Editing Margaret Thatcher (section)

==Legacy==

===Political impact===
{{Thatcherism}}

Thatcherism represented a systematic and decisive overhaul of the [[post-war consensus]], whereby the major political parties largely agreed on the central themes of [[Keynesianism]], the [[Welfare state in the United Kingdom|welfare state]], nationalised industry, and close regulation of the economy, and high taxes. Thatcher generally supported the welfare state while proposing to rid it of abuses.{{refn|{{harvtxt|Moore|2013|p=87}}: <q>Neither at the beginning of her career nor when she was prime minister, did Margaret Thatcher ever reject the wartime foundations of the welfare state, whether in health, social policy or education. In this she was less radical than her critics or some of her admirers supposed. Her concern was to focus more on abuse of the system, on bureaucracy and union militancy, and on the growth of what later came to be called the dependency culture, rather than on the system itself.</q>|group=nb}}

She promised in 1982 that the highly popular [[National Health Service]] was "safe in our hands".{{sfnp|Klein|1985}} At first, she ignored the question of privatising nationalised industries; heavily influenced by right-wing think tanks, and especially by [[Sir Keith Joseph]],{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=358}} Thatcher broadened her attack. Thatcherism came to refer to her policies as well as aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including [[moral absolutism]], [[nationalism]], [[liberal individualism]], and an uncompromising approach to achieving political goals.<ref name="eb">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Margaret Thatcher profile |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590098/Margaret-Thatcher |access-date=30 October 2008 |last=Young |first=Hugo |date=n.d. |author-link=Hugo Young |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031211708/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590098/Margaret-Thatcher |archive-date=31 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bootle |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Bootle |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: the economic achievements and legacy of Thatcherism |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9979362/Margaret-Thatcher-the-economic-achievements-and-legacy-of-Thatcherism.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704110154/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/9979362/Margaret-Thatcher-the-economic-achievements-and-legacy-of-Thatcherism.html |archive-date=4 July 2017 |access-date=24 July 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>{{refn|{{harvtxt|Lawson|1992|p=64}} lists the Thatcherite ideals as "a mixture of free markets, financial discipline, firm control over public expenditure, tax cuts, nationalism, 'Victorian values' (of the [[Samuel Smiles]] self-help variety), privatisation and a dash of populism".|group=nb}}

Thatcher defined her political philosophy, in a major and controversial break with the [[one-nation conservatism]]{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|pages=530–532}} of her predecessor Edward Heath, in a 1987 interview published in ''[[Woman's Own]]'' magazine:

{{blockquote|I think we have gone through a period when too many children and people have been given to understand "I have a problem, it is the Government's job to cope with it!" or "I have a problem, I will go and get a grant to cope with it!" "I am homeless, the Government must house me!" and so they are casting their problems on society and who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then also to help look after our neighbour and life is a reciprocal business and people have got the entitlements too much in mind without the obligations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 September 1987 |title=Interview for ''Woman's Own'' ('no such thing as society') with journalist Douglas Keay |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427052051/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106689 |archive-date=27 April 2006 |access-date=10 April 2007 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>}}

====Overview====
The number of adults owning shares rose from 7&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent to 25&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent during her tenure, and more than a million families bought their council houses, increasing from 55&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent to 67&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent in [[owner-occupier]]s from 1979 to 1990. The houses were sold at a discount of 33–55&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent, leading to large profits for some new owners. Personal wealth rose by 80&nbsp;per&nbsp;cent in real terms during the 1980s, mainly due to rising house prices and increased earnings. Shares in the privatised utilities were sold below their market value to ensure quick and wide sales rather than maximise national income.{{sfnp|Marr|2007|p=430}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 April 2013 |title=What is Thatcherism? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22079683 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811054456/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22079683 |archive-date=11 August 2017 |access-date=2 August 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

