Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

==Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–1990)==
{{Main|Premiership of Margaret Thatcher}}
{{Further|First Thatcher ministry|second Thatcher ministry|third Thatcher ministry}}
{{External media
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| caption=[[10 Downing Street]], {{circa|1979}}
| video1={{Cite speech |title=Remarks on becoming Prime Minister'' (St&nbsp;Francis's prayer)'' |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/115355 |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}<ref name="Prayer" />
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Thatcher became prime minister on 4&nbsp;May 1979. Arriving at [[Downing Street]] she said, paraphrasing the [[Prayer of Saint Francis]]:

{{poemquote|
Where there is discord, may we bring harmony;
Where there is error, may we bring truth;
Where there is doubt, may we bring faith;
And where there is despair, may we bring hope.<ref name="Prayer">{{Cite web |date=4 May 1979 |title=Remarks on becoming Prime Minister (St&nbsp;Francis's prayer) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104078 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322015853/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104078 |archive-date=22 March 2017 |access-date=21 March 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>
}}

In office throughout the 1980s, Thatcher was frequently referred to as the most powerful woman in the world.{{sfnmp|1a1=Bern|1y=1987|1p=43|2a1=Ogden|2y=1990|2pp=9, 12}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sheehy |first=Gail |author-link=Gail Sheehy |year=1989 |title=Gail Sheehy on the most powerful woman in the world |magazine=Vanity Fair |page=102 |volume=52}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Eisner |first=Jane |author-link=Jane Eisner |date=7 June 1987 |title=The most powerful woman in the world |magazine=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] Magazine |page=1 |asin=B006RKBPBK}}</ref>

===Domestic affairs===
====Minorities====
Thatcher was the Opposition leader and prime minister at a time of increased racial tension in Britain. During the [[1977 United Kingdom local elections|1977 local elections]], ''[[The Economist]]'' commented: "The Tory tide swamped the smaller parties{{snd}}specifically the [[National Front (UK)|National Front {{interp|NF}}]], which suffered a clear decline from last year."<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 May 1977 |title=Votes go to Tories, and nobody else |newspaper=The Economist |pages=24–28 |volume=263 |issue=6976}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 1978 |title=Conservative Campaign Guide Supplement 1978 |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110797 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019154057/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/110797 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |page=[https://c59574e9047e61130f13-3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/93030FB632E147999D4BEB655587A134.pdf#page270 270]}}</ref> Her standing in the polls had risen by 11% after a 1978 interview for ''[[World in Action]]'' in which she said "the British character has done so much for democracy, for law and done so much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in", as well as "in many ways {{interp|minorities}} add to the richness and variety of this country. The moment the minority threatens to become a big one, people get frightened".<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 January 1978 |title=TV Interview for Granada World in Action ('rather swamped') |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103485 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717144335/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103485 |archive-date=17 July 2017 |access-date=23 July 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Mrs Thatcher fears people might become hostile if immigrant flow is not cut |date=31 January 1978 |page=2 |issue=60224 |department=News}}</ref> In the 1979 general election, the Conservatives had attracted votes from the NF, whose support almost collapsed.{{sfnmp|1a1=Reitan|1y=2003|1p=26|2a1=Ward|2y=2004|2p=128}} In a July 1979 meeting with Foreign Secretary [[Lord Carrington]] and Home Secretary William Whitelaw, Thatcher objected to the number of Asian immigrants, in the context of limiting the total of [[Vietnamese boat people]] allowed to settle in the UK to fewer than 10,000 over two years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swaine |first=Jon |date=30 December 2009 |title=Margaret Thatcher complained about Asian immigration to Britain |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6906503/Margaret-Thatcher-complained-about-Asian-immigration-to-Britain.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525084645/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/6906503/Margaret-Thatcher-complained-about-Asian-immigration-to-Britain.html |archive-date=25 May 2010 |access-date=20 January 2011 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>

====The Queen====

As prime minister, Thatcher met weekly with [[Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II]] to discuss government business, and their relationship came under scrutiny.{{sfnmp|1a1=Reitan|1y=2003|1p=28|2a1=Seward|2y=2001|2p=154}} {{harvtxt|Campbell|2011a|page=464}} states:

{{blockquote|One question that continued to fascinate the public about the phenomenon of a woman Prime Minister was how she got on with the Queen. The answer is that their relations were punctiliously correct, but there was little love lost on either side. As two women of very similar age – Mrs Thatcher was six months older – occupying parallel positions at the top of the social pyramid, one the head of government, the other head of state, they were bound to be in some sense rivals. Mrs Thatcher's attitude to the Queen was ambivalent. On the one hand she had an almost mystical reverence for the institution of the monarchy [...] Yet at the same time she was trying to modernise the country and sweep away many of the values and practices which the monarchy perpetuated.}}

[[Michael Shea (diplomat)|Michael Shea]], the Queen's press secretary, in 1986 leaked stories of a deep rift to ''The Sunday Times''. He said that she felt Thatcher's policies were "uncaring, confrontational and socially divisive".{{sfnp|Pimlott|1996|pp=460–463, 484, 509–514}} Thatcher later wrote: "I always found the Queen's attitude towards the work of the Government absolutely correct [...] stories of clashes between 'two powerful women' were just too good not to make up."{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|p=18}}

====Economy and taxation====
{{See also|June 1979 United Kingdom budget|l1=1979 budget}}
{{Margaret Thatcher/datatable}}
Thatcher's economic policy was influenced by [[monetarist]] thinking and economists such as [[Milton Friedman]] and [[Alan Walters]].{{sfnp|Childs|2006|p=185}} Together with her first [[Chancellor of the Exchequer|chancellor]], [[Geoffrey Howe]], she lowered direct taxes on income and increased indirect taxes.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=30}} She increased interest rates to slow the growth of the money supply, and thereby lower inflation;{{sfnp|Childs|2006|p=185}} introduced cash limits on public spending and reduced expenditure on social services such as education and housing.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=30}} Cuts to higher education led to Thatcher being the first [[Oxonian]] post-war prime minister without an honorary doctorate from Oxford University after a 738–319 vote of the governing assembly and a student petition.<ref>{{Cite news |title=29 January 1985: Thatcher snubbed by Oxford dons |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_2506000/2506019.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724131128/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/29/newsid_2506000/2506019.stm |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=9 April 2007 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>

Some Heathite Conservatives in the Cabinet, the so-called "[[wets]]", expressed doubt over Thatcher's policies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=10 October 1980: Thatcher 'not for turning' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724131113/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=21 December 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> The [[1981 England riots]] resulted in the British media discussing the need for a [[Flip-flop (politics)|policy U-turn]]. At the 1980 Conservative Party conference, Thatcher addressed the issue directly with a speech written by the playwright [[Ronald Millar]],{{sfnp|Jones|2007|p=224}} that notably included the following lines:{{blockquote|To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the "U" turn, I have only one thing to say. "You turn if you want to. [[The lady's not for turning]]."<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 October 1980 |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference ('the lady's not for turning') |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104431 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105144306/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104431 |archive-date=5 January 2018 |access-date=31 March 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>}}

