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
Thatcher baronets Macmillan in 1984. The baronetcy was created by the Queen on the recommendation of Prime Minister John Major for Denis Thatcher, following the resignation of his wife Margaret Thatcher in November 1990. The Speaker of the House of Commons was pressed to allow a debate relating to the revival of hereditary titles, but referred MPs to "" and in particular to the guidance that "It has been ruled that the Prime Minister cannot be interrogated as to the advice that he may have given to the sovereign with regard to the grant of honours". Major told the Commons Public Administration