First Thatcher ministry May 1979. The Winter of Discontent had seen the Labour government's popularity slump during the previous four months, and the opinion polls all pointed towards a Conservative victory. The Tories won the election with a majority of 44 seats and their leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister. Thatcher inherited some of the worst economic statistics of postwar Britain. The nation was still feeling the effects of the numerous strikes during the recent Winter of Discontent. Inflation had recently topped 20%, and unemployment was in excess of 1.5 million for the first time since the 1930s. Thatcher's monetarist
Mark Thatcher Mark Thatcher Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet (born 15 August 1953) is a British businessman. He is the son of Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Sir Denis Thatcher, 1st Baronet, and is the twin brother of Carol Thatcher. He has two children by his first wife, Diane Burgdorf. He married his second wife, Sarah Jane Russell, daughter of Terry Clemence, a wealthy property developer, and sister of Viscountess Rothermere, in 2008. On the death of his father in 2003 he became Sir Mark Thatcher when he succeeded to the Thatcher baronetcy, a hereditary title which