible for creating jobs, sound money, strong defence, and most importantly, to stand up for your country. Thatcher’s powerful and fervid view on conservatism has forever changed the landscape of politics in Great Britain, and around the world. She held fast to the core, traditional values of conservatism, but radically changed the economic landscape as well as Great Britain’s role in the world, forever.
Before her successful election as leader of the conservative party in 1975, conservatism Edward Heath led parliament from 1970. Heath’s government is most commonly remembered for its role in leading Britain into the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union. At the heart of post World War Two conservatives, was a focus on reinstating Britain as a powerhouse in the modern world because economically, the general public suffered immensely after the war. This focus on economic development in Britain continued with Thatcher, during her time as Prime Minister. Source 1, a graph displaying the GDP per capita from 1950-2011, shows a consequential increase in economic development in Britain during Thatcher’s term in office. Thatcher kept true to the core values of conservatism, focusing majorly on the economical aspects of government, whilst simultaneously, radically changing the approach of her predecessors in tackling economic challenges.
The most significant economic refashion Thatcher made was an opportunity to purchase government and social housing. Thatcher’s government was not yet a year old, when the Housing Act, of 1980 was passed into legislation. The Housing Act, 1980, describes itself as “An Act to give security of tenure, and the right to buy their homes, to tenants of local authorities and other bodies; to make other provision with respect to those and other tenants; to amend the law about housing finance in the public sector; to make other provision with respect to housing; to restrict the discretion of the court in making orders for possession of land; and for connected purposes.” Thatcher’s decision to make social housing available for purchase gave five million council house tenants in England and Wales the Right to Buy their houses from their local authority. The opportunity to own one's own home is a dream for many, but Thatcher made it a reality, ultimately resulting in both satisfaction for the new homeowners, and a boost to the economy, as there were more houses on the market and available for purchase. Thatcher’s focus on boosting Britain's economy shows strong evidence that she valued the conservative principle of being smart with money, and not spending money that an individual did not possess. This, however, was not her only major economic advancement.
Source 3 displays numbers for the ‘market economy’, which excludes the sectors where value-added is hard to measure: education, health, public administration and property. Thatcher’s economics mattered, and there is a considerable amount of evidence suggesting that a range of important policy changes led by Thatcher’s governments underpinned these economic gains. These include increases in product market competition through the withdrawal of industrial subsidies and a movement towards effective competition in many privatised sectors with independent regulators. Thatcher’s strong desire to strengthen Britain's competition is at the heart of conservative politics, but Thatcher's drastic and driven approach towards developing Britain's economy convincingly demonstrates her revolutionary approach to conservative politics.
Without Thatcher’s strong influence on Britain’s mixed market, privatisation wouldn’t be apparent in Britain’s society today. This dedicated focus on privatisation demonstrates Thatcher’s continual upholding of true conservative values. Many governments globally have now turned to privatisation due to strong influences from Thatcher’s successful privatisation revolution. In Great Britain, over $3.3 trillion worth of businesses have now been privatised, such as airlines, electric utilities, postal services, railroads, and many other types of businesses. While the primary aim of denationalisation was to improve performance, it had a secondary benefit in the form of increased public share ownership.
Millions of British citizens capitalised on investing in privatised companies, a direct result of Thatcher’s government's attempts in making share offerings captivating to small investors. Thatcher had strong faith in capitalism, even saying that she wanted to create “capital-owning democracy . . . a state in which people own houses, shares, and have a stake in society, and in which they have wealth to pass on to future generations”
Thatcher’s new approaches to privatisation, profoundly reflect on both her utterance of conservative values, but even more so strengthen the evidence for her revolution of conservatism in Great Britain.
Something commonly overlooked in assessing Thatcher as a conservative is her effect on Britain socially. The significance of Thatcher being the first female prime minister was more substantial to women than anyone else. Liberty is at the heart of conservatism, and during an era of women being oppressed, Thatcher’s leadership led many women to feel empowered within.
The major message Thatcher presented to women that there was inequality within British society. Her economical progress granted women opportunities and life chances through the free market she had so tediously spent ?? working on.
Women also benefited from Thatcher’s contribution to trade unions. 40 years after Thatcher’s term in parliament, Britain's Trade Union Congress is led by Frances O'Grady, a woman. Over 50% of Britain's trade unions are made up of women, and the priorities of the manual labour movement are becoming far more feminised.
Thatcher’s strong focus on liberty, not only for her own party but for some of the most scrutinised and mistreated peoples in human history, women, shows an ardent focus on her conservative values. While her predecessors have shown considerable attempts to prioritise liberty in their own respect, Thatcher’s revolutionary economic approaches have had a considerable degree of effect towards the liberty of women in Britain.
