How much was Margaret Thatcher worth?
| Net Worth: | $10 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | British Stateswoman |
| Date of Birth: | October 13, 1925 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Height: | 1.66 m |
About Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, a British politician with an estimated net worth of $10 million, was born on October 13th, 1925. The United Kingdom’s first female prime minister was Margaret Thatcher. She held office for the longest period of any British prime minister in the 20th century, serving three terms in a row (from 1979 to 1990). In addition to being famous for her tenacity and tenacity, Thatcher is also recognized for her conservative social and economic policies. Margaret Thatcher, a grocery store employee’s daughter, worked her way up the political ladder to become the country’s top official. Thatcher is credited for aiding in the end of the Cold War, along with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, American President Ronald Reagan, and both.
“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.” — “The Iron Lady,” Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven
The Beginning of Margaret Thatcher’s Career
Alfred Roberts and Beatrice Stephenson Roberts gave birth to Margaret Thatcher on October 13, 1925, in Grantham, England. Muriel, her only sibling, was four years older than her. The family owned a grocery store and resided in a tiny apartment above it that lacked hot water and a bathroom.
The girls assisted their parents in running the shop once they were old enough by stocking supplies and serving clients. Devout Methodists Alfred and Beatrice Roberts forbade their daughters from partaking in fun events like dances and parties. After 25 years on the town council, Alfred was elected mayor of Grantham.
Young Margaret Roberts loved to read and was a competitive field hockey player in addition to being an excellent student. She was admitted to the Kesteven Grantham Girls’ School in 1936 after doing well on an entrance exam, and she quickly moved to the top of her class. When congratulated for having the good fortune to place first in a poetry reading, the serious-minded Margaret could be somewhat harsh; yet, she retorted angrily that chance had nothing to do with it.
The town of Grantham, which is home to a munitions plant and is situated on important railroad links, came under constant German fire when World War II started in 1939. Air raid sirens were a familiar sound to the Thatchers and their neighbors. The Roberts family hosted a little Jewish girl from Vienna who was Muriel’s letter buddy during the war. The Roberts sisters were horrified to learn about Jewish living during the Nazi era.
A Political Thatcher at Oxford University
Margaret Roberts was admitted to the famous Oxford University in 1943 and declared chemistry as her major with the intention of eventually obtaining a law degree. Although initially reserved, Margaret quickly adapted to her new situation and liked being a part of several organizations, such as the choir and the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA).
Margaret enthusiastically promoted the House of Commons candidate from Oxford in 1945 and discovered she enjoyed doing it, particularly when it came to giving speeches. She was chosen as the OUCA’s first female president that year after her qualities were recognized.
Margaret was in an ideal position to network with significant conservative politicians who visited the university because she was the president of the OUCA. As her career developed, many of them would go on to support her and serve as mentors.
Election to Office
After earning her degree in 1947, Margaret worked as a research chemist for an Essex-based producer of plastics. She became interested in politics and began volunteering for the local Conservative Party, which caught the attention of the leadership. They suggested that she compete for the House of Commons seat for the town of Dartford.
When she fought for a seat in both the 1950 and 1951 general elections, Margaret Roberts, who was 23 at the time, made history as the youngest female candidate. She nevertheless lost both elections, albeit with a narrower margin the second time, as Dartford was a staunch Labor Party stronghold.
Denis Thatcher, a divorced businessman and fellow Conservative Party member, was introduced to Margaret during her first campaign. In December 1951, Margaret and Denis got married. Denis Thatcher was born into a prosperous family and ran a flourishing enterprise. His wife had the freedom to resign from her job and enroll in law school because to his financial security.
Carol and Mark Thatcher were Margaret Thatcher’s twins when she gave birth to them in August 1953, and she passed the bar exam when they were just four months old.
Thatcher had a hard time obtaining a work because many law companies in the 1950s were hesitant to accept a woman (much alone a married woman with children), but she was eventually hired by a group of tax attorneys. Her thorough understanding of economic policies and tax rules would be extremely significant assets for a rising politician.
Elected to Parliament
When a Conservative incumbent announced his retirement in 1959, 33-year-old Margaret Thatcher finally had her chance to become a Member of Parliament (MP). Thatcher represented Finchley, a neighborhood northwest of London, after winning the election by a margin of more than 16,000 votes. She became one of the 17 female MPs who joined her in the Commons.
