Challenge, Thatcher seen in the UK as Reagan is in the US

Were the Unions prepared to compromise?

The privatizations of electricity and water were huge successes that improved services, increased quality and reliability for customers, the failure was National Rail and that wasn't on her watch.

I feel a certain amount of sympathy for her regarding Aids, Clause 28 etc. I don't think Thatcher was out of step with the vast majority of British people at the time on these issues. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Agree regarding the Poll tax, had she left in 1988, 89 as Douglas Hurd advised, she probably would have been better off. There's no denying by the end she was damaging to herself but so many politicians end up that way.

Re: the unions - that is a good question. Scargill, certainly not, other leaders I can't say. Might have been worth asking though

Electricity & water - successes? Seriously? Fuel poverty is real, and I didn't notice a better quality of electricity or water.

And I'll add one more - councils should have been allowed to invest the income from "Right To Buy" sales in building more social housing. We would have avoided the property bubble, and the current housing issues
 
Blackadder Mk2 did a great TL recently about Cecil Parkinson calling off his affair with Sara Keays in 1979 so he isn't subsequently disgraced when she falls pregnant. Apparently Thatcher planned to serve as Party Leader for 10 years and then resign, in the TL she stands down around this time for a different reason, Parkinson was supposed to be her favoured successor and without him she felt obliged to carry on and it was this stage where everyone pretty much agrees that she lost the plot!

Had she stepped down in 1985, presumably in the wake of The Miners Strike, this avoids Westland, the Poll Tax (the Tories' own polling told them it was deeply unpopular but it went ahead at Thatcher's insistence where a more thoughtful PM would have quietly binned it) and the whole No! No! No! phase of her dealings with Europe. She would have been remembered as a Leader who had had to make difficult decisions because of the circumstances she found herself in, I agree that allowing the Right to Buy proceeds to be used to fund new council housing would have made a big difference, so would letting Scotland have another Devolution referendum in 1980 omitting the 40% threshold, whatever the result this could have taken a lot of the heat out of Scottish politics in the 1980's, also not being so hard on local government, the Tories were traditionally the Party that championed Town Halls against Whitehall, by rate capping and stripping away their powers Thatcher killed what had been a strong Tory constituency.
 

Robert

Banned
First off, Reagan is remembered fondly by Americans because of his deeds, and his communicating directly with them. It's not slick marketing and packaging. That might work for electing a Clinton or Obama but their legacies are going to leave a lot to be desired (impeachment, spending more then all other Presidents combined).

The Labor party, much like the Democrats today, have spent ever single moment over the last twenties years blaming Thatcher for their crimes and mistakes. They had power for as long as Thatcher, but never were able to achieve the levels of economic growth that took place during her reign. She cleaned up the mess they left on top of that as Reagan did with Carter.
 
Blackadder Mk2 did a great TL recently about Cecil Parkinson calling off his affair with Sara Keays in 1979 so he isn't subsequently disgraced when she falls pregnant. Apparently Thatcher planned to serve as Party Leader for 10 years and then resign, in the TL she stands down around this time for a different reason, Parkinson was supposed to be her favoured successor and without him she felt obliged to carry on and it was this stage where everyone pretty much agrees that she lost the plot!

Thanks for the endorsement. According to Cecil, in the Clark Diaries, Thatcher planned to stand down by 1985 and have him take over after two years of 'sorting out' the Foreign Office which collapsed after Cecil's inability to keep it in cost him his job. I see such an idea as unlikely due to Thatcher's style, there was always going to be some new thing for her to have to fight off, whether it was the Miner's Strike, the local councils that were defying the caps on rates and even the Poll Tax, the other circumstances were a large factor in moving her out.

Norman Tebbit even mentioned that IOTL, after she beat the NUM, the Saatchi polls were showing the public were seeing less reasons to back her which was affecting the Conservative's in a bad way which she responded by going to another polling company which said the opposite. John Biffen, one of the original Powellites, was even calling for a "balanced ticket" to run 1987 with to ensure that the Conservatives would win, something that he was ejected from the Cabinet for.
 
She will never be. We don't idolise our PMs in the way that many Americans idolise their Presidents. The only PM who even came close to being an exception to that was Churchill. Reagan was never the ideologue she was anyway. He was conservative in rhetoric but was more moderate in practice (amnesty for illegal immigrants, tax increases when they were needed etc). He certainly didn't make the radical economic reforms that Thatcher did and was nowhere near as fiscally conservative.
 
She will never be. We don't idolise our PMs in the way that many Americans idolise their Presidents. The only PM who even came close to being an exception to that was Churchill. Reagan was never the ideologue she was anyway. He was conservative in rhetoric but was more moderate in practice (amnesty for illegal immigrants, tax increases when they were needed etc). He certainly didn't make the radical economic reforms that Thatcher did and was nowhere near as fiscally conservative.

I also think that in General Americans tend to be more forgiving as time goes on.
 
Thanks for the endorsement. According to Cecil, in the Clark Diaries, Thatcher planned to stand down by 1985 and have him take over after two years of 'sorting out' the Foreign Office which collapsed after Cecil's inability to keep it in cost him his job.

In 'Prime Minister Portillo and other things that did not happen' the author suggests that if Sargill had given the NUM a general strike ballot and won the all the miners out would have caused a fuel/power crisis that forced the govt to compromise, maybe forced Mrs T out.

If Parkinson was ready and waiting perhaps she would of bowed out gracefully leaving her Legacy being the first female PM, the Falklands and introducing a new economic policy. Perhaps by now she would have the halo Reagan does?
 
I don't think it is possible for a number of reasons - on the whole the British don't tend to eulogise politicians and party leaders because they are never our Head of State which is partly why I believe Cameron and the Palace are completely wrong in deciding on a state funeral (in all but name) - a private funeral and a public memorial service would have been more appropriate.
Margaret Thatcher is not universally worshipped within the party she led let alone the wider country and to be fair even Churchill had his detractors.
Given the nature of the British Electoral system few party's have won 50% of the popular vote (they don't need to) but it means there is always a majority who did not endorse them or their policies.
From the late 50s until her election in 79 politicians all sides of the divide had all but given up fighting each other on the major issues - it was mere tinkering.
The results were the relatively weak governments of the 60s and 70s (both tory and labour - who failed to tackle the growing dominance of trade union leaders and industrial decline- remember Barbara Castle and in place of strife?)
By her nature she was convinced she was right in much of what she did and it was her strength and her weakness.
She was more pragmatic than people think though and failed to really address some issues because she didn't think the public would buy them or because she wouldn't take on some sectors for example her opposition to rail privatisation.
People have mentioned the deep unpopularity of her government towards the end but forget her deep unpopularity (her ratings were appalling) at the beginning prior to the Falklands as unemployment and interest rates soared due to her economic policies.
As one commentator said she may have put the great back in Britain but at the same time she lost the united in Kingdom.
 
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