Margaret Thatcher's government

Study note

Margaret Thatcher led a Conservative government from 1979 to 1990. Her time in office brought major changes to the British economy. One of her best-known policies was privatisation, which meant selling off many industries that had been owned by the state, such as gas, electricity and telephones, to private companies.

Her government also reduced the power of the trade unions and encouraged the growth of financial services, especially in the City of London. At the same time, older industries such as coal mining and shipbuilding declined. Privatising state-owned industries is the policy most strongly associated with her, rather than founding the NHS, joining the EEC or abolishing the monarchy, which belong to other governments or are simply not true. Remember Thatcher's government of 1979 to 1990 for privatisation and weaker trade unions.

Memory tip: Thatcher (1979-1990): privatisation, weaker unions, decline of coal and shipbuilding.