The "Thatcher years" were also marked by periods of high unemployment and social unrest,<ref name="legacy-bbc">{{Cite news |date=4 May 2004 |title=Evaluating Thatcher's legacy |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3681973.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209115746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3681973.stm |archive-date=9 February 2009 |access-date=11 April 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 April 2013 |title=The Thatcher years in statistics |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22070491 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224070722/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22070491 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |access-date=6 January 2019 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and many critics on the left of the political spectrum fault her economic policies for the unemployment level; many of the areas affected by mass unemployment as well as her monetarist economic policies remained blighted for decades, by such social problems as [[drug abuse]] and family breakdown.{{sfnp|Richards|2004|p=63}} Unemployment did not fall below its May 1979 level during her tenure,<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: How the economy changed |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22073527 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014025026/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22073527 |archive-date=14 October 2016 |access-date=5 November 2016 |work=BBC News}}</ref> only falling below its April 1979 level in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Denman |first1=James |last2=McDonald |first2=Paul |name-list-style=amp |date=January 1996 |title=Unemployment statistics from 1881 to the present day |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-trends--discontinued-/january-1996/unemployment-since-1881.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925103339/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-trends--discontinued-/january-1996/unemployment-since-1881.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=16 May 2017 |publisher=[[Government Statistical Service]] |page=7}}</ref> The long-term effects of her policies on manufacturing remain contentious.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 April 2013 |title=Industrialists split over Thatcher legacy |url=https://www.ft.com/content/959ebdda-a2cf-11e2-bd45-00144feabdc0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210912185844/https://www.ft.com/content/959ebdda-a2cf-11e2-bd45-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=12 September 2021 |access-date=13 November 2016 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|page=79}}

Speaking in Scotland in 2009, Thatcher insisted she had no regrets and was right to introduce the poll tax and withdraw subsidies from "outdated industries, whose markets were in terminal decline", subsidies that created "the culture of dependency, which had done such damage to Britain".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allardyce |first=Jason |date=26 April 2009 |title=Margaret Thatcher: I did right by Scots |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/margaret-thatcher-i-did-right-by-scots-bwjjcdbwbx9 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210912185513/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/margaret-thatcher-i-did-right-by-scots-bwjjcdbwbx9 |archive-date=12 September 2021 |access-date=5 July 2017 |work=The Sunday Times}}</ref> Political economist [[Susan Strange]] termed the neoliberal financial growth model "casino capitalism", reflecting her view that speculation and financial trading were becoming more important to the economy than industry.{{sfnp|Gamble|2009|p=16}}

Critics on the left describe her as divisive<ref name="greatestpm">{{Cite news |date=16 September 2008 |title=Who has been UK's greatest post-war PM? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7593554.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906000712/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7593554.stm |archive-date=6 September 2017 |access-date=16 April 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and say she condoned greed and selfishness.{{r|legacy-bbc}} Leading Welsh politician [[Rhodri Morgan]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher: A 'Marmite' prime minister, says Rhodri Morgan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22072074 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609081401/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22072074 |archive-date=9 June 2013 |access-date=11 April 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> among others,{{sfnmp|1a1=West|1y=2012|1p=176|2a1=Blundell|2y=2013|2p=88}} characterised Thatcher as a "[[Marmite]]" figure. Journalist [[Michael White (journalist)|Michael White]], writing in the aftermath of the [[2008 financial crisis]], challenged the view that her reforms were still a net benefit.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=White |first=Michael |date=26 February 2009 |title=The making of Maggie |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2009/02/margaret-thatcher-british |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412061634/http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2009/02/margaret-thatcher-british |archive-date=12 April 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 |magazine=New Statesman |quote=Her 'freer, more promiscuous version of capitalism' (in Hugo Young's phrase) is reaping a darker harvest.}}</ref> Others consider her approach to have been "a mixed bag"{{sfnp|Rothbard|1995|loc=chpt. 63}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Reenen |first=John |author-link=John Van Reenen (economist) |date=10 April 2013 |title=The economic legacy of Mrs. Thatcher is a mixed bag |url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-economic-legacy-of-mrs-thatcher-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412061433/http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-economic-legacy-of-mrs-thatcher-2/ |archive-date=12 April 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 |publisher=[[London School of Economics]]}}</ref> and "{{interp|a}} [[Curate's egg]]".{{sfnp|Johnson|1991|loc=chpt. 8}}

