Premiership of Margaret Thatcher the June 1983 general election, the Conservatives won 42.4% of the vote, the Labour Party 27.6% and the Alliance 25.4% of the vote. Though the gap between Labour and the Alliance was narrow in terms of votes, the Alliance vote was scattered and they won only a fraction of the seats that Labour held, with its concentrated base. The Conservatives' share of the vote fell slightly (1.5%) since 1979. Labour's vote had fallen by far more (9.3%) and the Conservatives now had an overall majority of 144 MPs. Thatcher was Prime Minister during what "The Guardian" described as "the worst
Premiership of Margaret Thatcher by Third World leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, that her opposition threatened to break up the 49-nation Commonwealth. In return, calls for a total embargo were abandoned, and the existing restrictions adopted by member states against South Africa were lifted. ANC president Tambo expressed disappointment at this major compromise. Hong Kong was ceded to the British Empire following the First Opium War and in 1898 Britain obtained a 99-year lease on the territory. In 1984 Thatcher visited China with a view to resolve the difficulties that would inevitably be encountered as Hong