Third Thatcher ministry to make way for a leader more likely to win the next general election. Her successor was the Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major, who was elected on 27 November 1990, and who at 47 became the youngest Conservative Prime Minister of the 20th century. <section begin="June 1987 to July 1989" /> <section begin="July 1989 to November 1990" /> Members of the Cabinet are in bold face. Third 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
Margaret Thatcher rather in a "new relationship much wider than the Cold War ever was". She went on a state visit to the Soviet Union in 1984 and met with Gorbachev and Council of Ministers Chairman Nikolai Ryzhkov. Thatcher became closely aligned with the Cold War policies of US President Ronald Reagan, based on their shared distrust of Communism. A disagreement came in 1983 when Reagan did not consult with her on the invasion of Grenada. During her first year as Prime Minister she supported NATO's decision to deploy US nuclear cruise and Pershing II missiles in Western Europe, permitting the US