Margaret Thatcher resigns in 1989?

What if, following the advice of her husband, Margaret Thatcher had stood down as Prime Minister of her own free will in the spring of 1989, on the tenth anniversary of her gaining power? This is, for a brief recap, before Lawson and Howe quit the Cabinet. John Major remains a relatively unknown Chief Secretary to the Treasury, other 1990s big beasts such as Ken Clarke, Norman Lamont and Michael Howard are still junior ministers.

What happens? Who stands in the ensuing leadership contest? Will Labour win the following election?
 
Michael Heseltine would stand a GREAT chance at being PM later. I think he'd be able to beat Howe in a leadership race.
 
This is precisely why she didn't do it - there is no 'successor' at this point. Lawson wouldn't suit her by this point, Howe certainly wouldn't, Tebbit (even if Tebbit would want the job post-Brighton, which he almost certainly wouldn't) and Parkinson are busted flushes. Lawson could probably win it in a scrap against Heseltine, at a push, but with the state of the economy being what it is, I even doubt that. (Would Lawson even want to go for it?) Probably the strongest figure in the cabinet at this point is Hurd, which would be enough to send a shiver up her spine.

As such, t'would be an own goal on Thatcher's part. And as such, I can't see it being realistic. By this point she was fanatical for there to be a purist successor, and until there's a person like that avaliable, and they're a serious leadership proposition, they'll only be taking her out clinging onto the door frame.
 
Undercurrents..

Indeed - May 1989 would have been the time but there is a trait among long-serving leaders whether democratically-elected or otherwise, that they become a little messianic and believe only they can run the country.

I think Thatcher had developed this messianic complex by 1989 and believed that only she could govern Britain and ensure the country's place in the world.

As it turned out, short of an election defeat, her political assassination by her own MPs was the only other option.
 
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