{{See also|1981 United Kingdom budget|l1=1981 budget}}
Thatcher's job approval rating fell to 23% by December 1980, lower than recorded for any previous prime minister.{{sfnp|Thornton|2004|p=18}} As the [[Early 1980s recession|recession of the early 1980s]] deepened, she increased taxes,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=31}} despite concerns expressed in a March 1981 statement signed by 364&nbsp;leading economists,<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 March 1981 |title=An avalanche of economists |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/263/101/138526786w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS285575295&dyn=75!xrn_1_0_CS285575295&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib |url-access=limited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714012618/http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/mclib?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/263/101/138526786w16/purl%3Drc1_TTDA_0_CS285575295%26dyn%3D75!xrn_1_0_CS285575295%26hst_1%3Fsw_aep%3Dmclib&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no |archive-date=14 July 2012 |access-date=12 January 2011 |work=[[The Times]] |page=17}}</ref> which argued there was "no basis in economic theory [...] for the Government's belief that by deflating demand they will bring inflation permanently under control", adding that "present policies will deepen the depression, erode the industrial base of our economy and threaten its social and political stability".<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 March 1981 |title=Economy: Letter of the 364 economists critical of monetarism (letter sent to academics and list of signatories) |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/121217 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401144432/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/121217 |archive-date=1 April 2018 |access-date=31 March 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>

[[File:Margaret Thatcher visiting Salford.jpg|thumb|alt=photograph|Visiting [[Salford University]] in 1982]]
By 1982, the UK began to experience signs of economic recovery;{{sfnp|Floud|Johnson|2004|p=392}} inflation was down to 8.6% from a high of 18%, but unemployment was over 3&nbsp;million for the first time since the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite news |title=26 January 1982: UK unemployment tops three million |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2506000/2506335.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221074348/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/newsid_2506000/2506335.stm |archive-date=21 February 2018 |access-date=16 April 2010 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> By 1983, overall economic growth was stronger, and inflation and mortgage rates had fallen to their lowest levels in 13 years, although manufacturing employment as a share of total employment fell to just over 30%,{{sfnp|Rowthorn|Wells|1987|page=234}} with total unemployment remaining high, peaking at 3.3&nbsp;million in 1984.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Grady |first=Sean |date=16 March 2009 |title=Unemployment among young workers hits 15 per cent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unemployment-among-young-workers-hits-15-per-cent-1645728.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724123849/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unemployment-among-young-workers-hits-15-per-cent-1645728.html |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=21 November 2010 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

During the 1982 Conservative Party Conference, Thatcher said: "We have done more to roll back the frontiers of socialism than any previous Conservative Government."<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 October 1982 |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105032 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073302/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105032 |archive-date=8 April 2018 |access-date=7 April 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> She said at the Party Conference the following year that the British people had completely rejected [[state socialism]] and understood "the state has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves [...] There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money."<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 October 1983 |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408010401/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454 |archive-date=8 April 2018 |access-date=7 April 2018 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>

By 1987, unemployment was falling, the economy was stable and strong, and inflation was low. Opinion polls showed a comfortable Conservative lead, and [[1987 United Kingdom local elections|local council election]] results had also been successful, prompting Thatcher to call a general election for 11&nbsp;June that year, despite the deadline for an election still being 12 months away. The [[1987 United Kingdom general election|election]] saw Thatcher re-elected for a third successive term.<ref>{{Cite news |title=11 June 1987 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge87.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203222938/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/background/pastelec/ge87.shtml |archive-date=3 December 2011 |access-date=14 November 2011 |work=Politics 97 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>

Thatcher had been firmly opposed to British membership of the [[Exchange Rate Mechanism]] (ERM, a precursor to [[European Economic and Monetary Union]]), believing that it would constrain the British economy,<ref name="ecc">{{Cite news |last=Riddell |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Riddell |date=23 November 1987 |title=Thatcher stands firm against full EMS role |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106969 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420095953/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106969 |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=8 October 2008 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> despite the urging of both Chancellor of the Exchequer [[Nigel Lawson]] and Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe;{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|p=712}} in October 1990 she was persuaded by [[John Major]], Lawson's successor as chancellor, to join the ERM at what proved to be too high a rate.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=484}}

Thatcher reformed local government taxes by replacing [[Rates (tax)|domestic rates]] (a tax based on the nominal rental value of a home) with the [[Community Charge]] (or poll tax) in which the same amount was charged to each adult resident.<ref name="polltax">{{Cite news |last=Passell |first=Peter |date=23 April 1990 |title=Furor Over British Poll Tax Imperils Thatcher Ideology |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DD1030F930A15757C0A966958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602032717/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/23/business/furor-over-british-poll-tax-imperils-thatcher-ideology.html |archive-date=2 June 2013 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The new tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales the following year,{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|pp=87–88}} and proved to be among the most unpopular policies of her premiership.{{r|polltax}} Public disquiet culminated in a 70,000 to 200,000-strong<ref name="trafalgarsq num">{{Cite news |last=Graham |first=David |date=25 March 2010 |title=The Battle of Trafalgar Square: The poll tax riots revisited |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-battle-of-trafalgar-square-the-poll-tax-riots-revisited-1926873.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119102840/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-battle-of-trafalgar-square-the-poll-tax-riots-revisited-1926873.html |archive-date=19 January 2018 |access-date=8 April 2013 |work=The Independent}}</ref> demonstration in London in March 1990; the demonstration around [[Trafalgar Square]] deteriorated into [[Poll tax riots|riots]], leaving 113 people injured and 340 under arrest.<ref name="otd pt">{{Cite news |title=31 March 1990: Violence flares in poll tax demonstration |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530763.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409013226/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/31/newsid_2530000/2530763.stm |archive-date=9 April 2013 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> The Community Charge was abolished in 1991 by her successor, John Major.{{r|otd pt}} It has since transpired that Thatcher herself had failed to register for the tax and was threatened with financial penalties if she did not return her form.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Narwan |first=Gurpreet |date=30 December 2016 |title=Threat of fine for unpaid poll tax sent to No 10 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/threat-of-fine-for-unpaid-poll-tax-sent-to-no-10-szqwdrlb6 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210821195006/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/threat-of-fine-for-unpaid-poll-tax-sent-to-no-10-szqwdrlb6 |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

====Industrial relations====
{{See also|GCHQ trade union ban|Council of Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service|label2=the GCHQ case}}

Thatcher believed that the [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|trade unions]] were harmful to both ordinary trade unionists and the public.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|pp=89–90}} She was committed to reducing the power of the unions, whose leadership she accused of undermining parliamentary democracy and economic performance through strike action.{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|pp=97–98, 339–340}} Several unions launched strikes in response to legislation introduced to limit their power, but resistance eventually collapsed.<ref name="thatcher-cw">{{Cite news |title=Margaret Thatcher |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/thatcher |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703072749/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/profiles/thatcher |archive-date=3 July 2008 |access-date=29 October 2008 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> Only 39% of union members voted Labour in the 1983 general election.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Revzin |first=Philip |date=23 November 1984 |title=British Labor Unions Begin to Toe the Line, Realizing That the Times Have Changed |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> According to the BBC's political correspondent in 2004, Thatcher "managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation".<ref name="bbcstrike">{{Cite news |last=Wilenius |first=Paul |date=5 March 2004 |title=Enemies within: Thatcher and the unions |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3067563.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430144439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3067563.stm |archive-date=30 April 2009 |access-date=29 October 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The [[miners' strike of 1984–85]] was the biggest and most devastating confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Henry |first=John |date=5 March 2009 |title=When miners took on the government |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7923138.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521105409/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/7923138.stm |archive-date=21 May 2018 |access-date=20 May 2018 |work=BBC News |location=Yorkshire}}</ref>

