The Iron Lady (film) in the House of Commons, Costume Design: Pearls and Power Suits, Denis: The Man Behind the Woman". The Iron Lady (film) The Iron Lady is a 2011 British-French biographical drama film based on the life and career of Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), a British stateswoman and politician who was the first ever female and longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century. The film was directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Thatcher is portrayed primarily by Meryl Streep, and, in her formative and early political years, by Alexandra Roach. Thatcher's husband, Denis Thatcher (1915–2003), is portrayed by Jim Broadbent, and
Prime minister could command the loyalty of the Commons was increasingly necessary. The long tenure of the wartime prime minister William Pitt the Younger (1783–1801), combined with the mental illness of George III, consolidated the power of the post. The title was first referred to on government documents during the administration of Benjamin Disraeli but did not appear in the formal British Order of precedence until 1905. The prestige of British institutions in the 19th century and the growth of the British Empire saw the British model of cabinet government, headed by a prime minister, widely copied, both in other European countries