Margaret Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his Conservative government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly
Thatcher Peninsula the Royal Geographical Society, after Margaret Thatcher, British prime minister, 1979–90. She was described by Sir Vivian Fuchs, chair of the Foreign Office's Antarctic Place Names Committee, as 'a major figure in the history of South Georgia', for her role in the Falklands War: 'The geographical tribute appropriately encompasses the spot where the first troops from the Task Force landed in April 1982.' Thatcher was, according to friends, 'flattered and amused' by the honour. Thatcher Peninsula Thatcher Peninsula () is a mountainous peninsula in north-central South Georgia terminating to the north in Mai Point, rising between Cumberland West Bay to