Thatcher did "little to advance the political cause of women" within her party or the government.{{sfnp|Evans|2004|p=25}} Some [[Feminism in the United Kingdom|British feminists]] regarded her as "an enemy".{{sfnp|Burns|2009|p=234}} [[June Purvis]] in ''[[Women's History Review]]'' says that, although Thatcher had struggled laboriously against the sexist prejudices of her day to rise to the top, she made no effort to ease the path for other women.{{sfnp|Purvis|2013}} Thatcher did not regard [[women's rights]] as requiring particular attention as she did not, especially during her premiership, consider that women were being deprived of their rights. She had once suggested the shortlisting of women by default for all public appointments and proposed that those with young children should leave the workforce.{{sfnp|Gelb|1989|pages=58–59}}

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Thatcher's stance on [[Modern immigration to the United Kingdom|immigration]] in the late 1970s was perceived as part of a rising racist public discourse,{{sfnp|Witte|2014|page=54}} which [[Martin Barker]] terms "[[new racism]]".{{sfnmp|Barker|1981|Chin|2009|2p=92}} In opposition, Thatcher believed that the National Front (NF) was winning over large numbers of Conservative voters with warnings against floods of immigrants. Her strategy was to undermine the NF narrative by acknowledging that many of [[Support base of the National Front (UK)|their voters]] had serious concerns in need of addressing. In 1978 she criticised Labour's immigration policy to attract voters away from the NF to the Conservatives.{{sfnp|Witte|2014|pages=53–54}} Her rhetoric was followed by increased Conservative support at the expense of the NF. Critics on the left accused her of [[Pandering (politics)|pandering]] to racism.{{sfnp|Friedman|2006|page=13}}{{refn|group=nb|{{harvtxt|Mitchell|Russell|1989}} posits that she had been misinterpreted and that [[Race (human categorization)|race]] was never a focus of Thatcherism. By the 1980s, both the Conservatives and Labour had taken similar positions on immigration policy;{{sfnmp|1a1=Ward|1y=2004|1p=128|2a1=Vinen|2y=2009|2pp=227, 279}} the [[British Nationality Act 1981]] was passed with cross-party support.{{sfnp|Hansen|2000|pages=207–208}} There were no policies passed or proposed by ministers to restrict legal immigration, nor would Thatcher highlight the subject of race in any of her later remarks.{{sfnp|Anwar|2001}}}}

Many Thatcherite policies influenced the Labour Party,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kampfner |first=John |author-link=John Kampfner |date=17 April 2008 |title=Margaret Thatcher, inspiration to New Labour |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/themargaretthatcheryears/1895878/Margaret-Thatcher-inspiration-to-New-Labour.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019082215/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/themargaretthatcheryears/1895878/Margaret-Thatcher-inspiration-to-New-Labour.html |archive-date=19 October 2018 |access-date=12 May 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>{{sfnp|Seldon|2007|page=14}} which returned to power in 1997 under Tony Blair. Blair rebranded the party "[[New Labour]]" in 1994 with the aim of increasing its appeal beyond its traditional supporters,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Assinder |first=Nick |date=10 May 2007 |title=How Blair recreated Labour |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6129844.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312022307/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6129844.stm |archive-date=12 March 2017 |access-date=18 May 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and to attract those who had supported Thatcher, such as the "[[Essex man]]".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Jodie |date=30 March 2015 |title='Essex Man' 2015: Does the Thatcher-era stereotype still pack a political punch? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-31868550 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314025416/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-31868550 |archive-date=14 March 2017 |access-date=17 May 2017 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Thatcher is said to have regarded the "New Labour" rebranding as her greatest achievement.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=McSmith |first1=Andy |author-link1=Andy McSmith |last2=Chu |first2=Ben |last3=Garner |first3=Richard |name-list-style=amp |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher's legacy: Spilt milk, New Labour, and the Big Bang – she changed everything |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatchers-legacy-spilt-milk-new-labour-and-the-big-bang-she-changed-everything-8564541.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230231827/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatchers-legacy-spilt-milk-new-labour-and-the-big-bang-she-changed-everything-8564541.html |archive-date=30 December 2016 |access-date=30 December 2016 |work=The Independent}}</ref> In contrast to Blair, the Conservative Party under [[William Hague]] attempted to distance himself and the party from Thatcher's economic policies in an attempt to gain public approval.{{sfnp|Campbell|2011a|p=790}}

