Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (lahir di Grantham, Lincolnshire, Inggris, 13 Oktober 1925 – meninggal di London, Inggris, 8 April 2013 pada umur 87 tahun), adalah seorang politikus Britania Raya, Perdana Menteri Britania Raya dengan masa jabatan terlama sepanjang abad ke-20 (1979–1990), dan satu-satunya wanita yang pernah menduduki jabatan tersebut. Seorang jurnalis Soviet menjulukinya "Wanita Besi" (Iron Lady), istilah yang kemudian dikait-kaitkan dengan politik dan gaya kepemimpinannya. Selaku Perdana Menteri, ia menerapkan kebijakan-kebijakan Konservatif yang kelak disebut sebagai Thatcherisme.Mengawali karier sebagai kimiawan riset sebelum menjadi barrister, Thatcher terpilih menjadi Anggota Parlemen (MP) untuk wilayah Finchley pada tahun 1959. Edward Heath menunjuknya sebagai Menteri Negara untuk Pendidikan dan Ilmu Pengetahuan pada tahun 1970. Tahun 1975, Thatcher mengalahkan Heath pada pemilihan ketua Partai Konservatif dan menjadi Ketua Oposisi, sekaligus wanita pertama yang memimpin partai politik besar di Britania Raya. Ia menjadi Perdana Menteri setelah memenangkan pemilu 1979.
Setelah resmi menetap di 10 Downing Street, Thatcher memperkenalkan serangkaian inisiatif politik dan ekonomi untuk membalikkan apa yang ia anggap sebagai kejatuhan nasional Britania Raya.[nb 1] Filosofi politik dan kebijakan ekonominya menekankan deregulasi (terutama di sektor keuangan), pasar buruh yang fleksibel, swastanisasi BUMN, dan mengurangi kekuasaan dan pengaruh serikat dagang. Popularitas Thatcher selama tahun-tahun pertama masa jabatannya menurun karena resesi dan tingkat pengangguran yang tinggi. Perbaikan ekonomi dan Perang Falklands 1982 membuat dukungan terhadap Thatcher melesat, sehingga ia terpilih lagi tahun 1983.
Thatcher terpilih kembali untuk ketiga kalinya pada tahun 1987, tetapi Community Charge-nya (biasa disebut "pajak pemungutan suara") sangat tidak populer dan pandangannya terhadap Komunitas Eropa tidak diungkapkan kepada Kabinetnya. Ia mengundurkan diri sebagai Perdana Menteri dan ketua partai pada November 1990, setelah Michael Heseltine menantang kepemimpinannya. Thatcher memegang gelar bangsawan seumur hidup sebagai Baroness Thatcher dari Kesteven di County Lincolnshire. Gelar ini memberinya tempat di Majelis Tinggi.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts, 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013), was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist called her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition and became the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election.
On moving into 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession.[nb 1] Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment until the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983.
Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987. During this period her support for a Community Charge (referred to as the "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the county of Lincolnshire, which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. After a series of small strokes in 2002, she was advised to withdraw from public speaking, and in 2013 she died of another stroke in London at the age of 87.
