MARGARET ROBERTS THATCHER - UNITED KINGDOM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06239536
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: March 16, 2022
• Document Release Date: January 11, 2016
• Case Number: F-2014-01469
• Publication Date: December 13, 1984

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Margaret Roberts THATCHER
Prime Minister
(since May 1979)
Addressed as:
Prime Minister
Leader of the Conservative party since 1975,
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is the
preeminent figure on the British political scene.
she is a forceful
and self-confident leader who is proud of her
convictions, places a premium on strength of
purpose, and is often resistant to change. When she
has faced challenges to her authority as party
leader or Prime Minister, Thatcher has met them
head on and has vanquished her opponents. We
believe that she has now become so accustomed to
winning every battle that she is supremely
confident that she will carry the day against any adversary, foreign or domestic. She views
any willingnesth.comnrnmiseinnsgo1iatiuiis as a weakness, and her goal is to achieve all of
her objectives
UNITED KINGDOM
The Thatcher Team and
the Domestic Agenda
After Thatcher led her party to an overwhelming victory in the 1983 national election,
she moved swiftly to place her own stamp on her new Cabinet team. She promoted various
loyalists, many of whom, like her, have risen from modest social backgrounds to positions of
Dower. At the same time, she dropped from influential posts some Tory barons who,
represented the older and more patrician wing oi the party,
long its dominant force. Since the election, however, her critics both in and out of
Parliament have contended that her government has drifted and has been unable to
capitalize on its large majority in the House of Commons. According to the British press,
she has had trouble controlling her 143-seat majority, as demonstrated by the early
December 1984 backbench revolt against proposed government cuts in education subsidies.
Nonetheless, her critics in the party remain loyal, and she can still muster lopsided
majorities in Parliament on most issues.
members of Thatcher's party are concerned because she
relies on a few advisers and does not consult the full Cabinet when making policy decisions.
These critics doubt whether she is politically well served by the advisers she promo:ed last
year, inasmuch as they lack political expertise and closely reflect her personal political
views. The British press has noted that her authoritarian attitude toward the Cabinet and
muddled handling of controversial matters such as the aforementioned education subsidy
cuts have contributed to her image as an isolated leader. Thatcher remains confident despite
attacks on her leadership and has repeatedly stated to the press that she intends to seek a
thirci term- and remain in povier. indefinitely (her current term expires in June 1988).:
(cont.)
CR M 84-15906
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graduate of Oxford, she has worked as a research chemist and a lawyer. She has served in
Parliament since 1959. In October 1984 she narrowly survived an assassination attempt
when the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb in the hotel where she was
staying. She and her husband, Denis, a retired oil company executive, have 31-year- old
twins: Carol, a journalist, and Mark, a business consultant. Mark has lent his name to a
variety of enterprises, and his business dealings have at times been an embarrassment to his
mother.
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13 December 1984
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