Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher Cabinet ceased to exist upon her becoming Prime Minister following the 1979 general election. Thatcher announced her first Shadow Cabinet on 18 February 1975. On 15 January 1976, Thatcher reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet. Pym returned as Shadow Agriculture Minister, displacing Jopling. George Younger was dropped from the front bench, and he was replaced by Gilmour at Defence; Whitelaw, the Deputy Leader, added Gilmour's Home Affairs portfolio to his Devolution. John Biffen replaced Jenkin as Shadow Energy Secretary, and Jenkin took Health from Fowler, who was demoted to be a Shadow Transport Minister (which was not in Shadow Cabinet and was
Margaret Thatcher of the Conservative Party in 1975. As Prime Minister, Thatcher received two honorary distinctions: Two weeks after her resignation, Thatcher was appointed Member of the Order of Merit (OM) by the Queen. Her husband Denis was made a hereditary baronet at the same time. As his wife, Thatcher was entitled to use the honorific style "Lady", an automatically conferred title that she declined to use. She became Lady Thatcher in her own right upon her ennoblement in the House of Lords. In the Falklands, Margaret Thatcher Day has been marked each 10 January since 1992, commemorating her first visit to