Thatcher by the Time She Graduated From

Thatcher

By the time she graduated from Oxford University, Margaret Thatcher already formulated a cohesive conservative political philosophy. She formed a base of political power early, by becoming president of the Oxford University Conservative Association and also attending local Colchester County Conservative Party meetings. Thatcher networked with Conservative Party bigwigs, and soon found herself running as a candidate.

Thatcher campaigned aggressively, going door to door and memorizing details about her potential constituents. She became the youngest member of Parliament in 1959, when she was in her mid-30s. Her emphasis on personal relations and communications spilled over into her political practice, as she sent individualized thank you notes to all the party workers who helped her succeed at this early stage in her career. Also early in her career, Margaret Thatcher took strong stances on conservative issues. She rallied against labor unions and supported tax hikes on speculative but not direct business investments.

Her hard and diligent fact-finding missions and well-developed political stances earned her respect and credibility. She sought to dismantle the bureaucracy that she viewed as being woefully inefficient, while at the same time earning valuable political allies within the system. Working in the Treasury as well as Education departments, Margaret Thatcher exercised political influence deftly.

Margaret Thatcher assumed hard-lined stances on some issues that made her extremely unpopular with voters. For example, Thatcher radically cut the education budget and earned the moniker "Thatcher the Milk Snatcher." She opposed improvements on slum area schools, and raised the cost of school meals. Yet Thatcher is also credited with being one of the "biggest spenders" in the Education Department's history (p. 6). Her reputation bolstered her power and she was soon a contender to become the head of the Conservative Party.

Thatcher already secured a solid base of supporters as well as staunch political enemies. In fact, Thatcher knew how to use her enemies to her political advantage: by garnering attention. The media soon became Thatcher's greatest ally. Amassing a cadre of both political and communications aides, Thatcher "made stunning progress" in Parliament and with the public (p. 16).

Margaret Thatcher's greatest strength was her ruthlessness. She had strong, unwavering beliefs in the ideology of the Conservative Party. Her insistence that Tory values were correct spilled over into an image of a stalwart politician -- one that did not falter or waver. She did not make compromises she was not willing to make, and she did not allow her enemies or the opposition to thwart her.