Margaret Thatcher ’s Resignation 30 Years On

Marian L. TupyOn November 22, 1990, Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Six days later, she was replaced by her Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Major. Thirty years on, I still remember hearing of Thatcher ’s resignation on the radio. Like many people in what was then Eastern Europe, I could not make any sense of it (though, in my defense, I was only 14 years old). In my native Czechoslovakia, which only a year earlier saw the end of communism, Thatcher enjoyed the status of a demi ‐​God. Stylish and staunchly anti‐​communist, she was credited – along with the Pope John Paul II and the U.S. President Ronald Reagan – with defeating socialism (a temporary victory, as it turned out). How on Earth, could the British people be so ungrateful? I am sure lots of people throughout the world felt the same way about Winston Churchill ’s defeat in the 1945 election. Of course, the British people in general and the Conservative Party politicians who forced Thatcher’s resignation in particular, had their reasons for dumping the Prime Minister. Still, the memory lives on – fresh as ever.Ten years later, I found myself at a London dinner with the great Lady — now ennobled as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire – in attendance. I was on my way to Washington, D.C. to start my professional life as a Cato scholar. The dinner was organized by my friend Roger Bate...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs