The iron lady with an ironic history!
Widely known as the Iron Lady, Margaret Hilda Roberts, later Margaret Thatcher, was born on October 12, 1925, in Grantham, a small town in Lincolnshire, England.
She became Britain’s first Conservative Party leader and was elected Prime Minister in 1979, making her the first woman to hold the position in Europe. She was the only British prime minister in the 20th century to serve for three consecutive terms, and at the time of her resignation, she became Britain's longest consecutively serving prime minister since 1827.
During her time in office, she encouraged the evolution of the British economy from statism to liberalism by privatizing certain industries and cutting social welfare programs. By personality, she was considered the most renowned British political leader after Winston Churchill.
However, she was also a controversial figurehead because of her conservative ideas; she stripped the United Kingdom off many social programs that used to aid the poor, and many leaders criticize her for Britain’s ensuing housing and economic crises. Once she allegedly said that the country should be “Whites only.” And in fact, poverty and inequality both surged during her tenure.
She died on April 8, 2013, at age 87.
As Britain's first, and as yet the only, female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s life is always filled with famous sound bites. Here are 10 feeling quotes of Thatcher that best describe the personality of the woman who always strived to be a stronger woman than the one in Buckingham palace:
- “I love arguments. I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me— that’s not their job.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.”- Margaret Thatcher
-“Of course, to be a mother and a housewife is a vocation of a very high kind. But I simply felt that it was not the whole of my vocation. I knew that I also wanted a career. A phrase that Irene Ward, MP for Tyremouth, and I often used was that ‘while the home must always be the center of one’s life, it should not be the boundary of one’s ambitions.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.” -Margaret Thatcher
- “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”- Margaret Thatcher
- “I have got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.”- Margaret Thatcher
Seven movies and TV series that best portray Margaret Thatcher:
Britain’s first female Prime Minister has been portrayed in many movies and TV series. In Netflix’s epic British Drama, The Crown, Gillian Anderson is the latest addition in the list of actresses who have played the iron lady, Margaret Thatcher.
If you haven’t binged it, you should, because she has completely nailed the character!
And in case you’ve already binged it and want to watch more of Thatcher, here’s what you can see next:
Meryl Streep played Margaret Thatcher in this movie, and also won an Oscar for it! Iron Lady is a biographical movie based on the life and career of Britain's first female Prime Minister.
The five-episode drama-documentary portrays the life story of Queen Elizabeth II. Third episode into the drama, and you will see Her Majesty’s relationship with Thatcher, played by Mike Leigh collaborator Lesley Manville.
Produced by BBC, the film addresses Thatcher’s final days at the office, following her defeat in the Conservative Party’s 1990 leadership election. The character was played by Lindsay Duncan.
It’s based on an account of how Margaret Thatcher’s government handles the biggest crises in British foreign affairs—1982’s Falklands War.
It was originally intended to broadcast on TV and radio, but the project was halted indefinitely because of its alleged pro-Thatcher tone and depiction. The play was finally staged in 2002. Patricia Hodge plays Thatcher.
In this movie, there’s a movie sense in which the fictional Thatcher (was doing the dishes, and thinks she is talking to 007). The iron housewife was portrayed by Janet Brown.
In 2002, Greta Scacchi played Margaret Thatcher in a fictionalized biography of Tory peer Jeffrey Archer.
This BBC One’s drama has a scene in which Thatcher is doing a striptease. She was also shown in a steamy sex scene with the former Prime Minister and Archer, played by Damian Lewis.
Scacchi’s Thatcher even has a heart tattoo with letters JA carved on her hip.
A 2008 BBC Four television drama is based on the life and early political career of the young Margaret who struggles to win a parliamentary seat, Finchley, in 1959. Thatcher is played by Andrea Riseborough.
If you also want to read some remarkable books about Margaret Thatcher then don't forget to bookmark Hayvine as we continue sharing some great insights and articles about the great Iron Lady.
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