[[File:Miners strike rally London 1984.jpg|alt=photograph|thumb|Pro-strike rally in London, 1984]]
In March 1984, the [[National Coal Board]] (NCB) proposed to close 20 of the 174&nbsp;state-owned mines and cut 20,000&nbsp;jobs out of 187,000.<ref name="Glass">{{Cite news |last=Glass |first=Robert |date=16 December 1984 |title=The Uncivilized Side of Britain Rears its Ugly Head |work=The Record |page=37}}</ref><ref name="Black">{{Cite news |last=Black |first=David |date=21 February 2009 |title=Still unbowed, ex-miners to mark 25 years since the start of the strike |url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/still-unbowed-ex-miners-mark-25-4488387 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812022044/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/still-unbowed-ex-miners-mark-25-4488387 |archive-date=12 August 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Journal}}</ref>{{r|pits-closed}} Two-thirds of the country's miners, led by the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]] (NUM) under [[Arthur Scargill]], went on strike in protest.{{r|Glass}}<ref name="thatcher-num">{{Cite news |last=Hannan |first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Hannan (presenter) |date=6 March 2004 |title=Iron Lady versus union baron |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3537463.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226200523/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3537463.stm |archive-date=26 February 2009 |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Jones">{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Alan |date=3 March 2009 |title=A History of the Miners' Strike |agency=Press Association}}</ref> However, Scargill refused to hold a ballot on the strike,{{sfnp|Adeney|Lloyd|1988|pages=88–89}} having previously lost three ballots on a national strike (in January and October 1982, and March 1983).{{sfnp|Adeney|Lloyd|1988|page=169}} This led to the strike being declared illegal by the [[High Court of Justice]].{{sfnp|Adeney|Lloyd|1988|page=170}}<ref>{{Cite news |title=28 September 1984: Pit dispute 'illegal' says judge |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_2540000/2540813.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002235052/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_2540000/2540813.stm |archive-date=2 October 2018 |access-date=26 December 2012 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>

Thatcher refused to meet the union's demands and compared the miners' dispute to the [[Falklands War]], declaring in a speech in 1984: "We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty."{{sfnp|Khabaz|2006|p=226}} Thatcher's opponents characterised her words as indicating contempt for the working class and have been employed in criticism of her ever since.{{sfnp|Moore|2015|p=164}}

After a year out on strike in March 1985, the NUM leadership conceded without a deal. The cost to the economy was estimated to be at least £1.5&nbsp;billion, and the strike was blamed for much of the [[Pound sterling|pound]]'s fall against the US dollar.<ref name="Harper">{{Cite news |last=Harper |first=Timothy |date=5 March 1985 |title=Miners return to work today. Bitter coal strike wrenched British economy, society |work=The Dallas Morning News |page=8}}</ref> Thatcher reflected on the end of the strike in her statement that "if anyone has won", it was "the miners who stayed at work" and all those "that have kept Britain going".{{sfnp|Moore|2015|p=178}}

The government closed 25&nbsp;unprofitable coal mines in 1985, and by 1992 a total of 97 mines had been closed;{{r|pits-closed}} those that remained were privatised in 1994.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 March 2004 |title=UK Coal sees loss crumble to £1m |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3531819.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131203228/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3531819.stm |archive-date=31 January 2011 |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The resulting closure of 150&nbsp;coal mines, some of which were not losing money, resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and had the effect of devastating entire communities.<ref name="pits-closed">{{Cite news |date=5 March 2004 |title=Watching the pits disappear |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3514549.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702053420/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3514549.stm |archive-date=2 July 2008 |access-date=20 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Strikes had helped bring down Heath's government, and Thatcher was determined to succeed where he had failed. Her strategy of preparing fuel stocks, appointing hardliner [[Ian MacGregor]] as NCB leader and ensuring that police were adequately trained and equipped with riot gear contributed to her triumph over the striking miners.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=411}}

The number of stoppages across the UK peaked at 4,583 in 1979, when more than 29&nbsp;million working days had been lost. In 1984, the year of the miners' strike, there were 1,221, resulting in the loss of more than 27&nbsp;million working days. Stoppages then fell steadily throughout the rest of Thatcher's premiership; in 1990, there were 630 and fewer than 2&nbsp;million working days lost, and they continued to fall thereafter.{{sfnp|Butler|1994|p=375}} Thatcher's tenure also witnessed a sharp decline in trade union density, with the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union falling from 57.3% in 1979 to 49.5% in 1985.{{sfnp|Laybourn|1992|page=208}} In 1979 up until Thatcher's final year in office, trade union membership also fell, from 13.5&nbsp;million in 1979 to fewer than 10&nbsp;million.{{sfnp|Barrell|1994|p=127}}

====Privatisation====
The policy of [[privatisation]] has been called "a crucial ingredient of Thatcherism".{{sfnp|Seldon|Collings|2000|p=27}} After the 1983 election, the sale of state utilities accelerated;{{sfnp|Feigenbaum|Henig|Hamnett|1998|p=71}} more than £29&nbsp;billion was raised from the sale of nationalised industries, and another £18&nbsp;billion from the sale of council houses.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=428}} The process of privatisation, especially the preparation of nationalised industries for privatisation, was associated with marked improvements in performance, particularly in terms of [[labour productivity]].{{sfnp|Parker|Martin|1995}}

Some of the privatised industries, including gas, [[Water privatisation in England and Wales|water]], and electricity, were [[natural monopolies]] for which privatisation involved little increase in competition. The privatised industries that demonstrated improvement sometimes did so while still under state ownership. [[British Steel Corporation]] had made great gains in profitability while still a nationalised industry under the government-appointed MacGregor chairmanship, which faced down trade-union opposition to close plants and halve the workforce.{{sfnp|Kirby|2006}} Regulation was also significantly expanded to compensate for the loss of direct government control, with the foundation of regulatory bodies such as [[Oftel]] ([[Telecommunications Act 1984|1984]]), [[Ofgas]] ([[Gas Act 1986|1986]]), and the [[National Rivers Authority]] ([[Water Act 1989|1989]]).{{sfnp|Veljanovski|1990|pp=291–304}} There was no clear pattern to the degree of competition, regulation, and performance among the privatised industries.{{sfnp|Parker|Martin|1995}}

In most cases, privatisation benefited consumers in terms of lower prices and improved efficiency but results overall have been mixed.{{sfnp|McAleese|2004|pp=169–70}} Not all privatised companies have had successful share price trajectories in the longer term.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Simon |first=Emma |date=12 April 2013 |title=Thatcher's legacy: how has privatisation fared? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/shares-and-stock-tips/9989430/Thatchers-legacy-how-has-privatisation-fared.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015222606/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/shares-and-stock-tips/9989430/Thatchers-legacy-how-has-privatisation-fared.html |archive-date=15 October 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> A 2010 review by the IEA states: "[{{ucfirst:i]t}} does seem to be the case that once competition and/or effective regulation was introduced, performance improved markedly [...] But I hasten to emphasise again that the literature is not unanimous."<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 November 2000 |title=A Review of Privatisation and Regulation Experience in Britain |url=https://iea.org.uk/publications/research/a-review-of-privatisation-and-regulation-experience-in-britain |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033519/https://iea.org.uk/publications/research/a-review-of-privatisation-and-regulation-experience-in-britain |archive-date=20 February 2018 |access-date=19 February 2018 |publisher=Institute of Economic Affairs}}</ref>

