Photo Gallery The Thatcher Years
A young Margaret Hilda Thatcher campaigned as a conservative candidate for a seat in the London district of North Finchley in the 1950s. She finally won it in 1958, and defended it until she left office as prime minister 1992.
This photo from 1970 shows her as a somewhat exotic creature -- a woman -- in the House of Commons.
Giving a speech in 1972 as Secretary of State for Education and Science.
The new leader of the Tories, 1975.
Family photo, 1976, with husband Denis and their children, Mark and Carol.
"The Right Approach," a Tory policy leaflet in 1976.
A series of strikes during the "winter of discontent," January 1979, provided a chance for Thatcher to sharpen her tone against British labor unions.
With another Tory leaflet, in April 1979, shortly before her election victory.
The new prime minister with West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt at a press conference, May 1979.
At the Tory party conference in 1980.
With US President Ronald Reagan, 1982.
Thatcher and her husband Denis watch a demonstration of Phantom fighter planes in early 1983, just after the Falklands War.
With West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1985.
A curtsy for the Queen at the Mandarin Hotel in London, 2005, on the occasion of Thatcher's own 80th birthday.
She remains a controversial figure in British politics. A satirical puppet of Thatcher from the TV show "Spitting Image" sold at auction at Sotheby's in 2001...
... and "Thatcher: The Musical" opened in Wolverhampton, central England, in 2006.
