MARGARET THATCHER AND THE CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION IN BRITAIN, 1979–1990 term paper

Margaret Thatcher (1925–), the longest serving British prime minister of the twentieth century, was born into a middle-class family, educated at Oxford University as a chemist, and elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1959. As party leader she led the Conservatives to electoral victory in 1979, thereby becoming the first female prime minister in British history. For the next eleven years, she set about dismantling Britain’s cradle-to-grave welfare state.

Her conservative revolution focused on three targets. First, she reduced inheritance and business tax rates. Second, she was determined to break the political and economic power of trade unions by supporting the secret ballot in union elections, limiting the length of strikes, and encouraging workers not to join unions. She made a special example of the Coal Miners’ Union by closing unprofitable mines and cutting off government subsidies to miners. Third, she was determined to sell off government-owned industry and to privatize public housing. By 1987 more than ten state enterprises, including British Airways, British Telecom, and Jaguar automobiles, had been sold to private investors. By selling off large amounts of government housing, she widened the Conservative Party’s support among new homeowners and encouraged workers, particularly in the depressed English Midlands, to move to the more prosperous South of England, where more jobs and better housing were available. Margaret Thatcher’s conservative revolution made deep cuts in the welfare state, but, because of popular opposition, she was unable to bring radical change to education or the National Health Service. In foreign affairs Thatcher was decisive and popular for sending thousands of troops to repel Argentina’s 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands. She was, however, unable to find a solution to the sectarian violence in British-governed Northern Ireland. By 1990 Margaret Thatcher appeared to have lost touch with her electorate. Despite Britain’s popular interest in Europe, she refused to join discussions aimed at a common European currency. Despite street riots and warnings from her advisors, she insisted on replacing the traditional graduated household tax with an unpopular standard-rate “poll tax.” In November 1990 she resigned as party leader and six months later announced she would not seek reelection to the House of Commons. She did, however, ensure that John Major, her handpicked successor, replaced her as party leader and as Conservative prime minister. Although not entirely successful at privatizing all state services, Margaret Thatcher did break the power of the trade unions, thereby forcing the Labour Party to adopt a more moderate and centrist agenda, and she did demonstrate to the world that a female prime minister could govern Great Britain as well (or better) as any of her male contemporaries.
Suggestions for Term Papers
1. How successful was privatization for former state-owned companies in Great Britain? Investigate the economic fortunes of British Airways, British Telecom, or Jaguar automobiles since they were privatized.
2. Some observers have argued that North Sea oil revenues paid for Margaret Thatcher’s conservative revolution. Assess the importance of these revenues for funding the conservative revolution.
3. Discuss Margaret Thatcher’s decision to break the Coal Miners’ Union and evaluate her handling of the dispute.
4. Organize a debate on the Argentine attack on the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands and the British response.
5. Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan were very supportive of one another. How much in common did they have ideologically? Which was more successful in carrying out a conservative revolution?
6. Margaret Thatcher’s conservative revolution failed to privatize the British National Health Service. What reasons can you suggest for this?

Research Suggestions

In addition to the boldfaced items, look under the entries for “The Suffrage Movement in Britain Before World War I, 1906–1914” (#6), “Northern Ireland and ‘The Troubles,’ 1969–1998” (#71), and “OPEC and the Oil Price Shock, 1973” (#75). Search under British Labour Party, North Sea Oil, and Tony Blair.

SUGGESTED SOURCES

Primary Sources

Thatcher, Margaret. The Downing Street Years. London: HarperCollins, 1993. The starting point for understanding her conservative revolution.

———. In Defence of Freedom: Speeches on Britain’s Relations with the World, 1976–1986. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1987. A slim collection of speeches suggesting how close she and President Ronald Reagan were in their views.

———. The Path to Power. London: HarperCollins, 1995. Candid reflections on her rise to power and early years in politics.

———. The Revival of Britain: Speeches on Home and European Affairs,1975–1988. Compiled by Alistair B. Cooke. London: Aurum, 1989. These convey the forthright appeal of Mrs. Thatcher’s policies.

Secondary Sources

Cannadine, David. History in Our Time. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Includes an excellent chapter on Margaret Thatcher and her politics.

Evans, Eric J. Thatcher and Thatcherism. New York: Routledge, 1997. A crisp introduction to her conservative revolution.

Kavanagh, Dennis. The Reordering of British Politics: Politics after Thatcher. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. A balanced assessment of her influence through the 1990s.

Monaghan, David. The Falklands War: Myth and Countermyth. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. Questions the validity of Thatcher’s Falkland strategy.

Pierson, Paul. Dismantling the Welfare State? Reagan, Thatcher, and the Politics of Retrenchment. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Helpful in showing the ideological connections between the two conservative leaders.

Reitan, E. A. Tory Radicalism: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979–1997. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997. Places Mrs. Thatcher in the context of the conservative tradition.

Urban, G. R. Diplomacy and Disillusion at the Court of Margaret Thatcher: An Insider’s View. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. A critical look at Mrs. Thatcher’s revolution.