Thatcher always resisted [[privatisation of British Rail|privatising British Rail]] and was said to have told Transport Secretary [[Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale|Nicholas Ridley]]: "Railway privatisation will be the [[wikt:Waterloo#Noun|Waterloo]] of this government. Please never mention the railways to me again." Shortly before her resignation in 1990, she accepted the arguments for privatisation, which her successor John Major implemented in 1994.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=495}}

The privatisation of public assets was combined with [[Deregulation#United Kingdom|financial deregulation]] to fuel economic growth. Chancellor Geoffrey Howe abolished the UK's exchange controls in 1979,<ref name="Robertson">{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Jamie |date=27 October 2016 |title=How the Big Bang changed the City of London for ever |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37751599 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816022757/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37751599 |archive-date=16 August 2017 |access-date=19 June 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> which allowed more capital to be invested in foreign markets, and the [[Big Bang (financial markets)|Big Bang]] of 1986 removed many restrictions on the [[London Stock Exchange]].{{r|Robertson}}

====Northern Ireland====
[[File:Margaret Thatcher on a visit to Northern Ireland.jpg|thumb|alt=Margaret and Denis Thatcher on a visit to Northern Ireland|Visiting Northern Ireland in 1982]]
In 1980 and 1981, [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (PIRA) and [[Irish National Liberation Army]] (INLA) prisoners in Northern Ireland's [[Maze Prison]] carried out [[1981 Irish hunger strike|hunger strikes]] to regain the status of political prisoners that had been removed in 1976 by the preceding Labour government.{{r|strike}} [[Bobby Sands]] began the 1981 strike, saying that he would fast until death unless prison inmates won concessions over their living conditions.<ref name="strike">{{Cite news |title=3 October 1981: IRA Maze hunger strikes at an end |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2451000/2451503.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113034637/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/3/newsid_2451000/2451503.stm |archive-date=13 January 2018 |access-date=5 January 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for the prisoners, having declared "Crime is crime is crime; it is not political".{{r|strike}} Nevertheless, the British government privately contacted republican leaders in a bid to bring the hunger strikes to an end.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clarke |first=Liam |date=5 April 2009 |title=Was Gerry Adams complicit over hunger strikers? |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111769 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111220938/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111769 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=The Sunday Times |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> After the deaths of Sands and nine others, the strike ended. Some rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but not official recognition of political status.{{r|CAIN-hs}} Violence in Northern Ireland escalated significantly during the hunger strikes.{{sfnp|English|2005|pp=207–08}}

Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in an IRA [[Brighton hotel bombing|assassination attempt]] at a Brighton hotel early in the morning on 12&nbsp;October 1984.<ref name="bbc-bomb">{{Cite news |title=12 October 1984: Tory Cabinet in Brighton bomb blast |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2531000/2531583.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308094001/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2531000/2531583.stm |archive-date=8 March 2017 |access-date=29 October 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> Five people were killed, including the wife of minister [[John Wakeham]]. Thatcher was staying at the hotel to prepare for the Conservative Party conference, which she insisted should open as scheduled the following day.{{r|bbc-bomb}} She delivered her speech as planned,{{sfnp|Thatcher|1993|pp=379–383}} though rewritten from her original draft,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=3 October 2014 |title=Thatcher was to call Labour and miners 'enemy within' in abandoned speech |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/03/thatcher-labour-miners-enemy-within-brighton-bomb |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228014646/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/03/thatcher-labour-miners-enemy-within-brighton-bomb |archive-date=28 February 2017 |access-date=25 May 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> in a move that was supported across the political spectrum and enhanced her popularity with the public.{{sfnp|Lanoue|Headrick|1998}}

On 6&nbsp;November 1981, Thatcher and [[Taoiseach]] (Irish prime minister) [[Garret FitzGerald]] had established the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council, a forum for meetings between the two governments.<ref name="CAIN-hs">{{Cite web |title=The Hunger Strike of 1981 – A Chronology of Main Events |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/hstrike/chronology.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206165221/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/hstrike/chronology.htm |archive-date=6 December 2010 |access-date=27 January 2011 |website=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] |publisher=Ulster University}}</ref> On 15&nbsp;November 1985, Thatcher and FitzGerald signed the Hillsborough [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]], which marked the first time a British government had given the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland. In protest, the [[Ulster Says No]] movement led by [[Ian Paisley]] attracted 100,000 to a rally in Belfast,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anglo Irish Agreement Chronology |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206111841/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm |archive-date=6 December 2010 |access-date=27 January 2011 |website=Conflict Archive on the Internet |publisher=Ulster University}}</ref> [[Ian Gow]], later assassinated by the PIRA, resigned as [[Minister of State]] in [[HM Treasury]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=15 November 1985: Anglo-Irish agreement signed |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_2539000/2539849.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307120742/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15/newsid_2539000/2539849.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=4 May 2010 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref>{{sfnp|Moloney|2002|p=336}} and all 15 Unionist MPs resigned their parliamentary seats; only one was not returned in the subsequent [[List of United Kingdom by-elections (1979–2010)|by-elections]] on 23&nbsp;January 1986.{{sfnp|Cochrane|1997|p=143}}

===Environment===
Thatcher supported an active [[climate protection]] policy; she was instrumental in the passing of the [[Environmental Protection Act 1990]],{{sfnp|Tewdwr-Jones|2003|page=47}} the founding of the [[Hadley Centre for Climate Research and Prediction]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 May 1990 |title=Speech opening Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108102 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613090256/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108102 |archive-date=13 June 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> the establishment of the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]],<ref name="Harrabin">{{Cite news |last=Harrabin |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Harrabin |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: How PM legitimised green concerns |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22069768 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810032718/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22069768 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and the ratification of the [[Montreal Protocol]] on preserving the [[Ozone layer|ozone]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bourke |first=India |date=14 October 2016 |title=Will Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan be the unlikely saviours of the world from climate change? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/energy/2016/10/will-margaret-thatcher-and-ronald-reagan-be-unlikely-saviours-world-climate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206102436/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/energy/2016/10/will-margaret-thatcher-and-ronald-reagan-be-unlikely-saviours-world-climate |archive-date=6 December 2018 |access-date=6 December 2018 |magazine=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref>

Thatcher helped to put [[climate change]], [[acid rain]] and general pollution in the British mainstream in the late 1980s,{{r|Harrabin}}{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|page=642}} calling for a global treaty on climate change in 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 September 2013 |title=A brief history of climate change |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15874560 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170726033727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15874560 |archive-date=26 July 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Her speeches included one to the [[Royal Society]] in 1988,<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 September 1988 |title=Speech to the Royal Society |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107346 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406101350/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107346 |archive-date=6 April 2016 |access-date=27 April 2016 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> followed by another to the [[UN General Assembly]] in 1989.

