Születési dátum: 13. október 1925
Halál dátuma: 8. április 2013
Más nevek: Margaret Thatcherová, Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Báró Margaret Hilda Thatcher OM brit konzervatív politikus, 1975 és 1990 között a Konzervatív Párt vezetője, 1979 és 1990 között az Egyesült Királyság miniszterelnöke volt.
1944-ben vegyésznek kezdett tanulni Oxfordban, majd 1959-ben Finchley választókerületben megválasztották országgyűlési képviselőnek. 1970-ben Edward Heath kinevezte oktatásügyi miniszternek. 1975-ben Thatcher legyőzte Edward Heatht a Konzervatív Párt választási választmányon, ezzel ő lett az ellenzék vezére, valamint az első nő, aki vezetett egy nagy politikai pártot az Egyesült Királyságban. 1979-ben megnyerte a választásokat és miniszterelnök lett.
Miután belépett a Downing Street 10-be, Thatcher bevezetett egy sor politikai és gazdasági kezdeményezést, ezekkel akarta visszaszorítani a recessziót. Politikai filozófiájában és gazdaságpolitikájában kiemelt szerep jutott a deregulációnak , a rugalmas munkaerőpiacnak, az állami tulajdonú vállalatok privatizációjának, és a szakszervezetek hatalmának és befolyásának csökkentésének. Hivatalának első évében meglévő népszerűsége később a recesszió közepette és a magas munkanélküliség miatt csökkent, de az 1982-es Falkland-szigeteki háború és a gazdasági fellendülés hatására ismét nőtt, olyannyira, hogy 1983-ban újraválasztották. 1984-ben járt Magyarországon is. 1987-ben Thatchert másodszor is újraválasztották, ám az általa ekkor bevezetett Community Charge adózási rendszer széles körben népszerűtlen volt, és az Európai Unióra vonatkozó nézeteit sem mindenki osztotta a kormányban. 1990. november 28-án, miután Michael Heseltine kihívta a pártelnöki székért, Thatcher mind miniszterelnöki, mind pedig pártelnöki tisztjéről lemondott. Távozása után főnemesi címet kapott: Kesteven bárónője lett, ezáltal bekerült a Lordok Házába.
Egy szovjet újságíró adta neki a „Vaslady” becenevet, a rendíthetetlen politikai vezetésért, melyet büszkén vett tudomásul. Hevesen ellenezte az Egyesült Királyság EU-tagságát.
Interjú angolul http://www.cyberussr.com/hcunn/q-havoc.html 1987 szeptember 23.
Forrással ellátott idézetek, Harmadik miniszterelnöksége
Csak egyes férfiak és nők léteznek és családok. És egyetlen kormányzat sem tud bármit is elérni másképp, mint az embereken keresztül, és az embereknek magukról kell gondoskodniuk elsősorban. Kötelességünk gondoskodni magunkról, majd gondoskodni a felebarátainkról is.
Interjú angolul http://www.cyberussr.com/hcunn/q-havoc.html 1987 szeptember 23.
Forrással ellátott idézetek, Harmadik miniszterelnöksége
Speech to Conservative Party Conference (14 October 1983) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105454
Second term as Prime Minister
Kontextus: Let us never forget this fundamental truth: the State has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves. If the State wishes to spend more it can do so only by borrowing your savings or by taxing you more. It is no good thinking that someone else will pay – that ‘someone else’ is you. There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers’ money.
Speech to Federation of Conservative Students Conference (24 March 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102663
Leader of the Opposition
Kontextus: I shall never stop fighting. I mean this country to survive, to prosper and to be free... I haven't fought the destructive forces of socialism for more than twenty years in order to stop now, when the critical phase of the struggle is upon us.
Speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102777
Leader of the Opposition
Kontextus: Some Socialists seem to believe that people should be numbers in a State computer. We believe they should be individuals. We are all unequal. No one, thank heavens, is like anyone else, however much the Socialists may pretend otherwise. We believe that everyone has the right to be unequal but to us every human being is equally important.
Often attributed to Thatcher, but originally said by Jesse Carr, head of Teamsters Union Local, in Newsweek, Vol. 88 (1976), p. 77
Misattributed
Speech to members of the National Union of Townswomen’s Guilds, delivered at the Royal Albert Hall (May 20, 1965) ; as quoted in Why Women Should Rule the World, HarperCollins (2008), Dee Dee Myers, p. 227 : ISBN 0061140406, 9780061140402 . The Margaret Thatcher Foundation http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/101374 gives the following additional information : MT spoke on the theme ‘Woman – No Longer a Satellite.’ The Evening News report of this speech is the origin of a phrase often attributed to her : ‘In politics, ... (etc., as above).’
