Margaret Bondfield By 1973, Christmas reported, only 93 women had sat in parliament; their contributions had overall "not been stunning". Their best numerical representation at that point had been in the 1966 general election, when 29 women (out of 630 MPs) had been elected. The 1979 election saw this number fall to 19, but also saw Margaret Thatcher become Britain's first woman prime minister. Cox and Hobley draw attention to Thatcher's early life as a shopkeeper's daughter, and contrast her account of those days with Bondfield's experiences half a century earlier. Thatcher believed that the concept of service to the customer was
Premiership of Margaret Thatcher by Third World leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, that her opposition threatened to break up the 49-nation Commonwealth. In return, calls for a total embargo were abandoned, and the existing restrictions adopted by member states against South Africa were lifted. ANC president Tambo expressed disappointment at this major compromise. Hong Kong was ceded to the British Empire following the First Opium War and in 1898 Britain obtained a 99-year lease on the territory. In 1984 Thatcher visited China with a view to resolve the difficulties that would inevitably be encountered as Hong