===Foreign affairs===
{{multiple image
|direction=vertical
|image1=Jimmy Carter and Margaret Thatcher in 1979 (cropped).jpg
|alt1=Thatcher sitting with Jimmy Carter
|caption1=With [[President Carter]] in the Oval&nbsp;Office, 1979
|image2=President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom.jpg
|alt2=Thatcher sitting with Ronald Reagan
|caption2=With [[President Reagan]] in the Oval&nbsp;Office, 1988
|image3=Thatcher and Bush - 1990 - P14935-18A.jpg
|alt3=Thatcher standing with George H. W. Bush
|caption3=With [[George H. W. Bush|President Bush]] in 1990
}}
Thatcher appointed Lord Carrington, an ennobled member of the party and former [[Secretary of State for Defence]], to run the [[Foreign Office]] in 1979.{{sfnp|Sked|Cook|1993|pages=364–422}} Although considered a "wet", he avoided domestic affairs and got along well with Thatcher. One issue was what to do with [[Rhodesia]], where the white minority had determined to rule the prosperous, black-majority breakaway colony in the face of overwhelming international criticism. With the 1975 [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] collapse in the continent, South Africa (which had been Rhodesia's chief supporter) realised that their ally was a liability; black rule was inevitable, and the Thatcher government brokered a peaceful solution to end the [[Rhodesian Bush War]] in December 1979 via the [[Lancaster House Agreement]]. The conference at Lancaster House was attended by Rhodesian prime minister [[Ian Smith]], as well as by the key black leaders: [[Muzorewa]], [[Mugabe]], [[Joshua Nkomo|Nkomo]] and [[Tongogara]]. The result was the new Zimbabwean nation under black rule in 1980.{{sfnmp|1a1=Lewis|1y=1980|2a1=Soames|2y=1980}}

====Cold War====
Thatcher's first foreign-policy crisis came with the 1979 [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]]. She condemned the invasion, said it showed the bankruptcy of a [[détente]] policy and helped convince some British athletes to boycott the [[1980 Moscow Olympics]]. She gave weak support to US president Jimmy Carter who tried to punish the USSR with economic sanctions. Britain's economic situation was precarious, and most of NATO was reluctant to cut trade ties.{{sfnp|Lahey|2013}} Thatcher nevertheless gave the go-ahead for [[Whitehall]] to approve [[MI6]] (along with the SAS) to undertake [[United Kingdom in the Soviet–Afghan War|"disruptive action" in Afghanistan]].{{sfnp|Dorril|2002|p={{nowrap|{{plainlink|https://archive.org/details/mi6insidecovertw00dorr/page/752|752}} {{closed access}}}}}} As well as working with the CIA in [[Operation Cyclone]], they also supplied weapons, training and intelligence to the ''[[mujaheddin]]''.{{sfnp|Cormac|2018|pages=233–36}}

The ''[[Financial Times]]'' reported in 2011 that her government had secretly supplied [[Iraq under Saddam Hussein]] with [[British support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war|"non-lethal" military equipment since 1981]].<ref name="Thatcher Hussein secret">{{Cite web |last=Stothard |first=Michael |date=30 December 2011 |title=UK secretly supplied Saddam |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52add2c4-30b4-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701032514/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/52add2c4-30b4-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=11 October 2015 |newspaper=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Leigh |first1=David |author-link1=David Leigh (journalist) |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |name-list-style=amp |date=27 February 2003 |title=How £1bn was lost when Thatcher propped up Saddam |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811011113/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Having withdrawn formal recognition from the [[Pol Pot regime]] in 1979,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Kampuchea |house=House of Commons |date=16 May 1985 |volume=79 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1985/may/16/kampuchea |column_start=486 |column_end=490 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> the Thatcher government backed the [[Khmer Rouge]] keeping their UN seat after they were ousted from power in Cambodia by the [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War]]. Although Thatcher denied it at the time,<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Cambodia |house=House of Commons |date=26 October 1990 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198990/cmhansrd/1990-10-26/Debate-3.html |column_start=655 |column_end=667 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> it was revealed in 1991 that, while not directly training any Khmer Rouge,{{sfnp|Neville|2016|p=20}} from 1983 the [[Special Air Service]] (SAS) was sent to secretly train "the armed forces of the [[Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea|Cambodian non-communist resistance]]" that remained loyal to Prince [[Norodom Sihanouk]] and his former prime minister [[Son Sann]] in the fight against the [[People's Republic of Kampuchea|Vietnamese-backed puppet regime]].<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Cambodia |house=House of Commons |date=22 July 1991 |volume=195 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/jul/22/cambodia |column_start=863 |column_end=883 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 January 2000 |title=Butcher of Cambodia set to expose Thatcher's role |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144544/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=26 May 2011 |work=The Observer}}</ref>

Thatcher was one of the first Western leaders to respond warmly to reformist Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. Following Reagan–Gorbachev summit meetings and reforms enacted by Gorbachev in the USSR, she declared in November 1988 that "[{{lcfirst:W]e're}} not in a Cold War now" but rather in a "new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was".<ref name="reforms1988">{{Cite news |date=18 November 1988 |title=Gorbachev Policy Has Ended The Cold War, Thatcher Says |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DC1738F93BA25752C1A96E948260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173109/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/18/world/gorbachev-policy-has-ended-the-cold-war-thatcher-says.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=30 October 2008 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> She went on a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1984 and met with Gorbachev and Council of Ministers chairman [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]].{{sfnp|Zemcov|Farrar|1989|page=138}}

====Ties with the US====
[[File:Reagan-Thatcher cabinet talks.jpg|thumb|alt=photograph|upright=1.2|Meeting [[Reagan's cabinet]] with ministers in the [[White House Cabinet Room]], 1981]]
Despite opposite personalities, Thatcher bonded quickly with US president [[Ronald Reagan]].{{refn|{{harvtxt|Cannadine|2017}}: <q>In many ways they were very different figures: he was sunny, genial, charming, relaxed, upbeat, and with little intellectual curiosity or command of policy detail; she was domineering, belligerent, confrontational, tireless, hyperactive, and with an unrivalled command of facts and figures. But the chemistry between them worked. Reagan had been grateful for her interest in him at a time when the British establishment refused to take him seriously; she agreed with him about the importance of creating wealth, cutting taxes, and building up stronger defences against Soviet Russia; and both believed in liberty and free-market freedom, and in the need to outface what [[Evil Empire speech|Reagan would later call 'the evil empire']].</q>|group=nb}} She gave strong support to the [[Reagan administration]]'s [[Reagan Doctrine|Cold War policies]] based on their shared [[Anti-communism|distrust of communism]].{{r|thatcher-cw}} A sharp disagreement came in 1983 when Reagan did not consult with her on the [[invasion of Grenada]].{{sfnp|Williams|2001}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2004 |title=Ronald Reagan |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628180545/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111260 |archive-date=28 June 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |type=Obituary |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation |newspaper=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

During her first year as prime minister, she supported [[NATO]]'s decision to deploy US nuclear [[BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile|cruise]] and [[Pershing II]] missiles in Western Europe,{{r|thatcher-cw}} permitting the US to station more than 160&nbsp;cruise missiles at [[RAF Greenham Common]], starting in November 1983 and triggering mass protests by the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]].{{r|thatcher-cw}} She bought the [[Trident nuclear missile]] submarine system from the US to replace Polaris, tripling the UK's nuclear forces<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=28 July 1980 |title=Trident is go |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904225816/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922079,00.html |archive-date=4 September 2008 |access-date=16 January 2011 |magazine=Time}}</ref> at an eventual cost of more than £12&nbsp;billion (at 1996–97 prices).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 1999 |title=Vanguard Class Ballistic Missile Submarine |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123230232/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/slbm/vanguard.htm |archive-date=23 November 2010 |access-date=16 January 2011 |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]}}</ref> Thatcher's preference for defence ties with the US was demonstrated in the [[Westland affair]] of 1985–86 when she acted with colleagues to allow the struggling helicopter manufacturer [[Westland Helicopters|Westland]] to refuse a takeover offer from the Italian firm [[Agusta]] in favour of the management's preferred option, a link with [[Sikorsky Aircraft]]. Defence Secretary [[Michael Heseltine]], who had supported the Agusta deal, resigned from the government in protest.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=419}}