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Shortly after Thatcher died in 2013, Scottish first minister [[Alex Salmond]] argued that her policies had the "unintended consequence" of encouraging Scottish devolution.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dinwoodie |first=Robbie |date=9 April 2013 |title=First Minister: Her policies made Scots believe that devolution was essential |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/political-news/first-minister-her-policies-made-scots-believe-that-devolution-was-essential.20640632 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109215642/http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/political-news/first-minister-her-policies-made-scots-believe-that-devolution-was-essential.20640632 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=The Herald}}</ref> [[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]] agreed on ''[[Scotland Tonight]]'' that she had provided "the impetus" for devolution.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 April 2013 |title=Scotland Tonight |url=http://player.stv.tv/programmes/scotland-tonight/2013-04-08-2230 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411051526/http://player.stv.tv/programmes/scotland-tonight/2013-04-08-2230/ |archive-date=11 April 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |publisher=STV Player}}</ref> Writing for ''[[The Scotsman]]'' in 1997, Thatcher argued against devolution on the basis that it would eventually lead to [[Scottish independence]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 September 1997 |title=Article for the ''Scotsman'' (devolution referendum) |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108373 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531035317/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108373 |archive-date=31 May 2017 |access-date=11 June 2017 |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation}}</ref>

====Reputation====
{{quote box
 |quote  = Margaret Thatcher was not merely the first woman and the longest-serving Prime Minister of modern times, but the most admired, most hated, most idolised and most vilified public figure of the second half of the twentieth century. To some she was the saviour of her country who [...] created a vigorous enterprise economy which twenty years later was still outperforming the more regulated economies of the Continent. To others, she was a narrow ideologue whose hard-faced policies legitimised greed, deliberately increased inequality [...] and destroyed the nation's sense of solidarity and civic pride. There is no reconciling these views: yet both are true.{{refn|group=nb|name=Campbell}}
 |source = Biographer {{harvs |last=Campbell |first=John |author-link=John Campbell (biographer) |year=2011b |loc1={{p. |499}} |txt}}
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Thatcher's [[List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure|tenure of 11 years and 209 days]] as British prime minister was the longest since [[Lord Salisbury]] in the late 19th century (13 years and 252 days, in three spells) and the longest continuous period in office since [[Lord Liverpool]] in the early 19th century (14 years and 305 days).{{sfnp|Gardiner|Thompson|2013|page=12}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mackay |first=Robert |date=28 December 1987 |title=Thatcher longest serving British prime minister |url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/28/Thatcher-longest-serving-British-prime-minister/8486567666000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303004520/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/28/Thatcher-longest-serving-British-prime-minister/8486567666000 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=26 June 2017 |work=United Press International}}</ref>

