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
Margaret Thatcher her premiership. Thatcher was parodied by Wells in several media. He collaborated with Richard Ingrams on the spoof "Dear Bill" letters, which ran as a column in "Private Eye" magazine; they were also published in book form and became a West End stage revue titled "Anyone for Denis?", with Wells in the role of Denis Thatcher. It was followed by a 1982 TV special directed by Dick Clement, in which Thatcher was played by Angela Thorne. Since her resignation as Prime Minister in 1990, Thatcher has been portrayed in a number of television programmes, documentaries, films and plays. She was