"a potential Shadow Cabinet member. Jim Prior suggested her as a member after the Conservatives' 1966 defeat, but party leader Edward Heath and Chief Whip William Whitelaw eventually settled on Mervyn Pike as the Shadow Cabinet's sole woman member. At the 1966 Conservative Party conference she criticised the high-tax policies of the Labour government as being steps ""not only towards Socialism, but towards Communism"", arguing that lower taxes served as an incentive to hard work. Thatcher was one of the few Conservative MPs to support Leo Abse's bill to decriminalise male homosexuality. She voted in favour of David Steel's bill"
"1989 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1989 Conservative Party leadership election took place on 5 December 1989. The incumbent Margaret Thatcher was opposed by the little-known 69-year-old backbencher MP Sir Anthony Meyer. It was the Conservative Party's first leadership election for nearly 15 years, when Thatcher had taken the party leadership. During 1989 the Conservative government led by Thatcher had run into difficulties. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, had resigned in October over Thatcher's determination to follow the advice of her advisers, specifically Sir Alan Walters. In June Labour won their first national electoral victory since 1974"
"1990 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1990 Conservative Party leadership election in the United Kingdom took place on 20 November 1990 following the decision of Michael Heseltine, former Defence and Environment Secretary, to challenge Margaret Thatcher, the incumbent Prime Minister, for leadership of the Conservative Party. Thatcher failed to win outright under the terms of the election in the first ballot, and was persuaded to withdraw from the second round of voting. She announced her resignation on the morning of 22 November 1990, ending more than 15 years as Conservative leader and 11 years as Prime Minister. Discontent with"
"a major British political party. 1975 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1975 Conservative Party leadership election was held in February 1975, in which the party's sitting MPs voted Margaret Thatcher as party leader on the second ballot. Previous leader Edward Heath stood aside after the first ballot, in which he unexpectedly finished behind Thatcher. The Conservatives were the official Opposition to the Labour government, so Thatcher also became Leader of the Opposition. Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister had called and unexpectedly lost the February 1974 general election. Although the Labour Party were able only"
"and the Labour lead in the opinion polls mounted into double digits, Thatcher resigned as party leader and Prime Minister after a further contest in November 1990. 1989 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1989 Conservative Party leadership election took place on 5 December 1989. The incumbent Margaret Thatcher was opposed by the little-known 69-year-old backbencher MP Sir Anthony Meyer. It was the Conservative Party's first leadership election for nearly 15 years, when Thatcher had taken the party leadership. During 1989 the Conservative government led by Thatcher had run into difficulties. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, had resigned"
"only to lose it again at the 2017 general election. 1990 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1990 Conservative Party leadership election in the United Kingdom took place on 20 November 1990 following the decision of Michael Heseltine, former Defence and Environment Secretary, to challenge Margaret Thatcher, the incumbent Prime Minister, for leadership of the Conservative Party. Thatcher failed to win outright under the terms of the election in the first ballot, and was persuaded to withdraw from the second round of voting. She announced her resignation on the morning of 22 November 1990, ending more than 15 years as"
"1975 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 1975 Conservative Party leadership election was held in February 1975, in which the party's sitting MPs voted Margaret Thatcher as party leader on the second ballot. Previous leader Edward Heath stood aside after the first ballot, in which he unexpectedly finished behind Thatcher. The Conservatives were the official Opposition to the Labour government, so Thatcher also became Leader of the Opposition. Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister had called and unexpectedly lost the February 1974 general election. Although the Labour Party were able only to form a minority government,"
"2016 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 2016 Conservative Party leadership election occurred as a result of David Cameron's resignation as leader following the European Union membership referendum, in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. Cameron, who supported Britain's continued membership of the EU, made his announcement on 24 June, saying that he would step down by October. Theresa May won the contest on 11 July 2016, after the withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom left her as the sole candidate, succeeding Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party. Conservative MPs had voted initially in a series of ballots"
"on and fight to win"" the second ballot, but consultation with her Cabinet persuaded her to withdraw. After holding an audience with the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech, on 28 November she left Downing Street in tears. She reportedly regarded her ousting as a betrayal. Her resignation was a shock to many outside Britain, with foreign observers such as Henry Kissinger and Gorbachev privately expressing consternation. Thatcher was replaced as Prime Minister and party leader by Chancellor John Major, who prevailed over Heseltine in the subsequent ballot. Major oversaw an upturn in Conservative support"
"Foundation in 2006, where she established the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, (; 13 October 19258 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."