Having led the Conservative Party to victory in three consecutive general elections, twice in a landslide, she ranks among the most popular party leaders in British history regarding votes cast for the winning party; over 40&nbsp;million ballots were cast in total for the party under her leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kimber |first=Richard |date=n.d. |title=UK General Election May 1979: Results and statistics |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/results.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428175636/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/results.htm |archive-date=28 April 2017 |access-date=19 March 2017 |website=Political Science Resources}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 June 1983 |title=General Election Results |url=https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m09.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029150237/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m09.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2016 |access-date=31 December 2016 |publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 June 1987 |title=General Election Results |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m11.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107031834/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/m11.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2017 |access-date=31 December 2016 |publisher=UK Parliament}}</ref> Her electoral successes were dubbed a "historic [[wikt:hat trick|hat trick]]" by the British press in 1987.<ref>{{YouTube |id=P0p5r_ibGT4 |title=UK General Election Results}}{{Retrieved|prepend=.{{sp}}|access-date=21 March 2017|note=Broadcast 12 June 1987}}</ref>

Thatcher ranked highest among living persons in the 2002 BBC poll ''[[100 Greatest Britons]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Great Britons – Top 100 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021204214727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml |archive-date=4 December 2002 |access-date=11 April 2013 |magazine=[[BBC History]]}}</ref> In 1999, [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] deemed Thatcher one of the [[Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century|100 most important people of the 20th century]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Quittner |first=Joshua |author-link=Josh Quittner |date=14 April 1999 |title=Margaret Thatcher – Time 100 People of the Century |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26473,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308133259/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,26473,00.html |archive-date=8 March 2013 |access-date=22 December 2012 |magazine=Time}}</ref> In 2015 she topped a poll by [[Scottish Widows]], a major financial services company, as the most influential woman of the past 200 years;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boult |first=Adam |date=1 December 2015 |title=Margaret Thatcher voted most influential woman of past 200 years |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/12027994/Margaret-Thatcher-voted-most-influential-woman-of-past-200-years.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075046/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/12027994/Margaret-Thatcher-voted-most-influential-woman-of-past-200-years.html |archive-date=31 December 2016 |access-date=30 December 2016 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> and in 2016 topped [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Woman's Hour]] Power List'' of women judged to have had the biggest impact on female lives over the past 70 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Woman's Hour'' – The 7 women who've changed women's lives – BBC Radio 4 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/PnqpZRvgbvMFBCtrwHhhTZ/the-7-women-whove-changed-womens-lives |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173034/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/PnqpZRvgbvMFBCtrwHhhTZ/the-seven-women-whove-changed-womens-lives |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=15 December 2016 |publisher=BBC |quote=Topping the 2016 Power List – in our only ranked position – is the UK's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=14 December 2016 |title=Margaret Thatcher tops ''Woman's Hour Power List'' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38303886 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404063443/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38303886 |archive-date=4 April 2018 |access-date=22 October 2020 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In 2020, ''Time'' magazine included Thatcher's name on its list of 100 Women of the Year. She was chosen as the Woman of the Year in 1982 when the Falklands War began under her command, resulting in the British victory.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 March 2020 |title=1982: Margaret Thatcher |url=https://time.com/5793666/margaret-thatcher-100-women-of-the-year/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307064451/https://time.com/5793666/margaret-thatcher-100-women-of-the-year/ |archive-date=7 March 2020 |access-date=7 March 2020 |magazine=Time}}</ref>

