The Legacy of Thatcherism in Question : an Introduction

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On 8th April 2013, Margaret Thatcher passed away at the age of 88. The controversy over her funeral is the occasion for us to consider the sensitive question of her legacy not only in the decade that followed her resignation from office in November 1990 but also in the decade that culminated in the formation of a Coalition Government led by the Conservatives in May 2010. The term ‘legacy’ was associated with Margaret Thatcher before her death, almost immediately after she left office in November 1990. However, it was really at the turn of the 21st century that it became popular especially with the specialists of New Labour and the Third Way. Thatcher’s influence however was not limited to party politics. It filtered into all reaches of the very society she had considered non-existent. The result was that the transformation, which had begun under Margaret Thatcher, was almost completed in the first decade of the 21st century. However, after three consecutive defeats, Thatcherism was no longer considered as an electoral winner by the Conservative Party, and the legacy was proving a cumbersome one. David Cameron’s election victory in December 2005 signalled the onset of what many specialists describe as a new faction within the party, i.e. not a Thatcherite one. What seemed to be a clear repositioning of the Conservative Party to the centre ground was likely to relegate an ageing Margaret Thatcher and Thatcherism to history books and to the past.