In April 1986 she permitted US [[General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark|F-111s]] to use [[Royal Air Force]] bases for the [[1986 United States bombing of Libya|bombing of Libya]] in retaliation for the [[West Berlin discotheque bombing|Libyan bombing of a Berlin discothèque]],<ref name="Cannon">{{Cite news |last=Cannon |first=Lou |author-link=Lou Cannon |date=15 April 1986 |title=Reagan Acted Upon 'Irrefutable' Evidence |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/reagan-acted-upon-irrefutable-evidence/61170c59-b355-4e0a-8ab5-411bba4879e8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906092229/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/04/15/reagan-acted-upon-irrefutable-evidence/61170c59-b355-4e0a-8ab5-411bba4879e8/ |archive-date=6 September 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> citing the right of self-defence under [[Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter|Article 51 of the UN Charter]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Riddell |first=Peter |date=16 April 1986 |title=Thatcher Defends US Use Of British Bases in Libya bombing raid |work=Financial Times |page=1}}</ref>{{refn|<q>The United States has more than 330,000&nbsp;members of her forces in Europe to defend our liberty. Because they are here, they are subject to terrorist attack. It is inconceivable that they should be refused the right to use American aircraft and American pilots in the inherent right of self-defence, to defend their own people.</q><ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Engagements |house=House of Commons |date=15 April 1986 |volume=95 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1986/apr/15/engagements |access-date=22 October 2020 |pages=723–728}}</ref>|group=nb}} Polls suggested that fewer than one in three British citizens approved of her decision.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lejeune |first=Anthony |date=23 May 1986 |title=A friend in need |work=National Review |page=27 |volume=38 |issue=1}}</ref>

Thatcher was in the US on a state visit when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invaded Kuwait]] in August 1990.<ref name="gw-pbs">{{Cite web |title=Oral History: Margaret Thatcher |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202075000/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/thatcher/1.html |archive-date=2 December 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=PBS}}</ref> During her talks with President [[George H. W. Bush]], who succeeded Reagan in 1989, she recommended intervention,{{r|gw-pbs}} and put pressure on Bush to deploy troops in the Middle East to drive the [[Iraqi Army]] out of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Lewis |date=7 August 1992 |title=Abroad at Home; Will Bush Take Real Action? |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9113AF934A3575BC0A964958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173131/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/07/opinion/abroad-at-home-will-bush-take-real-action.html |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Bush was apprehensive about the plan, prompting Thatcher to remark to him during a telephone conversation: "This was no time to go wobbly!"<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 August 1990 |title=Gulf War: Bush–Thatcher phone conversation (no time to go wobbly) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420093131/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/commentary/displaydocument.asp?docid=110711 |archive-date=20 April 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tisdall |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Tisdall |date=8 April 2013 |title=No-nonsense Iron Lady punched above UK's weight on world stage |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-iron-lady-world-stage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731063611/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-iron-lady-world-stage |archive-date=31 July 2017 |access-date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher's government supplied military forces to the international coalition in the build-up to the [[Gulf War]], but she had resigned by the time hostilities began on 17&nbsp;January 1991.{{sfnp|Aitken|2013|pp=600–601}}<ref name="grice">{{Cite news |last=Grice |first=Andrew |date=13 October 2005 |title=Thatcher reveals her doubts over basis for Iraq war |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/thatcher-reveals-her-doubts-over-basis-for-iraq-war-319542.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025132508/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/thatcher-reveals-her-doubts-over-basis-for-iraq-war-319542.html |archive-date=25 October 2017 |access-date=22 September 2016 |work=The Independent}}</ref> She applauded the coalition victory on the backbenches, while warning that "the victories of peace will take longer than the battles of war".<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=The Gulf |house=House of Commons |date=28 February 1991 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/feb/28/the-gulf#column_1120 |column=1120 |access-date=28 October 2020}}</ref> It was disclosed in 2017 that Thatcher had suggested threatening Saddam with [[chemical weapon]]s after the invasion of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 July 2017 |title=Margaret Thatcher suggested threatening Saddam with chemical weapons |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40667031 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722005112/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40667031 |archive-date=22 July 2017 |access-date=22 July 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mance |first=Henry |date=20 July 2017 |title=Thatcher wanted to threaten Saddam with chemical weapons |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e2d78a20-6bcd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170720180853/https://www.ft.com/content/e2d78a20-6bcd-11e7-b9c7-15af748b60d0 |archive-date=20 July 2017 |access-date=31 July 2017 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

====Crisis in the South Atlantic====
{{See also|Rejoice (Margaret Thatcher)|label1="Rejoice"|Sinking of the ARA General Belgrano|label2=sinking of the ARA ''General Belgrano''|Diana Gould–Margaret Thatcher exchange|label3=the Diana Gould exchange}}
On 2&nbsp;April 1982, the ruling [[National Reorganization Process|military junta in Argentina]] ordered the invasion of the [[British Overseas Territories]] of the [[Falkland Islands]] and [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|South Georgia]], [[Events leading to the Falklands War|triggering the Falklands War]].{{sfnp|Smith|1989|p=21}} The [[Occupation of the Falkland Islands|subsequent crisis]] was "a defining moment of {{interp|Thatcher's}} premiership".{{sfnp|Jackling|2005|p=230}} At the suggestion of Harold Macmillan and [[Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster|Robert Armstrong]],{{sfnp|Jackling|2005|p=230}} she set up and chaired a small [[War cabinet#Falklands War|War Cabinet]] (formally called ODSA, Overseas and Defence committee, South Atlantic) to oversee the conduct of the war,{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=80–81}} which by 5–6&nbsp;April had authorised and dispatched [[British naval forces in the Falklands War|a naval task force]] to retake the islands.{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=95}} Argentina [[Argentine surrender in the Falklands War|surrendered on 14&nbsp;June]] and ''Operation Corporate'' was hailed a success, notwithstanding the deaths of 255&nbsp;British servicemen and three Falkland Islanders. Argentine fatalities totalled 649, half of them after the nuclear-powered submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} torpedoed and sank the cruiser {{ship|ARA|General Belgrano}} on 2&nbsp;May.<ref name="liberation">{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Michael |date=15 June 2007 |title=The Falklands: 25 years since the Iron Lady won her war |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/the-falklands-25-years-since-the-iron-lady-won-her-war-v3dp2zx3h5h |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210913174010/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-falklands-25-years-since-the-iron-lady-won-her-war-v3dp2zx3h5h |archive-date=13 September 2021 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

Thatcher was criticised for the neglect of the Falklands' defence that led to the war, and especially by Labour MP [[Tam Dalyell]] in Parliament for the decision to torpedo the ''General Belgrano'', but overall, she was considered a competent and committed war leader.{{sfnp|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|pp=335–336}} The "[[Falklands factor]]", an economic recovery beginning early in 1982, and a bitterly divided opposition all contributed to Thatcher's second election victory in [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]].{{sfnp|Sanders|Ward|Marsh|1987}} Thatcher frequently referred after the war to the "Falklands spirit";<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Jenkins |date=1 April 2012 |title=Falklands war 30 years on and how it turned Thatcher into a world celebrity |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/01/falklands-war-thatcher-30-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905232855/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/01/falklands-war-thatcher-30-years |archive-date=5 September 2017 |access-date=26 May 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> {{harvtxt|Hastings|Jenkins|1983|p=329}} suggests that this reflected her preference for the streamlined decision-making of her War Cabinet over the painstaking deal-making of peacetime [[cabinet government]].