In contrast to her relatively poor average approval rating as prime minister,{{r|Ipsos}} Thatcher has since [[Historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom|ranked highly in retrospective opinion polling]] and, according to [[YouGov]], is "see[n] in overall positive terms" by the British public.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Matthew |date=10 August 2016 |title=David Cameron was the best Prime Minister since Thatcher |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/08/10/cameron-best-prime-minister-since-thatcher |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111173134/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/08/10/cameron-best-prime-minister-since-thatcher |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=7 December 2018 |publisher=YouGov}}</ref> Just after her death in 2013, according to a poll by ''[[The Guardian]]'', about half of the public viewed her positively while one third viewed her negatively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Tom |date=9 April 2013 |title=Opinion on Margaret Thatcher remains divided after her death, poll finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/opinion-sharply-divide-margaret-thatcher |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202174723/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/opinion-sharply-divide-margaret-thatcher |archive-date=2 December 2016 |access-date=5 December 2021 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> In a 2019 opinion poll by YouGov, most Britons rated her as Britain's greatest post-war leader (with Churchill coming second).<ref name="YouGov">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Matthew |date=3 May 2019 |title=Margaret Thatcher: the public view 40 years on |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/05/03/margaret-thatcher-public-view-40-years |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205080201/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/05/03/margaret-thatcher-public-view-40-years |archive-date=5 December 2021 |access-date=5 December 2021 |publisher=YouGov}}</ref> According to the poll, more than four in ten Britons (44%) think that Thatcher was a "good" or "great" prime minister, compared to 29% who think she was a "poor" or "terrible" one.<ref name="YouGov" /> She was voted the fourth-greatest British prime minister of the 20th century in a 2011 poll of 139 academics organised by [[MORI]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rating British Prime Ministers |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=661 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912105223/http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=661 |archive-date=12 September 2011 |access-date=24 August 2012 |publisher=Ipsos MORI}}</ref> In a 2016 [[University of Leeds]] survey of 82 academics specialising in post-1945 British history and politics, she was voted the second-greatest British prime minister after the Second World War.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cowburn |first=Ashley |date=13 October 2016 |title=David Cameron rated the third worst Prime Minister of the past 71 years |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-worst-prime-minister-ranking-third-since-ww2-a7358171.html |access-date=16 May 2022 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

===Cultural depictions===
{{Main|Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher}}

According to theatre critic [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Events: Michael Billington: 'State of the Nation' |url=http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/id/3627 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207113843/http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/id/3627 |archive-date=7 February 2008 |access-date=8 June 2008}}</ref> Thatcher left an "emphatic mark" on the arts while prime minister.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Billington |first=Michael |date=8 April 2013 |title=Margaret Thatcher casts a long shadow over theatre and the arts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-long-shadow-theatre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113085827/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-long-shadow-theatre |archive-date=13 January 2017 |access-date=8 May 2017 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> One of the earliest satires of Thatcher as prime minister involved satirist [[John Wells (satirist)|John Wells]] (as writer and performer), actress [[Janet Brown]] (voicing Thatcher) and future ''[[Spitting Image]]'' producer [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]] (as co-producer), who in 1979 were teamed up by producer [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]] for the satirical audio album [[The Iron Lady (album)|''The Iron Lady'']], which consisted of skits and songs satirising Thatcher's rise to power. The album was released in September 1979.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 April 2013 |title='I'm There' song reissue mocks Margaret Thatcher on day of funeral |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/04/16/im-there-song-reissue-mocks-margaret-thatcher-on-day-of-funeral/2088929 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422071500/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/04/16/im-there-song-reissue-mocks-margaret-thatcher-on-day-of-funeral/2088929/ |archive-date=22 April 2013 |access-date=25 April 2013 |work=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Randy |date=16 April 2013 |title=Album skewering Margaret Thatcher to be reissued on April 17 |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-margaret-thatcher-funeral-album-iron-lady-comedy-20130416,0,4237647.story |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420095346/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-margaret-thatcher-funeral-album-iron-lady-comedy-20130416,0,4237647.story |archive-date=20 April 2013 |access-date=25 April 2013 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Thatcher was heavily satirised on ''Spitting Image'', and ''[[The Independent]]'' labelled her "every stand-up's dream".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sherwin |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Sherwin |date=1 September 2012 |title=Margaret Thatcher: Let's hear it for the Iron Lady, comedy's greatest straight man |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/margaret-thatcher-lets-hear-it-for-the-iron-lady-comedys-greatest-straight-man-8100027.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929124047/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/margaret-thatcher-lets-hear-it-for-the-iron-lady-comedys-greatest-straight-man-8100027.html |archive-date=29 September 2019 |access-date=29 September 2019 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