When Thatcher was asked to present a bill that would grant the public and journalists access to government council meetings in her early years as an MP, she attracted notice. Thatcher’s speech to the House of Commons, her first as a member of parliament, garnered extensive news coverage since the subject matter was significant to journalists. She made an impression on everyone with her persuasive speech, including the opposition. The legislation was made into law. The Conservative leadership had seen Thatcher’s competence and confidence during her time in the spotlight.
Margaret Thatcher was named junior minister of pensions in 1961 by Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Her experience in tax law was helpful in this position. When the Conservatives lost the election in 1964, Thatcher was compelled to leave her position in the junior cabinet. But when she was transferred from the “back bench,” where junior members of Parliament sit, to the front bench, where party leaders and senior members sit, she sort of gained a promotion. Thatcher delighted in participating in the heated discussions that occurred between the two sides up front.
Gaining Ground in the Ranks
For the following six years, the Conservatives remained in opposition, and Thatcher was appointed to a number of roles in sectors as diverse as the treasury, power, and transportation. Thatcher was appointed “shadow minister” of education in 1969. (Members of the opposition party who hold positions equivalent to those held by the ruling party are known as shadow ministers.) Thatcher had a reputation as a person who could swiftly become an expert in a new field with each new appointment.
With the election of Edward Heath as prime minister in 1970, the Conservatives once again took control of the government. Thatcher was re-elected as a member of parliament that year with a two-to-one majority of the vote. Margaret Thatcher, at 45, was chosen by Heath as his minister of science and education in June 1970. The only woman in his cabinet was she.
Thatcher aimed to cut back on government support for education. One attempt to cut costs in the education system failed miserably. Thatcher became known as “Mrs. Thatcher, the milk snatcher.” after Parliament approved a law barring free milk for schoolchildren older than eight years old.
After a particularly forceful speech Thatcher gave in 1976 denouncing the Soviets for their poor social and economic policies, a Soviet newspaper later gave her a moniker that she adopted: “the Iron Lady”
Thatcher’s Ascendancy
In response to rising inflation and unemployment, the conservative policies of the Heath administration had lost favor by 1974. In the election that was conducted in February 1974, the Labor Party narrowly defeated the Conservatives in terms of seats won. Heath left his position as Conservative Party leader but kept his title.
Members of Heath’s own party voiced harsh criticism of him and demanded a party leadership election in February 1975. Margaret Thatcher ran in place of Heath after his primary opponent withdrew from the race. Heath resigned in shame after she won the election on the first try. Thatcher became the first woman in British history to lead a major political party.
Public employee strikes repeatedly during the winter of 1978–1979, sometimes known as “the winter of discontent” caused anarchy in Great Britain. Garbage accumulated in the streets, and schools and hospitals were forced to shut down. Finally caving in to the demands of the strikers, the Labor Party agreed to pay increases of up to 20 percent. Margaret Thatcher expressed her disgust with the Labor Party and the unions.
Thatcher presented a “no confidence” motion to the House of Commons in March 1979 while serving as leader of the opposition party. If such a resolution was approved, a general election would have to be held. However, the no confidence motion rarely succeeds because it is brought by the opposition (minority) party. By a single vote, Margaret Thatcher’s motion was approved, resulting in a May 3, 1979, election for a new government.
Thatcher takes office as Prime Minister
Thatcher attacked the Labor Party during the Conservative campaign, pointing to its relationship with the unions. Thatcher and the Conservatives gained a substantial majority of 43 seats in the House by capitalizing on the public’s strong anti-union mood and running on a program of free markets and tax reduction.
Prime Minister James Callaghan resigned when the Labor Party was ousted from office. In becoming the leader of the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher once again made history by becoming the first female leader of a western country and the prime minister of Great Britain.
With the aim of saving Great Britain from what she and her party saw as a plunge into socialism as well as the loss of Britain’s reputation as a global leader, Thatcher was keen to get to work. She was a staunch supporter of a free market with a preference for private initiative over state regulation. By the spring of 1982, Thatcher’s initiatives had started to bear fruit after an initial period of instability during which Britain experienced the worst downturn since the 1930s. The economy was beginning to revive, and inflation rates had started to decline.
