Genially sans titre

Margaret thatcher

A.K.A "The iron lady"

1925-2013

Who is Margaret Thatcher ?

• Born in 1925 and died in 2013.

• She grew up in a middle class family in England.

• Studied chemistry at Oxford University.

• First female Prime Minister with the second longest term in history (1979-1990).

How did she establish herself ?

• Ran as the conservative candidate for a Dartford parliamentary seat in the 1950 elections.

• Qualified as a barrister, a type of lawyer in 1952.

• Was nominated parliamentary under secretary for pensions and national insurance in 1961.

• Became a member of the Shadow Cabinet.

• Became the conservative party leader on February, 11th 1975

• May 1979, she was nominated Britain's first female prime minister.

Before her term

• Government was from the labour party (James Callaghan).

• Unemployment on the rise (1976 : 1.5 million people unemployed) .

• In 1976, inflation hit 17%.

• Due to the 1973 oil shock, energy prices soared and a world wide recession followed.

• Successive governments persued kenysian policies (where the state interfere a lot in the economy)

James Callaghan in 1977

Political ideology

• Nicknamed "the iron lady" : against strikes, protests and had strong beliefs.

• During her three terms, emerged the word “thatcherism” :

-Society was meant to be guided by individual effort : "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families”. -Opposed to socially progressive reforms : "Section 28" in 1988. -Removed social benefits : "There is no such thing as a welfare state and people have to stop relying on it" . -A user of public order and rigor : in 1981 the IRA (Irish Republican Army) revolted against british occupation and began a hunger strike : 10 men died.

Economic ideology

• Believed in neo-liberalism (the non-intervention of the state in the economy).

• Put an end to what she viewed as "excessive state interference" : called for the privatization of state-owned entreprises.

• In 1980, inflation peaked at 22%.

• Unemploment was never lower in the Thatcher period than it was in 1979 when she became Prime Minister.

• Unemployment increased signifcantly in 1983 and reached 23%.

• Poverty rate rose from 13.4% to 22.2% during thatcher term in office.

Inflation rate (peak in 1980)

Unemployment rate (peak in 1983)

Social consequences

• Many measures were taken to weaken trade unions’ position in the business world :

- The Employment Acts of 1980.

• Compensation was provided for workers who refused to join a union : union members fell from 13.2 million

in 1979 to 9.5 million in 1991.

• In 1984, the closure of 20 mines led to riots from the miners (6 of them died and 200 000 were injured).

=>Influenced thousands of families without stable incomes.=>The number of people living below the poverty line in the UK increased from 13% of the population in 1979 to 22% in 1990.=> Homelessness numbers increasing from 56,000 people in 1979 to 121,000 in 1990.

a strike : une greve

Fun facts

• "I don't think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime," during a 1973 television appearance.

• People hated her so much they sang and danced in the street when she died.

• Thatcher and the Queen did not get along : Elisabeth II thought her prime minister was too conservative.

• Several shows and movies were made about her.

Arte, 2022

When was she appointed prime minister ?

Why was she nicknamed 'The Iron Lady' ?

What was her economic guiding principle ?

guiding principle= ligne directrice

What is section 28 ?