====Negotiating Hong Kong====
In September 1982, she visited China to discuss with [[Deng Xiaoping]] the [[sovereignty of Hong Kong]] after 1997. China was the first communist state Thatcher had visited as prime minister, and she was the first British prime minister to visit China. Throughout their meeting, she sought the PRC's agreement to a continued British presence in the territory. Deng insisted that the PRC's sovereignty over Hong Kong was non-negotiable but stated his willingness to settle the sovereignty issue with the British government through formal negotiations. Both governments promised to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.{{sfnp|Yahuda|1996|page=155}} After the two-year negotiations, Thatcher conceded to the PRC government and signed the [[Sino-British Joint Declaration]] in Beijing in 1984, agreeing to hand over Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997.{{sfnp|Reitan|2003|p=116}}

====Apartheid in South Africa====
Despite saying that she was in favour of "peaceful negotiations" to end [[apartheid]],<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Engagements |house=House of Commons |date=25 February 1988 |volume=128 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1988/feb/25/engagements#S6CV0128P0_19880225_HOC_113 |column=437 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=South Africa |house=Written Answers HC Deb |date=11 July 1988 |volume=137 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/11/south-africa#S6CV0137P0_19880711_CWA_21 |column_start=3 |column_end=4W |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref> Thatcher opposed [[Disinvestment from South Africa|sanctions imposed on South Africa]] by the Commonwealth and the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC).{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=322}} She attempted to preserve trade with South Africa while persuading its government to abandon apartheid. This included "[c]asting herself as [[President Botha]]'s candid friend" and inviting him to visit the UK in 1984,<ref name="Hanning">{{Cite news |last=Hanning |first=James |date=8 December 2013 |title=The 'terrorist' and the Tories: What did Nelson Mandela really think of Margaret Thatcher? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-terrorist-and-the-tories-what-did-nelson-mandela-really-think-of-margaret-thatcher-8990872.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208093841/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-terrorist-and-the-tories-what-did-nelson-mandela-really-think-of-margaret-thatcher-8990872.html |archive-date=8 December 2013 |access-date=24 October 2017 |work=The Independent}}</ref> despite the "inevitable demonstrations" against his government.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=325}} Alan Merrydew of the Canadian broadcaster [[BCTV News]] asked Thatcher what her response was "to a reported ANC statement that they will target British firms in South Africa?" to which she later replied: "[...] when the ANC says that they will target British companies [...] This shows what a typical terrorist organisation it is. I fought terrorism all my life and if more people fought it, and we were all more successful, we should not have it and I hope that everyone in this hall will think it is right to go on fighting terrorism."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plaut |first=Martin |date=29 August 2018 |title=Did Margaret Thatcher really call Nelson Mandela a terrorist? |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/08/did-margaret-thatcher-really-call-nelson-mandela-terrorist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906233752/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/08/did-margaret-thatcher-really-call-nelson-mandela-terrorist |archive-date=6 September 2018 |access-date=6 September 2018 |magazine=New Statesman}}</ref> During his visit to Britain five months after his release from prison, [[Nelson Mandela]] praised Thatcher: "She is an enemy of apartheid [...] We have much to thank her for."{{r|Hanning}}

====Europe====
{{See also|Bruges speech}}
{{External media |topic=1988 speech to the [[College of Europe]] |video1={{Cite speech |title=Speech to the College of Europe'' ('The Bruges Speech')'' |url=https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/113688 |via=the Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}<ref name="Bruges" />}}

Thatcher and her party supported British membership of the EEC in the [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|1975 national referendum]]<ref name="upi19750604">{{Cite news |date=4 June 1975 |title=Conservatives favor remaining in market |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031074621/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551 |archive-date=31 October 2020 |access-date=26 December 2011 |work=Wilmington Morning Star |page=5 |agency=United Press International}}</ref> and the [[Single European Act]] of 1986, and obtained the [[UK rebate]] on contributions,<ref name="kuper20190620">{{Cite news |last=Kuper |first=Simon |date=20 June 2019 |title=How Oxford university shaped Brexit – and Britain's next prime minister |url=https://www.ft.com/content/85fc694c-9222-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621101919/https://www.ft.com/content/85fc694c-9222-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |access-date=23 October 2020 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> but she believed that the role of the organisation should be limited to ensuring free trade and effective competition, and feared that the EEC approach was at odds with her views on smaller government and deregulation.{{sfnp|Senden|2004|p=9}} Believing that the single market would result in political integration,{{r|kuper20190620}} Thatcher's opposition to further [[European integration]] became more pronounced during her premiership and particularly after her third government in 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pylas |first=Pan |date=23 January 2020 |title=Britain's EU Journey: When Thatcher turned all euroskeptic |url=https://apnews.com/64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030173846/https://apnews.com/64855d1ff67454443db5132bdfb22ea6 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=Associated Press News}}</ref> In her Bruges speech in 1988, Thatcher outlined her opposition to proposals from the EEC,<ref name="Bruges">{{Cite web |date=20 September 1988 |title=Speech to the College of Europe ('The Bruges Speech') |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513020525/http://margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=107332 |archive-date=13 May 2012 |access-date=31 October 2008 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> forerunner of the [[European Union]], for a federal structure and increased centralisation of decision-making:{{blockquote |We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.{{sfnp|Senden|2004|p=9}}}}

Sharing the concerns of French president [[François Mitterrand]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blitz |first=James |date=9 September 2009 |title=Mitterrand feared emergence of 'bad' Germans |url=https://www.ft.com/content/886192ba-9d7d-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131042253/https://www.ft.com/content/886192ba-9d7d-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=31 January 2019 |access-date=14 May 2017 |work=Financial Times}}</ref> Thatcher was initially opposed to [[German reunification]],{{refn|She was decidedly cool towards reunification prior to 1990, but made no attempt to block it.{{sfnp|Ratti|2017|loc=chpt.&nbsp;4}}|group=nb}} telling Gorbachev that it "would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security". She expressed concern that a united Germany would align itself more closely with the Soviet Union and move away from NATO.{{sfnp|Görtemaker|2006|p=198}}

In March 1990, Thatcher held a Chequers seminar on the subject of German reunification that was attended by members of her cabinet and historians such as [[Norman Stone]], [[George Urban]], [[Timothy Garton Ash]] and [[Gordon A. Craig]]. During the seminar, Thatcher described "what Urban called 'saloon bar [[cliché]]s' about the German character, including '[[angst]], aggressiveness, [[assertiveness]], bullying, [[egotism]], [[inferiority complex]] {{interp|and}} [[sentimentality]]{{'"}}. Those present were shocked to hear Thatcher's utterances and "appalled" at how she was "apparently unaware" about the post-war [[German collective guilt]] and Germans' attempts to [[Vergangenheitsbewältigung|work through their past]].{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=634}} The words of the meeting were leaked by her foreign-policy advisor [[Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater|Charles Powell]] and, subsequently, her comments were met with fierce backlash and controversy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Low |first=Valentine |date=30 December 2016 |title=Germans seen as self-pitying, egotistical and bullying race |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/germans-seen-as-self-pitying-egotistical-and-bullying-race-chl0zfqtd |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210821212858/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/germans-seen-as-self-pitying-egotistical-and-bullying-race-chl0zfqtd |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=17 December 2020 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

