Thatcher's First Term: Monetarism and the Falklands 1979–1983

Margaret Thatcher's election on 3 May 1979 is widely regarded as a watershed in post-war British history. She came to power with a programme that explicitly repudiated the post-war consensus: monetarism would replace Keynesianism; market forces would replace state intervention; individual responsibility would replace collective provision. Yet her first term was characterised by severe recession, soaring unemployment, and the political salvation provided by the Falklands War.

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Thatcher's Background and Ideology

Key Fact	Detail
Background	Born Margaret Roberts in Grantham, 1925; daughter of Alfred Roberts, a grocer and local councillor; grammar school and Oxford (chemistry, then law); MP for Finchley from 1959
Ideological influences	Friedrich Hayek (The Road to Serfdom, 1944); Milton Friedman (monetarism); Keith Joseph (who founded the Centre for Policy Studies in 1974); the Institute of Economic Affairs
Leadership	Defeated Heath for the Conservative leadership in February 1975 — the first woman to lead a major British political party

Key Ideological Principles