"parties in the nineteenth century, along with the Liberal Party. In the 1890s, it formed a coalition government with the Liberal Unionist Party, a break-away faction of the Liberal Party, and in 1912 the two merged to form the Conservative and Unionist Party. In the 1920s, the Liberal vote greatly diminished and the Labour Party became the Conservatives' main rivals. Conservative Prime Ministers led governments for 57 years of the twentieth century, including Winston Churchill (1940–1945, 1951–1955) and Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990). Thatcher's tenure led to wide-ranging economic liberalisation. The Conservative Party's domination of British politics throughout the twentieth century has"
"Conservative policies, turning the Conservative Party into an economically liberal party. At the 1979 general election, she defeated James Callaghan's Labour government following the Winter of Discontent. For all of the 1980s and most of the 1990s, Conservative governments under Thatcher and her successor John Major pursued policies of privatisation, anti-trade-unionism, and, for a time, monetarism, now known collectively as Thatcherism. The Labour Party elected left-winger Michael Foot as their leader in 1980, and he responded to dissatisfaction within the Labour Party by pursuing a number of radical policies developed by its grassroots members. In 1981, several centrist and right-leaning"
"radical in a conservative party"", and her ideology has been seen as confronting ""established institutions"" and the ""accepted beliefs of the elite"", both concepts incompatible with the traditional conception of conservatism as signifying support for the established order and existing social convention (""status quo""). Following a third consecutive general election defeat in 2005, the Conservative Party selected David Cameron as party leader, followed by Theresa May in 2016, both of whom have served as Prime Minister and sought to modernise and change the ideological position of British conservatism. Re-imagining the party as one which looks at creating a society for"
"Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher became the first female Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition after winning the 1975 leadership election, the first Conservative leadership election where the post was not vacant. A rule change to enable the election was largely prompted by dissatisfaction with the incumbent leader, Edward Heath, who had lost three of four general elections as leader, including two in 1974. After announcing her first Shadow Cabinet in February 1975, she reshuffled it twice: in January and November 1976. Minor subsequent changes were necessary to respond to various circumstances. Thatcher's Shadow"
"vote in certain head-to-head scenarios, as indicated below. 2016 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The 2016 Conservative Party leadership election occurred as a result of David Cameron's resignation as leader following the European Union membership referendum, in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. Cameron, who supported Britain's continued membership of the EU, made his announcement on 24 June, saying that he would step down by October. Theresa May won the contest on 11 July 2016, after the withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom left her as the sole candidate, succeeding Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party. Conservative MPs"
"Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, (; 13 October 19258 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. A research chemist at Somerville College, Oxford, before becoming a barrister, Thatcher"
"European Community. On 14 November, former cabinet minister Michael Heseltine challenged Thatcher's leadership. Thatcher polled higher than him in the first round of the leadership contest, but failed to gain an outright victory in the first round of voting. Within minutes of the result being announced, Thatcher informed reporters that she intended to let her name go forward for the second ballot. However, on 22 November, before a second round of the contest could take place, Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party after more than 11 years, explaining that she was resigning"
"Democrats. With the rise of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party leader in the 1975 leadership election ushered in a resurgence of the old 19th-century Gladstone ""laissez-faire"" economic liberal principles. The UK in the 1970s had seen sustained high inflation rates, which were above 20% at the time of the leadership election, high unemployment, and over the winter of 1978–79 there was a series of strikes known as the ""Winter of Discontent"". Thatcher led her party to victory at the 1979 general election with a manifesto which concentrated on the party's philosophy rather than presenting a ""shopping list"" of policies. This"
"against Adolf Hitler. The result was a wartime all-party coalition government with partisanship in abeyance. In the 1945 general election, the party lost power in a landslide by the Labour Party. The Conservatives largely accepted the reality of the Labour government's nationalisation programme, the creation of the welfare state and the taxes required for it. However, when they returned to power in 1951 the party oversaw an economic boom and ever-increasing national prosperity throughout the 1950s. The party stumbled in the 1960s and 1970s, but in 1975 Margaret Thatcher became leader and converted it to a monetarist economic programme; after"
"of speculation about her future as Prime Minister, she resigned on 28 November 1990, making way for a new Conservative leader more likely to win the next general election in the interests of party unity. John Major won the party leadership election on 27 November 1990, and his appointment led to an almost immediate boost in Conservative Party fortunes. A MORI poll six days before Mrs Thatcher's resignation had shown the Conservatives to be 11 points behind Labour, but within two months the Conservatives had returned to the top of the opinion polls with a narrow lead. A general election"
"Premiership of Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1979 to November 1990. She became Prime Minister after serving as Leader of the Conservative Party since 1975. In domestic affairs, Thatcher is best known for her sweeping policies concerning the affairs of the economy, including the privatisation of most nationalised industries. In foreign policy, she fought a war against Argentina and played a key role with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in ending the Cold War. By the late 1980s, she was alienating many senior members of her Cabinet by"
"Discontent"". In the 1979 general election Labour was heavily defeated by the Conservatives now led by Margaret Thatcher. The Labour vote held up in the election, with the party receiving a similar number of votes as in 1974. However the Conservative Party achieved big increases in support in the Midlands and South of England, benefiting from both a surge in turnout and votes lost by the ailing Liberals. After its defeat in the 1979 general election the Labour Party underwent a period of internal rivalry between the left represented by Tony Benn, and the right represented by Denis Healey. The"
"Next Conservative Party (UK) leadership election The next Conservative Party leadership election has not yet been launched, but the current leader and Prime Minister, Theresa May, has indicated she would most likely not seek to lead the party into another general election in 2022. These comments were in reaction to a no confidence vote by the party in her leadership that was triggered on 11 December 2018, following the receipt of 48 letters from Conservative MPs calling for one. A leadership election would have been called had May lost the vote, but she won with 200 against and 117 for."
