Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of Britain in 1979 and brought with her an agenda which was to rock the country and the world. Her new conservatism was quickly taken up by America and many other industrialize countries. By the time she had left office Britain was on a strong business/conservative course, the unions had been tamed Thatcher started, the political landscape had been completed reshaped and the Cold War was over with Soviet Union no longer in existence.  She was born in Grantham in 1925 and grew up as a hard working entrepreneurial spirit. As England entered a period of increasing belief in state intervention in it's citizens private affairs, she developed a deep belief in self reliance and the power of the individual. Through hard work and determination she won scholarships which allowed her to earn two degrees from Oxford in Chemistry and Law.

In Oxford she developed a passion for politics and at the age of 34 was able to get the nomination in the strong Tory riding of Finchley in North London. She was elected to Parliament and by the age of 44 she had become the Minister of Education. By 1975 the Tories were split between following a slowing evolving middle of the road philosophy and returning to the conservative roots of it's past. Edward Heath led the first faction and when no one in the part was willing to step forward to lead the right wing group Thatcher stepped up and challenged Heath for the party leadership - she lost. The Tories also lost to the labour Party in the General election.

Thatcher carefully prepared for the next leadership convention and by offering a clear alternative to the Union controlled agenda of the Labour party, she was able to gain the support of the Conservative Party and a general election win in 1979. She acted quickly moving to privatize large state owned industries such as British Airways and British Steel. These money losing industries were turned around and become profitable companies. This revolution however was not immediate in it's results and by 1982 with a slowing economy and increasing unemployment Thatcher was in danger of becoming a one term Prime Minister. Her support had dropped and the country was questioning the dismantling of the social structure which had been growing since the end of world war II. At this point in time Argentina choose to relieve it's own internal dissatisfaction by attacking and taking the Falkland Islands from Britain. The Argentina leadership felt that England was a tired depleted power who would accept the loss of these unimportant isolated Islands without a fight. Thatcher saw her opportunity and lepta. England would not accept aggression, would not stand by and negotiate, England would take back the Islands by military force in the process mobilize the nationalism in the country behind a resurgent pride in the Empire and the principles for which it had traditional stood. The resultant victory over Argentina brought Thatcher another electoral victory and the opportunity to stay the course. 

Her friendly and ideologically compatible relationship with President Reagan insured that they would aim for and pursue the same economic and geopolitical objectives. Privatization was accelerated and the battle with the Unions came to a head in 1984-85  when Thatcher refused to give into a national coal miners strike. In March of 1985 the miners were broken and the privatization of the country took on a new urgency and the old socialist ideals of Europe thrown out.

Deregulation, tax cuts, business incentives, open markets all became the catch phrases of the new conservatism. The cold war was also pushed to a new level. With Reagan, Thatcher pursued a policy of confronting the Soviet Bloc on every front, pushing the Soviets on the economic, military, social, and human rights issues that were becoming more and more difficult for the Soviet leadership. In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR and his policy of openness and reform brought about changes which once set in motion could not be stopped. By 1990 the Soviet Union imploded and the free market philosophy go Reagan and Thatcher were generally accepted as the winning blueprint for the post cold war world. Unfortunately for Thatcher the success of her policies and the strength of her personality during the years of the Thatcher revolution had created many opponents not only in the political environment of England but with her own conservative party.

As a fourth generally election was approaching she showed no sign of slowing down or stepping down. She was pushing as hard as ever to further liberalize Britain's economy and society. The fractures in the Conservative party came to the surface and over a 6 day period a conspiracy of several members and groups brought about her downfall as leader of the party and hence Prime Minister. John Major was chosen as the new Parliamentary leader of the Conservatives and the age of Thatcher passed into history.