Margaret Thatcher free essay sample

She led from the heart and embodied an ideological world view that shaped every decision she made. Her â€Å"Thatcherism† was rooted in her belief about the kind of leadership needed to save her country from economic collapse and preserve the freedoms she saw as fundamental to the British people. During years of immense challenge, she served as both captain and rudder, steering and steadying the ship of state on the course she saw as vital to the good of the whole. She saw through the smoke of internal conflict to what she believed to be the essential greatness of Great Britain: â€Å"There is no such thing as society,† she famously said. â€Å"There are individual men and women, and there are families. † Certainly, her â€Å"lead from the heart† approach created fast friends and fierce foes. About as many people loved her as hated her for her decisions and policies. Still, she had the courage not to be liked, but rather to be respected in what she thought was right. She brought more of her supporters into the Cabinet and lead the country to war against Argentina in the Falkland Islands.In 1983, the Conservative Party won the election again by a huge majority – this was helped by a divided opposition. During her term, the government policies adhered to an extreme programme including:Privatisation and deregulationTax cutsThe introduction of market mechanisms into health and educationThe target of this was to decrease the governments position and increase the self-sufficiency of individuals. However, these were very controversial, as some of her policies, such as the closed of certain mines lead to increased unemployment rates and other repercussions.She also became well-known around the world due to her friendship with Ronald Reagan. She also was praised by Gorbachev, the Soviet leader of the Communist Party, despite Thatcher being opposed to communism.Despite Thatcher campaigning for the UK to remain in the European Community in 1975, by the end of her time in office she was increasingly anti-EU, believing that Brussels held to much power. This, along with the matter of the poll tax, was one of the key issues that led to divisions in parliament, eventually leading to her downfall as prime minister. Her long-serving Foreign Secretary resigned in November 1990 in protest to her attitudes.In the 1990 election, Michael Heseltine, her opposition, while failing to win, gained 152 votes showing that a small but important minority wanted change. Thatcher didnt go forward to the second ballot.In 1992, she left the House of Commons and was given a life peerage meaning she was accepted into the House of Lords.She was appointed as Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter in 1995, the highest order of Chivalry in the UK.She has written two memoirs called The Downing Street Years and The Path to Power. On 8 April 2013, Thatcher died at The Ritz Hotel in London, due to a stroke. Her funeral took place at St. Pauls Cathedral.Good QualitiesResilience and refusal to failMargaret Thatcher was resilient throughout her time in office but also throughout her career. Even nowadays only 29% of MPs are female, however, when Thatcher was first elected as Prime Minister, only 3% of the MPs in the House of Commons were women. Despite people who wouldnt have trusted her or who wouldnt have believed she could run a country because she was women, and the statistics being against her, she managed to become the first female Prime Minister in the UK, due to her resilience and refusal to fail. She also faced much opposition when in power, however, she persevered. PrincipledDue to being taught the importance of self-help, charitable work and personal genuineness in her childhood, she knew what her core values were, and this helped her throughout her career as she knew what she stood for and what her political beliefs were. This would have made her seem more trustworthy as at least people would have known what she stood for and knew that she wouldnt constantly change her core values and beliefs.Embracing changeAlthough people argue tirelessly about whether Margaret Thatcher changed Britain for the better or the worse, there is no doubt that she changed Britain. She saw a Britain that she didnt like, and she changed it, despite not knowing what could come as a result of that. She took a big risk when she privatized and deregulated some of the once-largest industries in the UK. However, she believed it was a necessary action and had the willpower to do it despite the opposition she would have faced. Thatcher had the foresight to see where the cou ntry was headed and believed that a change was necessary, shaping the modern economy by decreasing jobs in the secondary industry and increasing the countries dependency on the tertiary sector. This is shown by the size of each sector nowadays, with 74% of jobs in the tertiary sector and only about 15% of jobs in the secondary sector.Strong belief in her countryMargaret Thatcher strongly believed in the potential of her country and encouraged it to be more independent. During her time in office, she led the country through many drastic changes, and while these were often controversial, she made them because she believed that her country could handle them and become better. It was also the reason that she had issues with the amount of power that Brussels had over the UK. Although this faith was a positive trait, it had certain negative connotations especially at a time when the world was becoming increasingly globalised.Many people have said that Margaret Thatchers strengths were also her weaknesses. Her resilience went hand in hand with her being stubborn. Although she had a strong belief in her country, this led her to demise as Prime Minister as her anti-EU attitude led to divisions in the government. She fought to change Britain and its economy leading to a sharp increase in unemployment, due to closure of many Britains secondary industries, such the steelwork and coal industry.Bad QualitiesStubbornOften branded as a control freak, Margaret Thatcher was stubborn and uncompromising. She was reluctant to consider other opinions and would never back down on the things that she believed were best, even when it led to her downfall. She refused to change her view or even compromise on a new system of local taxation named the poll tax. Although she was advised that her measure would cause her damage by key cabinet ministers, she continued onward despite such strong backlash. This, however, was greeted with violent protests and her plummeting approval rate. Therefore, when the next election was held at the end of the year, she didnt get re-elected. Although the stubborn attitude that Thatcher had also worked to her advantage, giving her the courage and resilience to make many radical changes arguably helped the country in the long term, it also made her dislikeable and close-minded. Although, without this stubborn streak, Thatcher may have been more liked and respected as she left office, would she have changed the UK in the way that she did?CallousEven Margaret Thatchers biggest supporters would probably agree that some of the policies she introduced didnt benefit everyone. One of the notable things that Thatcher did during her in office was the shutting down of coal and steel production in the UK. However, this caused high unemployment, especially in northern England where whole villages and towns relied on mining and manufacturing industries.Bibliographyhttp://www.history.com/topics/british-history/margaret-thatcherhttps://www.gov.u k/government/history/past-prime-ministers/margaret-thatcher