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Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died peacefully on Monday morning following a stroke. She was 87 years old.
The death of the politician, known as the Iron Lady, was confirmed by her spokesman Lord Bell.
“The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family.”
Britain’s serving Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter: "It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Lady Thatcher. We have lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton."
The conservative leader held Britain’s highest elected office between 1979 and 1990, making her the country’s longest-serving prime minister since the early 19th century.
Thatcher’s time at the helm saw a tense decade of the Cold War. Her foreign policies were closely aligned with those of US President Ronald Reagan.
The worst crisis of her time in power however was a war, not against any communist state, but against Argentina over the disputed Falkland Islands. The British won the war, and Thatcher’s waning popularity surged, securing her second term.
Domestically, the prime minister launched sweeping economic reforms, which included deregulation, privatization of state-owned companies and undermining the influence of trade unions.
Thatcher resigned her premiership and position as Tory party leader amid Conservative disaffection, with low approval ratings of her cabinet and the possibility of losing to Labor. She regarded her ousting as a betrayal.
She remained an MP for two more years and continued to be an active public figure for a decade more, serving in the House of Lords until doctors advised her to retire in 2002 after several minor strokes. Her later years were marred by progressive dementia. She rarely appeared in public.
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times up sure must go lah!