"Commons passed a Motion of No Confidence by one vote on 28 March 1979. The Conservatives, with advertising consultants Saatchi and Saatchi, ran a campaign on the slogan ""Labour isn't working."" As expected, Margaret Thatcher (who had succeeded Edward Heath as Conservative leader in February 1975) won the general election held on 3 May, becoming Britain's first female prime minister. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan states: Historians Alan Sked and Chris Cook have summarised the general consensus of historians regarding Labour in power in the 1970s: Thatcher formed a government on 4 May 1979, with a mandate to reverse the UK's"
"the Conservatives. In 1975, Labour held a special conference on British membership and the party voted 2 to 1 for Britain to leave the European Communities. In 1979, the Labour manifesto declared that a Labour government would ""oppose any move towards turning the Community into a federation"" and, in 1983, it still favoured British withdrawal from the EEC. Under the leadership of Neil Kinnock after 1983, however, the then opposition party dropped its former resistance to the European Communities and instead favoured greater British integration into European Economic and Monetary Union. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher however gained much popularity"
"the contest on 11 July. On 11 July 2016, Theresa May became the leader of the Conservative Party with immediate effect following the withdrawal from the leadership election of her sole remaining opponent, Andrea Leadsom. She was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 13 July 2016. She has promised social reform and a more centrist political outlook for the Conservative Party and its government. In a speech after her appointment, May emphasised the term Unionist in the name of the party, reminding all of ""the precious, precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland"". May considers herself"
"the use of force against schoolgirls who are blocking military vehicles. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the moderate but indecisive Henry Collingridge emerges as both Thatcher's successor and the leader of the Conservative Party; the party wins the next general election with a reduced majority. Shortly afterwards, Urquhart, the party's Chief Whip, submits a memorandum to Collingridge advocating a cabinet reshuffle that would contemplate a prominent ministerial position for Urquhart himself. However, Collingridge discards Urquhart's proposals on the basis that doing so would probably adversely affect the party's popularity, leading Urquhart to orchestrate a political revenge. Urquhart"
"was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his Conservative 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"
"May 1979. The Winter of Discontent had seen the Labour government's popularity slump during the previous four months, and the opinion polls all pointed towards a Conservative victory. The Tories won the election with a majority of 44 seats and their leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister. Thatcher inherited some of the worst economic statistics of postwar Britain. The nation was still feeling the effects of the numerous strikes during the recent Winter of Discontent. Inflation had recently topped 20%, and unemployment was in excess of 1.5 million for the first time since the 1930s. Thatcher's monetarist"
"Gove was in third place in the Conservative Party (UK) leadership election, 2016 behind Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom; the latter had gained an endorsement from Boris Johnson. Some political analysts predicted that Gove might quit the race if he was unable to beat Leadsom in the first round of voting. Later that day, it was announced that Theresa May won the first round of voting, with support from 165 MPs, while Andrea Leadsom received 66 votes and Gove trailed with 48. Gove was eliminated in the second ballot after receiving 46 votes, compared to 199 for Theresa May and"
"female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major (1990–97). Their landslide defeat at the 1997 general election saw the Conservative Party lose over half their seats gained in 1992, and saw the party re-align with public perceptions of them. The Conservatives lost all their seats in both Scotland and Wales, and was their worst defeat since 1906. In 2008, the Conservative Party formed a pact with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to select joint candidates for European and House of Commons elections; this angered the DUP as by splitting the Unionist vote, republican parties will"
"the Cabinet are in bold face. Second Thatcher ministry Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative government. She was the first woman to hold that office. During her premiership, Thatcher moved to liberalise the British economy through deregulation, privatisation, and the promotion of entrepreneurialism. This article details the second government Thatcher led at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II from 1983 to 1987. The Conservative government was re-elected in June 1983 with a majority of 144 seats, with Labour in opposition having a"
"and Margaret Beckett stayed put at Environment. The new Parliament met on 11 May for the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons. On 6 May, Michael Howard announced he would be standing down as leader of the Conservative Party, but not before a review of the leadership rules. The formal leadership election began in October, and was ultimately won by David Cameron. On 7 May, David Trimble resigned as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party; Sir Reg Empey was elected as his successor at an Ulster Unionist Council meeting on 24 June. The then-prime minister Gordon Brown"