1.1 Making Margaret
In the first episode of this series charting the irresistible rise and dramatic downfall of Margaret Thatcher, her inner circle reveals how Margaret Thatcher manages to overcome her outsider status to become a prominent political figure in Britain. After a controversial policy has the press label her the 'Milk-snatcher' her political future is in jeopardy but she survives when prime minister Edward Heath decides not to sack her.
Dismayed by his stewardship of the country in the early 1970s Mrs Thatcher challenges Heath for leadership of the Conservatives. As a woman from a modest social background she appears unlike any of her colleagues but with the help of canny political operators she achieves the apparently impossible and defeats Heath and the party elite who backed him.
Those closest to her at the time describe how as new leader of the Conservatives she begins to support controversial policies that will shake-up the economic and political settlement that has prevailed in Britain since the second world war. She promotes free market ideas, transforming the economy and reducing trade union power.
She also adopts a new political persona taking on the mantle of the 'Iron Lady' given to her by the Soviet press and seeks help from advisors who change her image and her voice as she seeks the support of the British electorate.
As the 1979 election approaches Margaret Thatcher embarks on an energetic campaign to unseat Labour and usher in a new era that will
bring turbulent change and division and be dominated by the force of her personality and ideas.
1.2 Power
Mrs Thatcher's victory in the 1979 general election propels her into power as Britain's first female prime minister. On the steps of Downing Street she promises "hope" and "harmony" but her first two years are characterised by disruption and division.
Her first cabinet is split between a small group who are aligned with her plans for radical change, but the majority are experienced ministers from the traditional power base of the party who prefer a more consensual style of politics. From day one there is friction between Mrs Thatcher and some of her senior colleagues.
She also confronts an economy that is in deep trouble. All the indicators are pointing in the wrong direction with inflation rising, unemployment spiralling and public spending growing. The government have to raise taxes and interest rates but these tend to make things worse. A year after taking power Mrs Thatcher sees the economy plunge into the deepest recession since the great depression.
As the heavy industries that are the backbone of many British communities collapse, unemployment starts to climb. Mrs Thatcher refuses to reinflate the economy and invest millions in failing industries. She gains a public reputation as uncaring and harsh that will become part of her image and her legacy. Within her own party there is deep dispute about economic policy and she is forced into a famous conference speech asserting her determination, stating “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning”.
Within the cabinet, Mrs Thatcher’s style creates tensions. Many of her colleagues find her demanding and argumentative and she finds many of them indecisive and insufficiently committed to her political philosophy. In stark contrast her close staff however find her an unusually sympathetic and attentive boss.
1981 is a year of unrest and change. Serious riots scar British inner cities with many pointing the finger at Mrs Thatcher and her policies as the cause of the trouble. In government Mrs Thatcher’s doubters are emboldened and seek to force her into a change of direction. But the prime minister refuses to relent and moves against her critics removing them from the cabinet and bringing in allies who will back her as she leads Britain into the turbulence of the 1980s.
Featuring interviews with the surviving members of her first cabinet, John Nott, Michael Heseltine, Norman Fowler and David Howell, her private secretaries Tim Lankester, John Cole and Nick Sanders, her personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, her protection officer Barry Strevens, Downing Street secretary Janice Richards and press secretary Bernard Ingham. We also hear from senior Conservatives who were close to her, including Michael Dobbs, Lord Gowrie, Jonathan Aitken, Norman Tebbit, Kenneth Baker and Nigel Lawson, as well as political opponent David Owen.
1.3 Enemies
The third episode sees Mrs Thatcher plunged into dramatic conflicts with determined enemies that will define her premiership and her legacy.
Against a backdrop of economic downturn Mrs Thatcher is struggling in the opinion polls and is labelled the “least popular prime minister since polling began” but her public image is transformed by a totally unexpected turn of events in the South Atlantic. When Argentine forces occupy the British Falkland Islands Mrs Thatcher finds herself a war leader. She wins the respect of the public by remaining resolute in her belief that the islands should be recovered. She wins respect in cabinet and the military by remaining calm and clear through the short conflict in the Falklands despite the serious political jeopardy she faces and the emotional toll of sending men into war. The triumph of the British forces transforms Mrs Thatcher’s reputation in the country and in the world.
Following her victory in the 1983 general election Mrs Thatcher begins to assert herself in global politics, beginning an engagement with Mikhail Gorbachev, a rising star of the Soviet Communist party. At home she faces another challenge to her leadership from the left-wing leadership of the National Union of Miners.
The controversial decision to call a national strike puts Mrs Thatcher into a conflict she had long anticipated. Having watched the miners destabilise the Conservative government of Edward Heath in the 1970s Mrs Thatcher has prepared for this dispute. In the background, she plays a role in a strategy that will eventually force the miners into a return to work and allow the government to claim a historic and transformative victory. The price is a sense of nation divided by class, region and economic fortunes.
The jeopardy of the Falklands and miners is surpassed by the threat of another enemy. At the 1984 Conservative Party conference the IRA bomb her hotel in an attempt to kill her and her most senior colleagues. She has a narrow escape as close friends die or suffer terrible injuries.
This episode includes interviews with defence secretary John Nott, press secretary Bernard Ingham and cabinet members Norman Tebbit, Michael Heseltine and Malcolm Rifkind, senior civil servants Robin Butler, John Coles and Andrew Turnbull, personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, Downing Street administrator Janice Richards, Falklands commander Sir Julian Thompson, opposition leader Neil Kinnock and striking miner Chris Kitchen.
