MARGARET ROBERTS THATCHER - UNITED KINGDOM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06239544
• 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: May 3, 1989

Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239544
Margaret Roberts THATCHER
Prime Minister (since May 1979)
Addressed as: Prime Minister
Leader of the Conservative Party since 1975,
Margaret Thatcher is the first woman ever to serve
as prime minister of Britain or of any other
European country. In 1987 she became the first
British prime minister in 150 years to be elected to
a third successive term in office. Thatcher is a self-
proclaimed crusader for free enterprise, free trade,
and economic revival. She has frequently declared
her support for a strong NATO, an independent
British nuclear deterrent, and the need for
balanced and verifiable arms control measures. In
the spring of 1987 Thatcher made an official visit
to Moscow, the first British prime minister to do so
in more than a decade.
UNITED KINGDOM
The daughter of a grocer and a seamstress, Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925.
She won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford, and graduated with honors in
chemistry in 1947. While there she was president of the University Conservative
Association. After working for four years as a research chemist in an industrial firm, she
began to study law, specializing in tax legislation and patents. A member of Parliament
since 1959, Thatcher held several important government and party positions before
becoming Prime Minister, including those of Secretary of State for Education and Science
(1970-74) and shadow deputy chancellor of the exchequer (1974-75).
Thatcher enjoys listening to Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin and reading detective
stories, historical novels, and biographies. Her husband, Denis, is a retired oil company
executive. The Thatchers have twins, Mark and Carol.
3 May 1989
Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239544