Thatcher was the subject or the inspiration for 1980s [[protest song]]s. Musicians [[Billy Bragg]] and [[Paul Weller]] helped to form the [[Red Wedge]] collective to support Labour in opposition to Thatcher.<ref name="songs">{{Cite news |last=Heard |first=Chris |date=4 May 2004 |title=Rocking against Thatcher |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3682281.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311130019/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3682281.stm |archive-date=11 March 2009 |access-date=2 August 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Known as "Maggie" by supporters and opponents alike, the chant song "[[Maggie Out]]" became a signature rallying cry among the left during the latter half of her premiership.{{sfnmp|1a1=Vinen|1y=2009|1pp=1947–1948|2a1=Barr|2y=2013|2pp=178, 235}}

Wells parodied Thatcher in several media. He collaborated with [[Richard Ingrams]] on the spoof "[[Dear Bill]]" letters, which ran as a column in ''[[Private Eye]]'' magazine; they were also published in book form and became a West End stage revue titled ''Anyone for Denis?'', with Wells in the role of Thatcher's husband. It was followed by [[Anyone for Denis? (video)|a 1982 TV special]] directed by [[Dick Clement]], in which Thatcher was played by [[Angela Thorne]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anyone for Denis? |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/4789 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724114429/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/4789 |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=19 January 2011 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref>

Since her premiership, Thatcher has been portrayed in a number of television programmes, documentaries, films and plays.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chilton |first=Martin |date=8 February 2011 |title=People who have played Margaret Thatcher |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8311635/People-who-have-played-Margaret-Thatcher.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424160245/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8311635/People-who-have-played-Margaret-Thatcher.html |archive-date=24 April 2017 |access-date=15 April 2017 |work=The Telegraph |location=London, UK}}</ref> She was portrayed by [[Patricia Hodge]] in [[Ian Curteis]]'s long unproduced ''[[The Falklands Play]]'' (2002) and by [[Andrea Riseborough]] in the TV film ''[[The Long Walk to Finchley]]'' (2008). She is the protagonist in two films, played by [[Lindsay Duncan]] in [[Margaret (2009 film)|''Margaret'']] (2009) and by [[Meryl Streep]] in [[The Iron Lady (film)|''The Iron Lady'']] (2011),<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2011 |title=Image of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher unveiled |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12393674 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209050448/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12393674 |archive-date=9 February 2011 |access-date=9 February 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref> in which she is depicted as suffering from dementia or [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Julie |date=22 December 2011 |title='The Iron Lady' Draws Fire For Depicting Margaret Thatcher With Alzheimer's |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/12/22/the-iron-lady-draws-fire-for-depicting-thatcher-with-alzheimers |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108010000/https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/12/22/the-iron-lady-draws-fire-for-depicting-thatcher-with-alzheimers |archive-date=8 January 2012 |access-date=28 February 2012 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> She is a main character in the [[The Crown (season 4)|fourth season]] of ''[[The Crown (TV series)|The Crown]]'', played by [[Gillian Anderson]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |date=7 September 2019 |title=Gillian Anderson to play Thatcher in fourth series of ''The Crown'' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/sep/07/gillian-anderson-to-play-thatcher-fourth-series-the-crown-netflix |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216101144/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/sep/07/gillian-anderson-to-play-thatcher-fourth-series-the-crown-netflix |archive-date=16 December 2019 |access-date=16 December 2019 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> Thatcher has a supporting role in the 2024 biographical film ''[[Reagan (2024 film)|Reagan]]'', played by [[Lesley-Anne Down]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kay |first=Jeremy |date=11 November 2020 |title=Voltage Pictures' 'Reagan' finds its Margaret Thatcher (exclusive) |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/voltage-pictures-reagan-finds-its-margaret-thatcher-exclusive/5154845.article |access-date=3 September 2024 |website=Screen}}</ref>