Bedtime Biography: Margaret Thatcher

Bedtime Biographies are best when listened to. Check out the audio version to get the full experience!

Britain, 1978. Winter. And it’s a terrible winter. Hurricane-force winds tear through the country, trees are leveled, roads are blocked; much of the country is left in darkness. 

The political climate isn’t much calmer. Inflation is rife, so the government tries to impose limits on wage increases. Trade unions respond with a wave of strikes.   

Refuse collectors down tools. Garbage piles up in the streets. There’s panic buying in supermarkets – with truckers on strike; there’s no telling when empty shelves will be restocked. 

These awful months will become known as the “Winter of Discontent.” It’s the low-point of a miserable decade.Before this, in 1973, the global oil crisis caused a surge in fuel prices, and factories shut up shop causing over a million workers to become unemployed.

Throughout the 1970s, both Conservative and Labour governments try hard to solve the crises. But neither of them can halt Britain’s economic decline.

At the election after the Winter of Discontent, the Conservatives are swept back into power. Their leader has a plan to get Britain back on track, to leave the dark days of the 1970s in the past. Her name is Margaret Thatcher, and Britain is about to change, forever.

But before we discover what Margaret Thatcher did as Prime Minister, let’s take a step back in time. How did Margaret Thatcher find herself leader of the Conservative Party in the first place?