MARGARET ROBERTS THATCHER - UNITED KINGDOM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06239529
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: March 16, 2022
• Document Release Date: January 11, 2016
• Case Number: F-2014-01469
• Publication Date: December 3, 1979

Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239529
Margaret Roberts THATCHER
Prime Minister (since
May 1979)
Addressed as:
Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher, the
Conservative Party's self-
proclaimed crusader for the
economic revival of Great
Britain, is the first woman
to become British Prime
Minister; she is also the
first European woman to
reach the top national
position. Thatcher earned
that distinction after the
elections of 3 May 1979, in which her party gained
a comfortable 43-seat majority in Parliament; she
has been party leader since February 1975. During
her first seven months as Prime Minister, she has
fulfilled several of her campaign promises: she
has made substantial reductions in personal income
taxes, prepared plans to sell some of Britain's
nationalized industries, had some success in
reforming the trade unions, and begun a pruning of
the bureaucracy and of government involvement in
the economy.
UNITED KINGDOM
Thatcher visited the United States in 1967 as
a Foreign Leader Grantee. On a return visit in
1975 she met with then President Gerald Ford in
Washington, and in 1977 she met with President
Jimmy Carter. Since becoming Prime Minister, she
has taken several trips abroad.
After graduating from Oxford with honors in
chemistry, Margaret Roberts studied law, spe-
cializing in tax legislation and patents. She
enjoys listening to music by Bach, Beethoven and
Chopin and reading detective stories, historical
novels and biographies. Her favorite food is
broiled Dover sole, and her favorite drinks are
Cointreau and Scotch and soda. She does not
smoke. The Prime Minister, 54, has been married
since 1951 to Denis Thatcher, who retired as
executive director of the Burmah Oil Company in
May 1975. The Thatchers have 26-year-old twins,
Mark and Carol.
CR M 79-16862
3 December 1979
Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239529