Flags across the nation have been lowered to half mast and well-wishers have been leaving flowers outside her London home, after the announcement of Margaret Thatcher's death on Monday April 8,2013
The British flag flies at half mast at Downing Street
Lady Thatcher's body was removed from the Ritz Hotel in London by private ambulance at about 12.20am following her death there on Monday April 8,2013 morning
The House of Lords has also been recalled on Wednesday and will sit at 2.30pm - the same time as the Commons.
Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to give a statement to the Commons, followed by Ed Miliband, the Labour leader
One of the last pictures: Lady Thatcher in Battersea Park in March 2012 with her carers and police officer
Margaret Thatcher with her son Mark and his wife Sarah in 2011
Margaret Thatcher with her Husband Denis on their wedding day in 1951.In 1951, Margaret Roberts married Denis Thatcher - a divorced businessman ten years older than her
Margaret Thatcher pictured with her parents and her older sister Muriel in 1944
Tribute to the 'Iron Lady'
Front Pages pay tribute to the 'Iron Lady'
Floral tribute left outside the residence of Baroness Thatcher in Chester Square on April 8, 2013 in London
British PM David Cameron praised her as a "great leader" and a "great Briton"
Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband said she had "moved the centre ground of British politics"
Former Conservative foreign secretary Lord Carrington, who resigned from Lady Thatcher's Cabinet in 1982 following criticism of British policy ahead of the invasion of the Falklands Islands described her as "the kindest woman" who was also a "remarkable prime minister"
UKIP leader Nigel Farage holds a Margaret Thatcher memorabilia mug outside the Grantham Museum, Grantham.
Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg told MPs Lady Thatcher “set the parameters for economic, political and social debate for decades to come”.
Tributes poured in from around the world for Britain's first and only woman prime minister, many on the Left condemned the social impacts of her policies encouraging the free market and stripping power from unions during her 11 years in office
Indian sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik gives finishing touches to his sand sculpture of former Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a mark of homage, at the golden beach of Puri
Margaret Thatcher to be given ceremonial funeral
Margaret Thatcher will be given a ceremonial funeral — a rung below the state funeral — on April 17, it was announced on Tuesday April 9,2013
The funeral ceremony with full military honours will take place at London’s historic St. Paul’s Cathedral and will be attended by the Queen along with dignitaries from around the world.
About Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher achieved her ambition of becoming an MP, being selected for - and winning - the safe Conservative seat of Finchley in 1959
After winning the Finchley seat in the 1959 general election, Margaret Thatcher entered parliament, and immediately made an impression. In 1960, she managed to get a piece of legislation passed as a 'private member's bill' with her very first speech in Parliament - an unprecedented feat. In 1961, prime minister Harold Macmillan gave her her first junior ministerial role, making her the Parliamentary Undersecretary for the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance
In 1970, after the Conservatives had come back into power following the general election,prime minister Edward Heath made her the Secretary of State for Education - the only woman in his cabinet.Her decision as Education Secretary to abolish the policy of giving school children free milk (as part of a round of spending cuts) earned her widespread criticism and the nickname 'Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher'.
In 1974, the Conservative lost two general elections in rapid succession - and Thatcher decided to try and replace Edward Heath as leader, believing the party needed to change direction. She defeated Heath in the first round of voting, leading him to resign, and then beat four male candidates in the second round - making Thatcher the new leader of the Conservative Party, the first woman to lead a British political party.
Margaret Thatch takes over from Edward Heath as leader of the Conservative Party in 1975.
Queen Elizabeth with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at a reception in Lusaka, Zambia, on August 1, 1979
In 1979, hit by a series of unpopular strikes and faced with unemployment problems, the Labour government lost a no-confidence vote, triggering a general election. Led by Thatcher, the Conservatives won a 44 seat majority - meaning that Thatcher entered 10 Downing Street as the UK's first female prime minister.
Margaret Thatcher once described US President Ronald Reagan(elected a year after her in 1980) as 'the second most important man in my life'. The two shared many political views, especially on the role of free markets and low taxation, and their approach to the Soviet Union.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (left) with her new wax sculpture at Madame Tussauds in London on May 29, 1980.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with her Indian counterpart Indira Gandhi, in New Delhi on April 15, 1981
Margaret Thatcher seen with Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Deng Xioping in Beijing, in September 1982. It was during Ms. Thatcher's time that the then Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang notified that China will recover Hong Kong in 1997 and the Chinese Government would apply special policies towards Hong Kong.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in conversation with Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in Bonn on January 25, 1985
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with his British counterpart Margaret Thatcher, when she called on him at Churchill Hotel in London on August 03, 1986
Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving PM of U K(1979–1990) and the only woman ever to have held the post
Margaret Thatcher was nicknamed the '' Iron Lady '' for her uncompromising politics and leadership style
First Term(1979-83)
Margaret Thatcher(Conservative Party) became the PM of U K after winning the 1979 UK General Election defeating James Callaghan(Labour Party)the incumbent getting 339 seats against Labour Party's 269 seats out of the total 635 seats in the House of Commons.
Second Term(1983-87)
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher waves from a window of Conservative Party headquarters in London on June 10, 1983, after winning Britain's general election
In 1983, despite a sluggish economy for much of her time as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Govt. won a landslide victory in the general election - helped by the popularity boost she gained from the Falklands Warin 1982(that lasted two and a half months; 649 Argentinians and 258 Brits were killed before Argentina surrendered) and an opposition Labour party in disarray.
Margaret Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983 .In the 1983 UK General Election,Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party got 397 seats against the Michael Foot's Labour Party's 209 seats out of the total 650 seats in the House of Commons.
Third Term(1987-90)
Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher waves to the photographers after casting her vote at a London polling station, in the United Kingdom's General Election, on June 11, 1987
In 1987, with the economy booming and the Labour party still unable to think of any popular policies, Thatcher made history by winning a third term as prime minister - the first time in the modern democratic age, making her the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century
The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd Earl of Liverpool in 1820 to lead a party into three successive election victories.
The Conservatives were returned to government which got 376 seats(suffered a net loss of only 21 seats over the previous term winning tally of 397 seats)and Labour Party won 229 seats out of the total 650 seats in the House of Commons
Margaret Thatcher's popularity soon began to fade after her historic third victory,key to this was the massively unpopular policy of the 'Community Charge', better known as the Poll Tax. Introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales in 1990, the tax was widely seen as unfair, with millions of people refusing to pay it and many going to jail. Protests against it turned into riots - but Thatcher refused to back down, turning many in the Conservative party against her.
Challenges to Margaret Thatcher's Leadership
Margaret Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP Sir Anthony Meyer in the 1989 Leadership Election held on Dec 05, 1989.
Of the 374 Conservative MPs eligible to vote 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Sir Anthony Meyer.
On Nov 01, 1990 Geoffrey Howe,the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet, resigned from his position as Deputy Prime Minister over her refusal to agree to a timetable for Britain to join the European single currency.
The next day, Michael Heseltine mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party.Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour.Although Thatcher won the first ballot, Heseltine attracted sufficient support (152 votes) to force a second ballot .Margaret Thatcher initially stated that she intended to "fight on and fight to win" the second ballot, but consultation with her Cabinet persuaded her to withdraw.
After seeing the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech, she left Downing Street in tears. She regarded her ousting as a betrayal.Margaret Thatcher was replaced as Prime Minister and party leader by John Major.
Margaret Thatcher retired from the House at the 1992 election, aged 66, saying that leaving the Commons would allow her more freedom to speak her mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment