E) Margaret Hilda Thatcher

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 547.

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG (The Order of the Garter), OM (The Order of Merit), PC (The Privy Council of the UK), FRS (Fellows of the Royal Society) (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) is a British politician and the longest-serving (1979–1990) British prime minister of the 20th century; as of 2012, she is the only woman to have held the post. Thatcher earned the nickname "Iron Lady" for her uncompromising opposition to socialist policies, and implemented a number of conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.

Originally a chemist, and then a barrister, Thatcher became Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in the 1959 general election. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became prime minister after winning the 1979 general election.

After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as a precipitous national decline in Britain. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasized deregulation, flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. Thatcher holds a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitles her to sit in the House of Lords. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher