Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Britain 1979-1990, one of the architects of neoliberalism.
The Bitter Legacy of Margaret Thatcher Mike Forster, ISA in England, Wales, and Scotland
T
hirty years ago, on November 28, 1990, Margaret Thatcher, with tears in her eyes, ended her eleven year reign as Prime Minister of Britain. Her departure ended a period of rule which had completely changed the face of British and indeed international politics. A pioneer of neoliberalism, she fought for the interests of her class -- the rich -- while the working class grew to so hate her, that many celebrated when she died. Thatcher’s resignation in 1990 was also marked by huge celebrations in working class communities which had suffered massively at the hands of her brutal policies, but it would be another seven years before the Tories were finally prised out of office. Thatcher’s reputation and legacy has left a deep scar across the whole face of British society which is still very keenly felt today by successive generations.
The Decline of British Capitalism
Thatcher’s anti working class government was a by-product of the slow but steady decline of British capitalism dating from the beginning of the twentieth century, but accelerated by the post war recession of the 1970s. The social-democratic Labour Party had been in power from 1972 -1979, but in that
period Britain became the first developed capitalist economy to bow the knee to demands from the International Monetary Fund. In return for a $4 billion bailout, the Labour government was forced to dramatically cut public spending, introduce wage restraint and rein in the power of the unions. The assault on jobs and the public sector resulted in the infamous “dirty jobs” strikes of 1978-9 which saw prolonged and coordinated strike action taken by some of the lowest paid workers, including medical staff, gravediggers and fire fighters against the anti-union policies of the government led by James Callaghan. This resulted in many workers losing faith in Labour and allowed the Tories to narrowly win the general election of 1979, bringing Britain’s first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to power.
Thatcher - Pioneer of Neoliberalism
There are many myths surrounding Thatcher’s years in office, one of which was that she commanded big public support. Within a year, she was already the most unpopular prime minister in history. She was presiding over growing unemployment, which rose from 1.5 million in 1979 to 3.5 million by 1984. She claimed to tame inflation, but although it was over 20% when she came to power, for most of her reign it varied from 5–10%.
