Changes

The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".   

The Labour party under [[James Callaghan]] (prime minister 1976-79) contested the May 1979 election as unemployment passed the one-million mark and unions became more aggressive. The Conservatives used a highly effective poster created by Saatchi and Saatchi, showing a dole queue snaking into the distance and it carried the caption "Labour isn't working".   

Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore, they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978-9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match.  Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

Voters gave Conservatives 43.9% of the vote and 339 seats to Labour's 269, for an overall majority of 43 seats. People generally voted against Labour rather than for the Conservatives. Labour was weakened by the steady long-term decline in the proportion of manual workers in the electorate. Twice as many manual workers normally voted Labour as voted Conservative, but they now constituted only 56% of the electorate. When [[Harold Wilson]] won narrowly for Labour in 1964, they had accounted for 63%. Furthermore, they were beginning to turn against the trade unions—alienated, perhaps, by the difficulties of the winter of 1978–9. In contrast, Tory policies stressing wider home ownership, which Labour refused to match.  Thatcher did best in districts where the economy was relatively strong and was weaker where it was contracting.

==Prime Ministership==

==Prime Ministership==

== Notable quotes==

== Notable quotes==

*"The American dream, defended and projected by American power, has transformed oppression and poverty into liberty and prosperity." - Speech At the [[Hoover Institution]], July 19th 2000<ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108388 Speech by the Rt. Hon. Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, FRS, Delivered at the Hoover Institution, California, On Wednesday 19th July 2000]</ref>

*"The American dream, defended and projected by American power, has transformed oppression and poverty into liberty and prosperity." - Speech At the [[Hoover Institution]], July 19, 2000<ref>[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108388 Speech by the Rt. Hon. Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, FRS, Delivered at the Hoover Institution, California, On Wednesday 19th July 2000]</ref>

*"You have to win the argument before you can win the election."

*"You have to win the argument before you can win the election."

* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO

* Clarke, Peter. "Margaret Thatcher's Place in History: Two Views," ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'' 2002 24(3): 357-368 online at EBSCO

* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F.  ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp.  [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]

* Geelhoed, Bruce E. and Hobbs, James F.  ''Margaret Thatcher's Last Hurrah: In Victory and Downfall, 1987 and 1990.'' (1992). 193 pp.  [http://www.questia.com/read/15091359?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20In%20Victory%20and%20Downfall%2c%201987%20and%201990 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Margaret-Thatcher-Victory-Downfall-1987/dp/0275941485/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212823416&sr=8-34 excerpt and text search]

* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435-454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.

* King, Anthony. "The Outsider as Political Leader: the Case of Margaret Thatcher." ''British Journal of Political Science'' 2002 32(3): 435–454. Issn: 0007-1234 Fulltext: [[CUP]] and [[Jstor]]. Thatcher was a social outsider, psychological outsider and political outsider.

*  Thompson, Juliet S., and  Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]

*  Thompson, Juliet S., and  Wayne C. Thompson. ''Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister Indomitable'' (1994) [http://www.questia.com/read/85710688?title=Margaret%20Thatcher%3a%20Prime%20Minister%20Indomitable online edition]

* Young, Hugo.  ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched   

* Young, Hugo.  ''The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.'' (1989). 570 pp. well-written and well researched