MARGARET ROBERTS THATCHER - UNITED KINGDOM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06239532
• 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: November 30, 1982

Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239532
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 European
country. A self-proclaimed crusader for free
enterprise and British economic revival, she stresses
the need to fight inflation, cut government
spending, and control the money supply while
increasing industrial productivity and bringing
private business into key sectors of the economy.
Although she has not yet achieved her goal of
restoring Britain's commercial competitiveness, she is determined to succeed. Thatcher often
takes bold, decisive stands. Her handling of the Falkland Islands conflict and the image of
resolute leadership which she projected during that crisis boosted her standing in the opinion
polls and within her own party. With elections to be held by June 1984�they will probably
take place in October 1983�her position as party leader is secure. Thatcher respects
toughness. The press has dubbed her the Iron Lady; her critics contend that she is cold,
rigidly doctrinaire, and autocratic.
UNITED KINGDOM
During 1981 moderate Tories openly criticized Thatcher for her unwillingness to
change her economic strategy and increase government spending to reduce Britain's double-
digit unemployment rate. She responded by removing three of her leading critics from the
Cabinet and by reiterating her belief that the stern economic measures she had instituted
were necessary and that she would not change "just to court popularity." She also said (and
still does) that by reducing inflation the government is, in fact, fighting unemployment. The
1982-83 budget, while not a change in her basic economic strategy, did mollify many critics
because of its skillfully drawn provisions dealing with joblessness.
Foreign and Defense Policy
Thatcher is strongly anti-Soviet and a firm ally of the United States. She says that
Britain cannot defend itself without a "close, effective, and warmhearted alliance" with this
country. She welcomed the election of President Ronald Reagan, apparently because she
believes he shares her views on the importance of private enterprise and the need to meet the
Soviet challenge. In November 1982 she gave full backing to his decision to concentrate MX
nuclear missiles in one location, noting that the US strategic nuclear force is the "final
guarantor of Europe's liberty." Despite her general support for this country, Thatcher can
be outspoken about those US policies with which she disagrees. In July 1982 she denounced
the then existing US trade sanctions against those British firms having contracts for the
Soviet gas pipeline, arguing that it was wrong for this country to prevent extant contracts
from being fulfilled.
Long an advocate of a strong NATO, Thatcher has agreed to permit the stationing of
US cruise missiles in Britain, beginning in 1983. She has also decided to modernize Britain's
nuclear deterrent through the acquisition of the US Trident ballistic missile system. A
(cont.)
CR M 82-16629
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proponent of multilateral disarmament, Thatcher says verification is not an optional extra in
the disarmament process but is instead the "heart of the matter." In November 1981 she
warmly endorsed President Reagan's "zero option" proposal for intermediate-range nuclear
forces in Europe. Thatcher has been one of Europe's strongest critics of the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan and the curtailing of civil liberties in Poland. In October 1982 she visited
Berlin and denounced the wall dividing that city as a "grim monument to a desolate creed."
Thatcher supports British membership in the European Communities but is sharply critical
of hoi,v the current EC budget is structured.
Style
Thatcher is forceful and self-confident and often relies on just a few advisers when
making policy decisions. In public appearances she is almost always poised and in command.
A woman of formidable intellect, she expresses her ideas clearly and logically and defends
them with skill and conviction. Compromise comes hard for her, especially in domestic
issues. Few recent British leaders have had her capacity for hard work and master* of detail.
A self-made woman in a party known for its male chauvinism, Thatcher is serious and
achievement oriented. She leaves little room in her life for the frivolous and has no tolerance
for bureaucracy and bureaucratic delay.
Career and Personal Data
The daughter of a grocer and a seamstress, Thatcher won a scholarship to Oxford,
where she studied chemistry in the 1940s. She later studied law, specializing in tax law and
patents. She has served in Parliament since 1959 and has held various government positions,
including that of Secretary of State for Education and Science (1970-74).
Thatcher, 57, enjoys listening to classical music and reading detective stories, historical
novels, and biographies. Her husband, Denis, is a retired oil company executive. The
Thatchers have 29-year-old twins, Mark and Carol.
30 November 1982
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