But Thatcher and her actions deeply offended a lot of Britons. Riots broke out over a ten-day period in April 1981 in a number of British cities due to youth unemployment rates that were getting close to 34 percent. Thatcher was compelled to consent to a government-funded employment training program in a rare instance of capitulation.
The Falklands War
The Falklands, a collection of islands off the coast of Argentina that had been in British control since the nineteenth century, were invaded by Argentine forces on April 2, 1982. Thatcher refused to watch as Argentina took the islands, which were home to over 1,800 British citizens, by force. Late in April, British ships arrived in the Falkland Islands, and then in May, marines and paratroopers. On June 15, the Argentines gave up after ten weeks of fighting.
Thatcher received criticism for participating in the Falklands conflict. Although a panel later found that British intelligence had failed to alert her of the danger, her detractors said she could have intervened sooner and stopped the invasion. Even though Thatcher was found not guilty of any misconduct, she never forgot the 250 British servicemen who died.
Thatcher’s tenacious leadership throughout the Falklands War was crucial to save not only a British territory but also her political career. When Thatcher faced another election in 1983, she found herself in the lead in the polls thanks to what became known as “the Falklands factor,” The Conservative majority increased to 144 seats when Thatcher handily defeated the Labor Party nominee.
Assassination Attempt
When a bomb went off at the Brighton hotel where Margaret Thatcher was staying for a Conservative Party convention on October 12, 1984, she almost lost the chance to complete her second term. The bomb detonated at 2:54 in the morning, destroying a significant portion of the hotel’s facade. The massive explosion, which killed five people and injured 34 others, just missed Thatcher’s chamber (her bathroom was destroyed).
The incident was blamed on the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Their chosen victim was Thatcher, who had turned them down when recent IRA prisoners-in-prison went on hunger strikes. Ten of the detainees passed away as a result of the hunger strike, and the IRA held Thatcher responsible. The Anglo-Irish Agreement, which allowed for cooperation between the British and Irish governments on issues pertaining to Northern Ireland, was negotiated by Thatcher in 1985 (although she did so later).
Thatcher urged that the Conservative Party conference start on time despite the attack. That morning during her speech, Thatcher addressed the attempted murder by declaring, “The attack was unsuccessful. Any terrorist attempt to overthrow the democratic system will fail.”
Striking miners and labor union opposition to government reforms were only two of the challenging issues that Thatcher faced during her second term. Thatcher received criticism for allowing American bombers to take off from British sites on their way to Libya. Nevertheless, her privatization of public assets program resulted in continuous economic growth.
Three terms
In June 1987, Thatcher and the Conservatives once again secured a parliamentary majority. Thatcher and her cabinet members frequently argued throughout their third and last term. Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson left his position in October 1989 after a disagreement with Thatcher on the future of the British pound. Thatcher protested fiercely with the idea of Britain joining continental Europe, which her foreign minister supported.
The Cold War has been said to have ended in part thanks to Thatcher. Before he ever assumed the position of general secretary of the Soviet Union, she was one of the first western leaders to extend invitations to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who was interested in reform, to visit Great Britain in December 1984. The Soviet Union eventually disintegrated starting in 1989 thanks in part to Thatcher’s facilitation of diplomatic contacts between the US and the USSR.
By 1990, Thatcher had lost a significant portion of the support of her own party, and Michael Heseltine had challenged her for the position of party leader. There had to be a second vote since Thatcher had won the first round, but not by a large enough margin. On November 28, 1990, Thatcher announced her resignation after learning that many members of her party had stopped supporting her and realizing that she would not be able to win a fourth term. She was replaced by John Major.
Life After Politics
After leaving politics, Thatcher continued to be a prominent figure. She received election to the House of Lords in 1992 and was given the title Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. Thatcher published two memoirs and took part in numerous speaking engagements. She stopped giving public speeches in 2002 after experiencing many strokes. Thatcher lost her devoted husband Denis the following year when he passed away from pancreatic cancer.
In her later years, Thatcher reportedly struggled with dementia and was infrequently spotted in public. On August 8, 2013, at the age of 87, she suffered a stroke and was given a formal funeral with military honors. Margaret Thatcher had a $10 million net worth at the time of her passing in 2013.