Backbench MP
Speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102777
The last sentence is widely paraphrased as "The trouble/problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
Leader of the Opposition
Változat: They’ve got the usual Socialist disease – they’ve run out of other people's money.
Kontextus: And I will go on criticising Socialism, and opposing Socialism because it is bad for Britain – and Britain and Socialism are not the same thing... It's the Labour Government that have brought us record peace-time taxation. They’ve got the usual Socialist disease – they’ve run out of other people's money.
Speech to Conservative Central Council (15 March 1986) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106348
Second term as Prime Minister
Kontextus: Conservatism is not some abstract theory. It's a crusade to put power in the hands of ordinary people. And a very popular crusade it is proving. Tenants are jumping at the opportunity to buy their own council houses. Workers are jumping at the opportunity to buy shares in their own privatised companies. Trade unionists are jumping at the opportunity, which the ballot box now gives them, to decide “who rules” in their union. And the rest of Britain is looking on with approval. For popular capitalism is biting deep.
Remarks http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105691 on Orgreave picketing (30 May 1984)
Second term as Prime Minister
Kontextus: You saw the scenes that went on in television last night. I must tell you that what we have got is an attempt to substitute the rule of the mob for the rule of law, and it must not succeed. It must not succeed. There are those who are using violence and intimidation to impose their will on others who do not want it... Ladies and Gentlemen we need the support of everyone in this battle which goes to the very heart of our society. The rule of law must prevail over the rule of the mob.
On these is founded the whole case for the free society, for the assertion that human progress is best achieved by offering the freest possible scope for the development of individual talents, qualified only by a respect for the qualities and the freedom of others...For many years there has been a subtle erosion of the essential virtues of the free society. Self-reliance has been sneered at as if it were an absurd suburban pretention. Thrift has been denigrated as if it were greed. The desire of parents to choose and to struggle for what they themselves regarded as the best possible education for their children has been scorned.
Speech to Conservative Central Council (15 March 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102655
Leader of the Opposition
Speech to Christian Democratic Union Conference (25 May 1976) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103034
Leader of the Opposition
Kontextus: In some European countries, we now see Communist parties dressed in democratic clothes and speaking with soft voices. Of course we hope that their oft-proclaimed change of heart is genuine. But every child in Europe knows the story of little Red Riding Hood and what happened to her in her grandmother's cottage in the forest. Despite the new look of these Communist parties, despite the softness of their voices, we should be on the watch for the teeth and the appetite of the wolf.
Speech to Young Conservative Conference (12 February 1983) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105252
First term as Prime Minister
Kontextus: Peace is not bought cheaply. It cannot be won without cost. The cost of Britain's defence is the price we pay to prevent war. The money for our armed services is truly our “peace tax”. What a cruel irony it is that the word “peace” has been hijacked by those who seek one-sided disarmament. It's ironic because if only one side disarms, the other is far more tempted to aggression. Unilateralism makes war more likely. We who believe in strong defence are the true peace party.
Speech to Conservative Central Council (28 March 1981) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104604
First term as Prime Minister
Kontextus: In the past our people have made sacrifices, only to find at the eleventh hour their government had lost its nerve and the sacrifice had been in vain. It shall not be in vain this time. This Conservative Government, not yet two years in office, will hold fast until the future of our country is assured... This is the road I am resolved to follow. This is the path I must go. I ask all who have the spirit—the bold, the steadfast and the young in heart—to stand and join with me as we go forward.
Press conference in Saudi Arabia (21 April 1981), quoted in The Times (22 April 1981) p. 1, regarding the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
First term as Prime Minister
Kontextus: There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence for crime. Crime is crime is crime. It is not political. To give concessions on political status would put many people in jeopardy.
Article for the News of the World (29 April 1979) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104052
Leader of the Opposition
Kontextus: In this over-governed country of ours, the creative majority have too little freedom, and the tiny minority of wreckers have too much licence. The government I shall form next weekend will decisively reverse this state of affairs. Help me to liberate those who create wealth—and to make the wreckers run for cover.
