Definitions for Margaret Thatcher
Mar·garet Thatch·er

Princeton's WordNet(4.83 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, Iron Lady(noun)

   British stateswoman; first woman to serve as Prime Minister (born in 1925)

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1. Margaret Thatcher

   Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, (née Roberts; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013) was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold that office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her "The 'Iron Lady'", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies known as Thatcherism. She studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist, before becoming a barrister. Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970–1974 government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment, until victory in the 1982 Falklands War and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her decisive re-election in 1983. She survived an assassination attempt in the Brighton hotel bombing in 1984. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her subsequent support for the Community Charge ("poll tax") was widely unpopular, and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher (of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. In 2013, she died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel in London, at the age of 87. Although a controversial figure in British politics, she is nonetheless viewed favourably in historical rankings of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a realignment towards neoliberal policies in the United Kingdom and debate over the complicated legacy of Thatcherism persists into the 21st century.

Freebase(2.71 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Margaret Thatcher

   Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG OM PC FRS was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist called her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism. Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition and became the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Upon moving into 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation, flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment until the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983.

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1. margaret thatcher

   Quotes by margaret thatcher -- Explore a large variety of famous quotes made by margaret thatcher on the Quotes.net website.

How to pronounce Margaret Thatcher?

1. Alex

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Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Margaret Thatcher in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Margaret Thatcher in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of Margaret Thatcher in a Sentence

1. Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz:

   I'm very Margaret Thatcher that way, we need to win the vote in the public first. … I didn't wake up and say, ‘Yeah, this was going to be cool.’.

2. Carly Fiorina:

   Many people have commented on the comparison and I’m flattered by it, frankly, margaret Thatcher was a great leader for her nation at a pivotal and perilous time.

3. Ursula K. Le Guin:

   Public speaking is done in the public tongue, the national or tribal language; and the language of our tribe is the men's language. Of course women learn it. We're not dumb. If you can tell Margaret Thatcher from Ronald Reagan, or Indira Gandhi from General Somoza, by anything they say, tell me how. This is a man's world, so it talks a man's language.

4. Stanley Hubbard:

   Maybe she's another Margaret Thatcher. She's terrific, we think they're breakthrough people.

5. Laila Shabir:

   The list of things that I couldn’t do, or shouldn’t do, was much longer than the things that I was allowed to do, so there was a lot of conflict inside me, because at home my parents were constantly telling me that I should dream big, and shoot for the stars. And they put all these incredible role models in front of me like Margaret Thatcher and Benazir Bhutto and I was supposed to be like them. But the minute I stepped out of my home, I was told the exact opposite. That I was dreaming too big, that if I wouldn’t stop looking at the sky I would stumble and fall on my face.

Images & Illustrations of Margaret Thatcher