During the same month, German chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] reassured Thatcher that he would keep her "informed of all his intentions about unification",<ref name="Bowcott">{{Cite web |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=30 December 2016 |title=Kohl offered Thatcher secret access to reunification plans |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/helmut-kohl-margaret-thatcher-reunification-plans-national-archives-files |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517040338/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/helmut-kohl-margaret-thatcher-reunification-plans-national-archives-files |archive-date=17 May 2019 |access-date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> and that he was prepared to disclose "matters which even his cabinet would not know".{{r|Bowcott}}

===Challenges to leadership and resignation===
{{Main|1989 Conservative Party leadership election|1990 Conservative Party leadership election}}
[[File:Thatcher reviews troops.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Thatcher in a blue suit and hat, walking in front of troops|Reviewing the [[Royal Bermuda Regiment]] in 1990]]

During her premiership, Thatcher had the second-lowest average approval rating (40%) of any post-war prime minister. Since Nigel Lawson's resignation as chancellor in October 1989,{{sfnp|Crewe|1991}} polls consistently showed that she was less popular than her party.<ref name="ridley">{{Cite news |last=Ridley |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Ridley |date=25 November 1990 |title=Et Tu, Heseltine?; Unpopularity Was a Grievous Fault, and Thatcher Hath Answered for It |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1160505.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831000325/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1160505.html |archive-date=31 August 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> A self-described conviction politician, Thatcher always insisted that she did not care about her poll ratings and pointed instead to her unbeaten election record.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The poll tax incubus |date=24 November 1990 |page=13 |issue=63872 |department=Editorials/Leaders}}</ref>

In December 1989, Thatcher was challenged for the leadership of the Conservative Party by the little-known backbench MP [[Sir Anthony Meyer]].<ref name="89election">{{Cite news |title=5 December 1989: Thatcher beats off leadership rival |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_2528000/2528339.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307113658/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/5/newsid_2528000/2528339.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> Of the 374 Conservative MPs eligible to vote, 314 voted for Thatcher and 33 for Meyer. Her supporters in the party viewed the result as a success and rejected suggestions that there was discontent within the party.{{r|89election}}

Opinion polls in September 1990 reported that Labour had established a 14% lead over the Conservatives,{{r|howe}} and by November, the Conservatives had been trailing Labour for 18&nbsp;months.{{r|ridley}} These ratings, together with Thatcher's combative personality and tendency to override collegiate opinion, contributed to further discontent within her party.{{r|resign-nyt}}

In July 1989, Thatcher removed Geoffrey Howe as [[Foreign secretary (United Kingdom)|foreign secretary]] after he and Lawson had forced her to agree to a plan for Britain to join the [[European Exchange Rate Mechanism]] (ERM). Britain joined the ERM in October 1990.

On 1&nbsp;November 1990, Howe, by then the last remaining member of Thatcher's original 1979 cabinet, resigned as [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|deputy prime minister]], ostensibly over her open hostility to moves towards [[European monetary union]].<ref name="howe">{{Cite news |title=1 November 1990: Howe resigns over Europe policy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/1/newsid_2513000/2513953.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307114118/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/1/newsid_2513000/2513953.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Millership |first=Peter |date=1 November 1990 |title=Thatcher's Deputy Quits in Row over Europe |agency=Reuters}}</ref> In his resignation speech on 13&nbsp;November, which was instrumental in Thatcher's downfall,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Sir Geoffrey Howe's resignation was fatal blow in Mrs Thatcher's political assassination |date=5 December 1990 |page=12 |issue=63881 |department=News |last=Walters |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Walters}}</ref> Howe attacked Thatcher's openly dismissive attitude to the government's proposal for a new European currency competing against existing currencies (a "[[hard ECU]]"):

{{blockquote|How on earth are the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England, commending the hard ECU as they strive to, to be taken as serious participants in the debate against that kind of background noise? I believe that both the Chancellor and the Governor are cricketing enthusiasts, so I hope that there is no monopoly of cricketing metaphors. It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find, the moment the first balls are bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.<ref>{{Cite Hansard |title=Personal Statement |house=House of Commons |date=13 November 1990 |volume=180 |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1990/nov/13/personal-statement |column_start=461 |column_end=465 |access-date=22 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Sir Geoffrey Howe savages Prime Minister over European stance in resignation speech |date=14 November 1990 |page=3 |issue=63863 |department=Politics and Parliament}}</ref>}}

On 14&nbsp;November, Michael Heseltine mounted a challenge for the leadership of the Conservative Party.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Frankel |first=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Frankel |date=15 November 1990 |title=Heseltine challenges Thatcher for her job |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/15/heseltine-challenges-thatcher-for-her-job/13f1b56b-2db0-44c8-b75d-8b2a31a16a07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810172436/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/15/heseltine-challenges-thatcher-for-her-job/13f1b56b-2db0-44c8-b75d-8b2a31a16a07/ |archive-date=10 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=473}} Opinion polls had indicated that he would give the Conservatives a national lead over Labour.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Poll swing followed downturn by Tories; Conservative Party leadership |date=21 November 1990 |page=2 |issue=63869 |department=News |last=Lipsey |first=David |author-link=David Lipsey, Baron Lipsey}}</ref> Although Thatcher led on the first ballot with the votes of 204 Conservative MPs (54.8%) to 152 votes (40.9%) for Heseltine, with 16 abstentions, she was four votes short of the required 15% majority. A second ballot was therefore necessary.{{sfnp|Williams|1998|page=66}} Thatcher initially declared her intention to "fight on and fight to win" the second ballot, but consultation with her cabinet persuaded her to withdraw.<ref name="resign-nyt">{{Cite news |last=Whitney |first=Craig R. |date=23 November 1990 |title=Change in Britain; Thatcher Says She'll Quit; 11½ Years as Prime Minister Ended by Party Challenge |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DB1438F930A15752C1A966958260&sec=&spon= |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="resign-bbc">{{Cite news |title=22 November 1990: Thatcher quits as prime minister |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307114202/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2549000/2549189.stm |archive-date=7 March 2008 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=On This Day 1950–2005 |via=BBC News Online}}</ref> After holding an audience with the Queen, calling other world leaders, and making one final Commons speech,<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 November 1990 |title=HC S: [Confidence in Her Majesty's Government] |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108256 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407102050/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108256 |archive-date=7 April 2017 |access-date=21 March 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref> on 28&nbsp;November she left Downing Street in tears. She reportedly regarded her ousting as a betrayal.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=474}} Her resignation was a shock to many outside Britain, with such foreign observers as [[Henry Kissinger]] and Gorbachev expressing private consternation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=30 December 2016 |title=Margaret Thatcher's resignation shocked politicians in US and USSR, files show |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/margaret-thatcher-resignation-shocked-us-ussr-files |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108115705/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/30/margaret-thatcher-resignation-shocked-us-ussr-files |archive-date=8 November 2020 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Chancellor John Major replaced Thatcher as head of government and party leader, whose lead over Heseltine in the second ballot was sufficient for Heseltine to drop out. Major oversaw an upturn in Conservative support in the 17&nbsp;months leading to the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]] and led the party to a fourth successive victory on 9&nbsp;April 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kettle |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Kettle |date=4 April 2005 |title=Pollsters taxed |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/electionspast.past3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109160116/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/electionspast.past3 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |access-date=23 January 2011 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher had lobbied for Major in the leadership contest against Heseltine, but her support for him waned in later years.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 October 1999 |title=Major attacks 'warrior' Thatcher |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/463873.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031011111013/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/463873.stm |archive-date=11 October 2003 |access-date=1 November 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>