First Thatcher ministry First Thatcher ministry Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative government. She was the first woman to hold that office. During her premiership, Thatcher moved to liberalise the British economy through deregulation, privatisation, and the promotion of entrepreneurialism. This article details the first government Thatcher led at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II from 1979 to 1983. Following the vote of no confidence against the Labour government and prime minister James Callaghan on 28 March 1979, a general election was called for 3
Diana Gould – Margaret Thatcher exchange toward it. The exchange between Thatcher and Gould became iconic, remembered because of Gould's persistence in asking why Thatcher had given the order, which seemed to rattle the prime minister. It was described as "the day Margaret Thatcher met her match". Thatcher was reportedly angry that the BBC had allowed the question to be asked. Her husband, Denis Thatcher, told the producer that the BBC was run by "a nest of long-haired Trots and wooftahs". Gould wrote a book about her experience, "On the Spot: The Sinking of the Belgrano" (1984). Diana Sydney Gould ("née" Prigg, 18 April 1926 –