MARGARET ROBERTS THATCHER - UNITED KINGDOM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01312522
• 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 3, 1979

Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 001312522
Margaret Roberts THATCHER
Prime Minister
(since May 1979)
Addressed as:
Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher,
leader of the Conserva-
tive Party since 1975, is
the first woman ever to
serve as prime minister
in Britain or for that
matter anywhere in Europe.
She achieved the top post
in the elections of 3 May
1979, when her party
gained a comfortable 43-
seat majority in Parliament. A self-proclaimed
crusader for the economic revival of Great Britain,
Thatcher has taken a tough stand on the economy,
been decisive on domestic and international
actions, and paid close attention to the work of
the government during her first seven months as
UNITED KINGDOM
Prime Minister.
the dominant force in the Conservative Party
although she lacks rivals for party
leadership in the near term, she must continue to
work toward further progress in accomplishing the
major goals of her government or lose her position.
Foreign Policy
The Prime Minister has demonstrated that she
is both boldly ideological and shrewdly practical.
She was relatively inexperienced in foreign re-
lations when she assumed office, but she quickly
surrounded herself with experienced foreign affairs
specialists. In mid-1979 her highly regarded For-
eign Secretary, Lord Carrington, persuaded her to
change her policy regarding black majority rule
for Zimbabwe-Rhodesia from that of immediate
recognition of the government of Abel Muzorewa to
support for a constitutional conference. At that
conference, which is currently under way in London,
the African leaders and the British Government are
seeking a joint resolution of the Rhodesian prob-
lem. Thatcher, who has been somewhat skeptical of
US leadership since the mid-1970s, has insisted
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on her government taking a more active role in
achieving decisions on issues that affect the
Western alliance. A strong advocate of NATO, she
has taken a personal interest in deciding upon the
most effective nuclear weapon system for Britain's
arsenal. She has called on West European nations
to modernize their defense forces in order to be a
match for Soviet military strength.
Thatcher visited the United States in 1967 as
a Foreign Leader Grantee. She met with then
President Gerald Ford in Washington in 1975 and
returned in 1977 to meet with President Jimmy
Carter. Since becoming Prime Minister, she has
traveled widely.
Career and Personal Data
The daughter of a grocer, Margaret Roberts
won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford,
where she studied chemistry. After working four
years as a research chemist for an industrial
firm, she studied law, specializing in tax law and
patents. A member of Parliament since 1959, she
has served as joint parliamentary secretary to the
Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance (1961-
64), as Secretary of State for Education and
Science (1970-74), and as shadow deputy chancellor
of the exchequer (1974-75).
Well organized, Thatcher works hard to master
details of complex data. She expresses ideas
clearly and logically. No recent British leader
has had her powers of concentration, capacity for
hard work, self-confidence, pluck and narrowness
of focus. She defends her positions with skill,
and she has the courage of her convictions; com-
promise comes hard for her, but it does come.
She is a self-made woman in a party known for its
male chauvinism. Thatcher is serious, dispassion-
ate, determined and achievement oriented. There
is little room in her life for the capricious or
frivolous. In dealing with the news media, she
tends to be crisp and somewhat patronizing; with
colleagues she is honest and straightforward.
Thatcher, 54, enjoys music and reading. She
does not smoke. She likes Cointreau and Scotch
and soda, and broiled Dover sole is a favorite
main dish. Thatcher's husband, Denis, retired as
executive director of the Burmah Oil Company in
May 1975. The Thatchers have 26-year-old twins,
Mark and Carol.
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