MARGARET ROBERTS THATCHER - UNITED KINGDOM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06239537
• 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: February 13, 1985

Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239537
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. She is a self-proclaimed crusader for free
enterprise, free trade, and the economic revival of
Great Britain. 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.
UNITED KINGDOM
The daughter of a grocer and a seamstress,
Thatcher 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 has held several important government positions, including those of
joint parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance (1961-64),
Secretary of State for Education and Science (1970-74), and shadow deputy chancellor of
the exchequer (1974-75).
Thatcher has visited the United States many times. On a state visit in February 1981,
she renewed an acquaintance with President Ronald Reagan, whom she had known for
several years, and they have met often since then.
Thatcher, 59, enjoys listening to the music of Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin and
reading detective stories, historical novels, and biographies. Her husband, Denis, is a retired
oil company executive. The Thatchers have grown twins, Mark and Carol.
CR M 85-10776
13 February 1985
Approved for Release: 2014/10/24 006239537