Margaret Thatcher, Dead at 87

Britain’s first and only female prime minister has died Monday, April 8, after suffering a fatal stroke.

Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher had suffered several strokes since 2002, when she retired from public life.

Thatcher — born in October 1925 in the small eastern England market town of Grantham — came from a modest background, taking pride in being known as a grocer’s daughter. She studied chemistry at Oxford, but was involved in politics from a young age, giving her first political speech at 20, according to her official biography.

She was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, when the party was in opposition.

She made history four years later, becoming prime minister when the Conservatives won the elections of 1979, the first of three election victories to which she led her party.

As British leader, Thatcher took a firm stance with the European Community — the forerunner of the European Union — demanding a rebate of money London contributed to Brussels.

Her positions on other issues, both domestic and foreign, were just as firm, and in one of her most famous phrases, she declared at a Conservative Party conference that she had no intention of changing her mind.

“To those waiting with bated breath for that favorite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: ‘You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning,'” she declared, to cheers from party members. (source)

Margaret Thatcher enjoyed  close friendships with US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Communist reformer Mikhail Gorbachev.

Thatcher made clear before her death that she did not want to lie in state. Her funeral will be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral,with full military honors, followed by a private cremation. Downing Street and Buckingham Palace are flying their flags at half mast today. UK Prime Minister David Cameron called the former Tory leader “a great prime minister, a great leader, a great Briton”.

She is survived by her children, Mark and Carol.