http://www.social-policy.org.uk/lincoln/Page.pdf pages 7 - 9
1979-1983: Prime Minister – First Term
The new government pledged to check and reverse Britain's economic decline. In the short-term, painful measures were required. Although direct taxes were cut, to restore incentives, the budget had to be balanced, and so indirect taxes were increased. The economy was already entering a recession, but inflation was rising and interest rates had to be raised to control it. By the end of Margaret Thatcher's first term, unemployment in Britain was more than three million and it began to fall only in 1986. A large section of Britain's inefficient manufacturing industry closed down. No one had predicted how severe the downturn would be.
But vital long-term gains were made. Inflation was checked and the government created the expectation that it would do whatever was necessary to keep it low. The budget of spring 1981, increasing taxes at the lowest point of the recession, offended conventional Keynesian economic thinking, but it made possible a cut in interest rates and demonstrated this newly found determination. Economic recovery started in the same quarter and eight years of growth followed.
Political support flowed from this achievement, but the re-election of the government was only made certain by an unpredicted event: the Falklands War. The Argentine Junta's invasion of the islands in April 1982 was met by Margaret Thatcher in the firmest way and with a sure touch. Although she worked with the US administration in pursuing the possibility of a diplomatic solution, a British military Task Force was despatched to retake the islands. When diplomacy failed, military action was quickly successful and the Falklands were back under British control by June 1982.
The electorate was impressed. Few British or European leaders would have fought for the islands. By doing so, Margaret Thatcher laid the foundation for a much more vigorous and independent British foreign policy during the rest of the 1980s.When the General Election came in June 1983, the government was re-elected with its Parliamentary majority more than trebled (144 seats).
1979-83: Prime Minister – first term
| 79 May 04 Fr: | MT appointed Prime Minister |
| 79 Jun 07 Th: | European Elections |
| 79 Jul 31 Tu: | Lusaka Commonwealth Meeting began (ended 8 Aug) |
| 79 Aug 27 Mo: | IRA murdered Mountbatten and 18 soldiers (Warrenpoint) |
| 79 Oct 23 Tu: | Exchange controls abolished |
| 79 Nov 29-30: | Dublin European Council: budget row beginning |
| 79 Dec 25 Tu: | USSR invaded Afghanistan |
| 80 Jan 02 We: | Steel strike began (ended 3 Apr) |
| 80 Jun 02 Mo: | Cabinet agreed European budget proposal; short-term settlement |
| 80 Sep 22 Mo: | Iran-Iraq war began |
| 80 Nov 04 Tu: | Reagan elected US President |
| 81 Feb 10 Tu: | NCB announced pit closures (abandoned 18 Feb) |
| 81 Mar 01 Su: | Second Republican hunger strike began (ended 3 Oct) |
| 81 Mar 10 Tu: | Budget: counter-Keynesian - increased taxes at bottom of depression |
| 81 Mar 26 Th: | Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed ('Alliance' of SDP & Liberals, 16 Jun) |
| 81 Nov 26 Th: | Crosby by-election: Shirley Williams won Conservative seat for SDP |
| 82 Apr 02 Fr: | Falklands: Argentina invaded |
| 82 Apr 03 Sa: | Falklands: UN SCR 502 demanding Argentine withdrawal; British Task Force sailed |
| 82 Apr 25 Su: | Falklands: South Georgia recaptured |
| 82 Apr 30 Fr: | Falklands: US 'tilt' in favour of Britain; Total Exclusion Zone put in force |
| 82 May 02 Su: | Falklands: Argentine cruiser General Belgrano sunk by British sub HMS Conqueror |
| 82 May 04 Tu: | Falklands: HMS Sheffield hit by Argentine Exocet missile |
| 82 May 21 Fr: | Falklands: British Forces landed at San Carlos Bay |
| 82 Jun 14 Mo: | Falklands: Argentine surrender |
| 83 Mar 23 We: | Reagan announced 'Star Wars' (Strategic Defence Initiative); MT supports |
| 83 Jun 09 Th: | General Election: Conservative Government formed (144 majority) |
The above is from http://www.margaretthatcher.org/essential/chronology.asp#chron79-83 I will now look at other sources in order to see if there are any other interpretations of what she did whilst in power during the first term. This is due to the fact that this source may have vested interests as it is a website solely about Thatcher
Thatcherism
Margaret Thatcher at the Conservative conference in 1982 © Much of so-called Thatcherism actually evolved as circumstances allowed, and was helped by the failures of the opposition. For example, privatisation, a flagship policy, was not mentioned in the 1979 manifesto.
At the 1983 general election, in spite of unemployment doubling to some three million, the government won a landslide victory thanks in large part to Labour’s divisions and its left-wing policies.
It is interesting to consider the fate in the 1980s of the five features of the post-war consensus outlined previously.
1. Trade unions now operated in a tighter legal framework, including: the requirement for pre-strike ballots; the end of the 'closed shop' (union membership as a precondition of employment in a specific industry); and making unions liable for damages incurred in illegal strikes. They were hardly consulted by the government and their influence waned in part because of the abandonment of income policies and rising unemployment.
2. The spread of privatisation of the major utilities altered the balance of the mixed economy. Gas, electricity, telephony, British Airways and later British Rail were all privatised. There was also a huge sale to tenants of council housing.
3. The government abandoned its commitment to full employment, stating this was the responsibility of employers and employees, and accorded priority instead to keeping inflation low.
4. Welfare state benefits were increasingly subject to means-testing.
5. Government insisted that it could no longer be a universal provider. More should be left to the market, the voluntary sector and self-help.
Thatcher's mandate
Striking miners clash with police in Wooley, Yorkshire, 1984 © There was no great endorsement of Thatcherism in 1979. As late as October 1978, Labour was still ahead in some opinion polls, but the 'Winter of Discontent' turned the public against Labour and the unions. The election was more of a rejection of Labour than an endorsement of Thatcherism.
The recapture of the Falkland Islands from Argentina in 1982 was important for the success of the Thatcher project. It coincided with an improvement in the public standing of the government and of Thatcher herself. The victory seemed to vindicate her claims in domestic politics that she could provide strong leadership and stand up for the nation. The war rhetoric could now be turned against the enemies within - particularly the trade unions.
There are academic disputes about the extent to which military success boosted Conservative chances in the 1983 election. There were signs of a revival in the polls and greater economic optimism even before the capture. But what if the Falklands had been lost? Would the government have survived?
Thatcher was respected but not liked by the British public. For all the talk of sweeping election successes, government only gained an average of 42% of the vote at general elections. But the peculiarities of the British electoral system and the split of the non-Conservative vote between the Labour and Liberal-Alliance parties meant that the government was able to win over 60% of seats in the House of Commons.
Surveys showed limited support for many of Thatcher’s values. Professor Ivor Crewe’s 'The Crusade that Failed' noted the lack of support for Thatcher’s policies on 'tax-and-spend' and replacing the dependency culture with an enterprise culture. And there was greater approval for a more equal society and for social and collective provision of welfare as against Thatcher's vision of people looking after themselves.
But Labour could not exploit this dissatisfaction, because it was not trusted on the economy or defence and was widely seen as weak and divided.
This is from the BBC website so that it is more likely to give an all round view as they have to report facts. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/thatcherism_01.shtml
