Biography
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, DStJ, PC, FRS, HonFRSC (née Roberts; 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013) was a British stateswoman and Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to hold the position. As prime minister, she implemented economic policies known as Thatcherism. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. Thatcher studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist before becoming a barrister. She was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her secretary of state for education and science in his 1970–1974 government. In 1975, she defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become leader of the opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the UK. On becoming prime minister after winning the 1979 general election, Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an oncoming recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised greater individual liberty, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Her popularity in her first years in office waned amid recession and rising unemployment. Victory in the 1982 Falklands War and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her landslide re-election in 1983. She survived an assassination attempt by the Provisional IRA in the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing and achieved a political victory against the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1984–85 miners' strike. In 1986, Thatcher oversaw the deregulation of UK financial markets, leading to an economic boom, in what came to be known as the Big Bang. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term with another landslide in 1987, but her subsequent support for the Community Charge (also known as the "poll tax") was widely unpopular, and her increasingly Eurosceptic views on the European Community were not shared by others in her cabinet. She resigned as prime minister and party leader in 1990, after a challenge was launched to her leadership, and was succeeded by John Major, her chancellor of the Exchequer. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher (of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. In 2013, she died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel, London, at the age of 87. A polarising figure in British politics, Thatcher is nonetheless viewed favourably in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a realignment towards neoliberal policies in Britain; the complex legacy attributed to this shift continues to be debated into the 21st century.
Acted in 11
2020s
- 2024
Miners' Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain
TV
2010s
- 2019
- 2017
紫荆花开
TV
- 2014
Soul Boys of the Western World
Movie
1990s
- 1997
Degeneration Punk
Movie
1970s
- 1978
1950s
- 1953
Appearances83
2020s
- 2026
- 2025
Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire
Self (archive footage)
- 2024
Striking with Pride: United at the Coalface
Self (archive footage)
Secrets & Spies: A Nuclear Game
Self (archive footage) · 3 episodes
- 2023
Lockerbie
Self (archive footage) · 4 episodes
In the Grip of Gazprom
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Her Majesty's Prime Ministers: John Major
Self (archive footage)
- 2022
The Real Spies Among Friends
Self (archive footage)
Nazi Hunters: The Real Walk-In
Self (archive Footage)
Margaret Thatcher: Serving the Crown
Self
Thatcher's Not Dead
Self (archive footage)
McEnroe
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ice Under His Feet
Self (archive footage)
- 2021
Endgame in Ireland
Self (archive footage) · 4 episodes
Thatcher vs The Miners: The Battle for Britain
Self (archive footage)
- 2020
2010s
- 2019
1979: Big Bang of the Present
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Laboratory Greece
Self (archive footage)
The Troubles: A Secret History
Self (archive footage) · 8 episodes
Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks
Self (archive footage)
Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
Self (archive footage) · 5 episodes
Meeting Gorbachev
Self (archive Footage)
- 2018
- 2017
Hong Kong: Retrocession Generation
Self (archive footage)
- 2016
The Swap
Self (voice)
Shadow World
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach
Self (archive footage)
Hillsborough
Self (archive Footage)
- 2015
The 90s: Ten Years That Changed the World
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Emperor's New Clothes
Self (archive footage)
Laissez-faire
Self (archive footage)
- 2013
Margaret: Death of a Revolutionary
Self
Maggie and Me
Self (Archive Footage)
Margaret Thatcher: The Woman Who Changed Britain
Self
- 2012
Palme
Self (archive footage)
- 2011
Reagan
Self (archive footage)
- 2010
Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics
Self (archive footage)
How to Win the TV Debate
Self (archive footage)
2000s
- 2009
The Shock Doctrine
Self (archive footage)
- 2008
Portillo on Thatcher
Self (Archive Footage)
The New Ten Commandments
Self (archive footage)
- 2007
Margaret Thatcher, l'enfance d'un chef
Self
How to Be an Ex-Prime Minister
Self
The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom
Self (archive footage) · 3 episodes
- 2006
Best Ever Spitting Image
Self (archive footage)
- 2004
Remembering Reagan at His Ranch
Self (archive footage)
In Search of Tony Blair
Self (Archive Footage)
The Downing Street Patient
Self (archive footage)
- 2002
The Century of the Self
Self (archive footage) · 4 episodes
- 2001
Cabinet Confidential
Self
The Pinochet Case
Self (archive footage)
The Secret Rulers of the World
Self (archive footage) · 1 episode
1990s
- 1999
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1998
Reagan
Self
- 1996
How to Be Prime Minister
Self
- 1995
The Wilderness Years
Self (Archive Footage) · 4 episodes
Odd Man Out: A Film Portrait of Enoch Powell
Self
Satans mördare
Self
Westminster's Secret Service
Self (Archive Footage)
- 1994
Wasted Windfall
Self · 1 episode
- 1993
Thatcher: The Downing Street Years
Self · 4 episodes
1980s
- 1987
The Falklands War: The Untold Story
Self (archive footage)
- 1986
The Englishwoman's Wardrobe
Self
Rockin' Ronnie
Self (archive footage)
To Kill the Cabinet
Self (archive footage)
- 1984
Informe especial
Self (archive footage) · 1 episode
- 1983
The Red and the Blue
Self (uncredited)
- 1982
Let Poland Be Poland
Self
- 1980