1.4 That bloody woman
In episode four of the series Mrs Thatcher and her government seek to transform the British economy with far reaching consequences.
Tensions surface amongst her closest allies as she seeks to improve her public image and events reveal that the Iron Lady has emotional vulnerabilities in relation to her family.
Mrs Thatcher’s reputation amongst some sections of the public is poor. Her forthright style, such as telling the press not to be “moaning minnies” about unemployment when visiting north east England, has led to her being viewed as domineering and unsympathetic. In an embarrassing TV interview she is told that this issue is referred to within her own party as the TBW factor (“that bloody woman”). When colleagues attempt to discuss this problem she becomes angry at the Conservative central office team who bring her the news.
In an attempt to present a softer image Mrs Thatcher opens the doors of Downing Street to cameras and interviewers. Quizzed by Miriam Stoppard about her family, Mrs Thatcher offers insights into her modest upbringing in Grantham and in a startling moment is moved to tears when discussing her father and his departure from his senior position on the local council. The interview also raises questions about her own role as a mother and how she has balanced this with her political career. Her vulnerabilities around family are further exposed when the press ask questions about whether business deals her son is involved in create conflicts of interest.
Meanwhile, her government embarks on a radical transformation of the British economy. Mrs Thatcher is determined that Britain will embrace the free market and entrepreneurship. A programme of privatisation is underway that takes major nationalised industries into the private sector and offers millions of people the opportunity to own shares. It is a hallmark policy that will define the Thatcher years. Additionally, Mrs Thatcher greenlights a transformation of the operations of the City of London. Trading restrictions are lifted and regulation relaxed in the “Big Bang” that will bring a flood of new money into the City and a new generation of young, ambitious financiers. Many find the explosion of wealth and extravagance distasteful and damaging.
As the 1987 election approaches there are serious tensions inside the Conservative Party. Disagreements about strategy and personal differences between some of Mrs Thatcher’s closest advisors have been building. Mrs Thatcher is becoming suspicious of her party colleagues and closer to her inner circle of civil servants and specially appointed advisors. These tensions break out during the 1987 election campaign when polls seem to suggest that Labour are closing on the Conservatives and threatening to deny Mrs Thatcher a third victory. After explosive rows Mrs Thatcher asserts her authority and leads the campaign. When the results come in she has won another landslide victory but relationships with some of her closest allies are damaged forever.
This episode features interviews with Conservative party officials Norman Tebbit and Michael Dobbs, press secretary Bernard Ingham, political secretary Stephen Sherbourne, personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, cabinet member Lord Young, MPs Matthew Parris and Jonathan Aitken and senior civil servants Robin Butler, Charles Powell and Tim Lankester, as well as opposition leader Neil Kinnock and journalist Miriam Stoppard.
1.5 Downfall
In episode five of the series covers the period after the 1987 election when Mrs Thatcher secured a third term as prime minister.
She sets out to play a full part in international affairs, partnering with American Presidents Reagan and Bush to engage with the Soviet Union and play a pivotal role in the journey to the end of the Cold War.
Her international prominence augments her dominant role in British politics where her long period in office of nearly a decade is unprecedented in the 20th century. Within Downing Street, she has a loyal coterie of advisors who project her influence and protect her position but some feel she has become over dependent on loyalists and detached from opinion with the country and the party.
She continues to push hard for the introduction of a radical reform of local government finance, the community charge. The policy is known as the poll tax and is widely disliked. Despite warnings that the tax will negatively affect her constituency in the country, Mrs Thatcher refuses to compromise. Protests against the tax explode in violence in central London but more damagingly, there is widespread disenchantment in Tory strongholds across the country.
Fractures emerge with senior cabinet colleagues over European policy that will jeopardise her authority. Her preference for the counsel of a part time advisor over the views of her chancellor on how to position sterling against other European currencies leads to Nigel Lawson's resignation.
Her prototypical scepticism about Brussels' ambitions for the EU lead to a growing tension with long-term ally Geoffrey Howe. A bravado performance in the House of Commons where she denounces the EU tips Howe into resignation.
Howe’s departure provokes a leadership challenge from Michael Heseltine who had left the cabinet some years before in protest at Mrs Thatcher's leadership style. Mrs Thatcher is plunged into a leadership contest. In contrast to the contest that propelled her to the party leadership in the 70s, her campaign is poorly organised and she has been weakened by the resignation of senior colleagues and the reverberations of the poll tax.
To her shock she does not defeat Mr Heseltine in the first ballot and is forced into a second ballot. Over a dramatic few days, she consults senior colleagues about whether she can depend on their support in a second ballot. Cabinet members tell her they believe she could lose and that she has lost control of the political momentum. Faced with this, she decides to resign.
In a highly-dramatic cabinet meeting, she offers a tearful resignation and prepares to leave Downing Street. In the country, emotions run high as supporters lament and opponents celebrate her departure.
The episode features interviews with Charles Powell, senior advisor, Bernard Ingham, press secretary, Caroline Slocock, private secretary, senior political figures Michael Heseltine, Nigel Lawson, Norman Tebbit, Ken Clarke, Ken Baker, Chris Patten, Peter Lilley and Malcolm Rifkind, and journalist Simon Jenkins.
1.6
