In 1975 an official in the US Embassy had the wit to work out that there was something special about the unknown Margaret Thatcher long before she became Prime Minister in 1979.
By the beginning of 1975 there was a degree of unrest in the UK Conservative Party with the leadership of Edward Heath. The Tories had just lost a General Election but, as usual, very few were willing to stick their necks out and challenge Heath for the position of leader. Margaret Thatcher, however, who had been a minor figure in Heath’s cabinet had no such doubts. She felt that Heath has led the party away from conservative first principles and it was time to redress the balance so she through down the gauntlet and defeated Heath in a leadership ballot.
It was then assumed that one of the big beasts from the higher echelons of the party would step in to take over the leadership now that Thatcher had done the heavy lifting. But when Heath’s anointed successor, Willie Whitelaw, put in his bid Thatcher refused to give way and she defeated him in a second ballot.
The American government was puzzled by all this. They knew nothing about this woman so the US embassy in London was asked to provide some information. The result was this confidential cable now published in the UK Spectator’s Coffee House Blog.
2. Margaret Thatcher has blazed into national prominence almost literally from out of nowhere. When she first indicated that she intended to stand against Ted Heath for leadership of the Conservative Party, few took her challenge seriously and fewer still believed it would succeed. She had never been a member of the inner circle of Tory power brokers, and no politician in modern times has come to the leadership of either major party with such a narrow range of prior experience. Now suddenly, after what has been described as her “daringly successful commando raid on the heights of the Tory Party,” she has become the focus of unusually intensive media and popular interest.
3. There is a general agreement among friends and critics alike that she is an effective and forceful parliamentary performer. She has a quick, if not profound, mind, and works hard to master the most complicated brief. She fights her corner with skill and toughness, but can be flexible when pressed. In dealing with the media or with subordinates, she tends to be crisp and a trifle patronizing. With colleagues, she is honest and straight-forward, if not excessively considerate of their vanities. Civil servants at the Ministry of Education found her autocratic. She has the courage of her convictions, and once she has reached a decision to act, is unlikely to be deflected by any but the most persuasive arguments. Self-confident and self-disciplined, she gives every promise of being a strong leader.
4. Even before her great leap upward, Mrs. Thatcher had been the personification of a British middle class dream come true. Born the daughter of a grocer, she had by dint of her own abilities and application won through, securing scholarships to good schools, making a success of her chosen career, and marrying advantageously. It is not surprising then that she espouses middle class values of thrift, hard work, and law and order, that she believes in individual choice, maximum freedom for market forces, and minimal power for the state. Hers is the genuine voice of a beleaguered bourgeoisie, anxious about its eroding economic power and determined to arrest society’s seemingly inexorable trend towards collectivism. Somewhat unchivalrously, Denis Healey has dubbed her “La Pasionaria of the middle class privilege.”
Read the rest here – it will certainly provide food for thought for those who are reading comments from pundits pontificating on the 2012 race…