No political leader - of any era, may triumph without their share of failures; Thatcher was no exception. Thatcher’s dedication, passion and profound love for conservatism and it’s ideologies, affected a large number of Britain's population in a negative way. Thatcher became very selfish and imposed her radical thoughts to her colleagues. She obsessed over Britain's place in the EU, but her most egocentric act was her self conscious attempts in believing that Thatcherism, her own political mindedness, was more important and relevant than conservatism.
Thatcher’s most valued conservative value was her belief in standing up for your country. This belief is most evident in Britain's involvement in the Falklands War. Despite the scrutiny and denouncing, she faced from her political peers, Thatcher sent a naval task force of 38 warships, 77 auxiliary vessels and 11,000 soldiers, sailors and marines, into the South Atlantic in advance of an amphibious assault on the Argentines. “We must recover the Falkland islands for Britain and for the people who live there who are of British stock,” Thatcher said in an April 5, 1982 interview with ITN. Great Britain lost 250+ men, 6 ships and 34 aircraft, equating to over £2.778 billion (£9.255 billion in 2018).
Many of the individuals who took advantage of the “Right to Buy” scheme in 1980, found themselves losing their homes to the spiralling mortgage payments as she presided over the implication of a 15% interest rate increase.
Thatcher’s aggressive cuts to what she deemed “unnecessary expenses” landed her the title “Milk Snatcher.” The British press gave her the nickname after she sponsored legislation that would eliminate the free milk program for students aged over seven. Thatcher claimed that the milk was too expensive, and proceeded to steer through the Education Act, of 1944 that would garner an age restriction. The Education Act, of 1944 was incredibly significant for lower socioeconomic citizens of Britain. It guaranteed children up to the age of 11 a hot meal and a serving of milk each day. Thatcher made some very belligerent decisions, with inordinate examples in regards to economics and homeland security, but she always kept true to all of the core conservative values, as it was those values that governed her decisions and ideologies. Thatcher made many of her decisions with a mindset toward a stronger society, leaving many people either better off, or much worse than they originally were. This resulted in mixed opinions about her politics, and how well she reflected her fellow conservatives.
Thatcher’s ideologies and time in parliament are commonly viewed by politicians, the general public, and historians in either two ways: as a Leader, or as a tyrant. There is substantial evidence to support both arguments.
Thatcher has potentially made the biggest contribution to Britain's economy after the World Wars, and many of Britain's elderly citizens and historians would present primarily positive views towards Thatcher, as they directly benefited from schemes such as the “Housing Act, 1980” and the privatisation of businesses. Julian Coman for the Guardian extensively analysed Thatcher’s positive effects on British society, which only contributes to the arguments of her followers. Another group to promote Thatcher’s ideologies would undoubtedly be conservative politicians and their supporters. Thatcher’s long-lasting effects on parliament are imminent today as there have been several conservative politicians to succeed her.
On the other hand, many British citizens and historians alike would argue against Thatcher entirely, some going as far as celebrating her death, showing extensive evidence of the conflicting views of Britain's society. Her controversial actions in the Falklands War, and increased tax rates, had an obvious and immediate effect on a large number of British citizens. Josh Archer in his article on Thatcher describes in detail the negative effects of her politics and ideologies, assisting those who despised Thatcher. Despite the immediate negative effects of Thatcher, it is clear that some of her mistakes and actions are apparent and still affecting Britain today.
There isn’t a more fitting way to describe Margaret Thatcher’s politics other than revolutionary. Her radical changes to the conservative party have developed the understanding of what being a conservative is. She willingly accepted that conservatives who came before her (and even the governments in which she administered) to a large extent, got it all wrong, by and large, but never exclusively on the economy. Despite those beliefs, she always remained true to conservative ideologies, never changing her values or thoughts to gain public opinion, as she truly believed in what conservatives held to. Thatcher’s actions continue to be analysed and commented on years later by historians, conservatives and most importantly, the British population. Be that as it may, there are many paramount economic and social failures and advancements that are part of the Thatcher legacy.
The prime example of the radical change in Thatcher’s conservatism is in the actions of her successors. All of her successors have incorporated Thatcherism into their politics. John Major rapidly increased the marketability of the railway system and David Cameron reduced public services with a multitude of cuts, as well as attacking the welfare system with as much passion and dedication as Thatcher would have.
It may be concluded that Thatcher was a discordant and vexed figure, exalted by some and lambasted by others, yet the eccentric role she played in British political history is acknowledged by all. She revolutionised conservative politics, and those radical changes have been imminent ever since her time as prime minister, and as leader of the conservative party.
Bibliography
- https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/14/margaret-thatcher-20-changes-britain
- https://www.josharcher.uk/blog/why-margaret-thatcher-is-hated/#1
