Margaret Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his Conservative government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly
Thatcher baronets Macmillan in 1984. The baronetcy was created by the Queen on the recommendation of Prime Minister John Major for Denis Thatcher, following the resignation of his wife Margaret Thatcher in November 1990. The Speaker of the House of Commons was pressed to allow a debate relating to the revival of hereditary titles, but referred MPs to "" and in particular to the guidance that "It has been ruled that the Prime Minister cannot be interrogated as to the advice that he may have given to the sovereign with regard to the grant of honours". Major told the Commons Public Administration