Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher was a British stateswoman and Conservative politician 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 first female British prime minister and the longest-serving of the 20th century.

As Prime Minister, she implemented sweeping economic policies that came to be known as Thatcherism, deregulating financial markets (the 1986 "Big Bang"), privatizing state-owned enterprises, curbing trade union influence, and fostering home ownership through the "Right to Buy" scheme. Her uncompromising politics and commanding leadership style earned her the nickname "The Iron Lady" from a Soviet journalist. On the world stage, she formed a decisive alliance with US President Ronald Reagan and played a central geopolitical role in the closing chapters of the Cold War and the 1982 Falklands War.