Thatcher

by Clare Beckett

  ‘Vote Right to Keep What’s Left’

  ‘Stop the Rot, Sack the Lot’

  --1950 ELECTION SLOGANS

  To fight the Dartford seat, her next job must be London based. She was looking for something that would pay about £500 per year – not an enormous amount, even in the cash-strapped 1950s. She had several refusals, but was eventually taken on by the laboratories of J Lyons as a food research chemist. Here, she was based in Hammersmith and her work was more satisfying and experimental. She was able to live in Dartford, and take a full part in social life there. This proved life-changing in more ways than one. At a supper party after her adoption meeting, she met Denis Thatcher. He was some ten years older than Margaret Roberts, and a successful and well-off man. They were both avid readers, but Denis introduced Margaret Roberts to a wider and more active social life. They went to the theatre, to restaurants, and for drives in his Jaguar. Marriage was on the cards from early on in their relationship, but there were few Saturdays not taken up with either rugby or politics. In the event, the news that he had proposed and she had accepted was released just before the 1950 election.

  The 1950 election was hard fought. Deptford was an ‘unwinnable’ constituency, linked to Chislehurst, Gravesend, and Bexley Heath. Edward Heath stood in Bexley Heath, and the neighbouring associations were expected to support him in his potentially winnable seat. This was the election where Nye Bevan referred to Conservatives as little better than vermin. His comment gave Margaret Roberts and other young Conservatives ‘open season’ to be rats: they wore little blue rat badges, and established a hierarchy where ‘vile vermin’ had recruited ten new party members. Thatcher and the Roberts were highly visible. Alfred spoke in the constituency, Muriel worked with the campaign team, and Denis looked after problems and logistics. This is the last time Muriel is mentioned in Margaret Thatcher’s memoirs. She married a farmer as he took on the lease of a 300-acre farm. In true Roberts fashion, he bought the farm and increased his holding to 900 acres. The couple farmed succesfully for two decades, staying out of the public eye. When she died, in 2004, they were extremely wealthy. Margaret Roberts herself, at 24, spent her days in a tailored suit from Bourne and Hollingsworth. She used a soapbox in the streets, she attended local markets, she spoke at public meetings almost every night, she replied to every constituency letter, she canvassed inside and outside the factories. She only avoided pubs – Methodism was still against alcohol. This campaign established her as a national figure. As the youngest candidate and as a woman she was always news-worthy. Her public pronouncements were short and sweet – ‘Vote Right to Keep What’s Left’ or ‘Stop the Rot, Sack the Lot’. She cut the Labour majority by 6,000.

  The end of the election campaign left her tired but exhilarated. It was a well-fought campaign, and the young Margaret Roberts had found a way of life that was exciting and satisfying. It was hard to see how it could be continued. But it was clear that there would be another election very soon – the Labour majority was so reduced the party could not continue in government for long. The hiatus gave her time to move to a small flat in Pimlico, and to learn to drive and acquire her first car. She inherited a pre-war Ford Prefect bought for Muriel for £129 by their father. By the time the second election was called, in October 1951, she and her car were well known in Dartford. She had also had more free time with Denis. She shaved a further 1,000 off the Labour majority, and saw a Conservative government re-elected. She met both Anthony Eden and Churchill while on constituency duties, and kept up her contacts with Conservative Central Office.

  This second election marked a period of change in Margaret Roberts’ life. In December, she married Denis. The marriage took place in City Road, London, but was celebrated by the Methodist Minister from Grantham. The reception was at the magnificent home of Sir Alfred Bossom, MP for Maidstone. The honeymoon was in Madeira. In the 1950s this was no package holiday. For Margaret Roberts, now Thatcher, it was her first trip out of the country and her first flight on a seaplane. On their return, Margaret Thatcher moved into Denis’ sixth-floor flat in Flood Street, Chelsea. This period of her life was very heaven.6 The neighbours were friendly, and often very distinguished. The young couple entertained regularly. Rationing ended and new fruits appeared in the shops. Fashion recovered from wartime austerity, and new clothes could be bought. Coffee bars and restaurants opened. Television entered most houses, though not the Thatchers. The couple attended cinemas and theatres, although ‘kitchen sink drama’ was never as popular with Margaret Thatcher as South Pacific. Ascot, the Derby, Henley and Wimbledon once more became the province of gossip writers – a taste Margaret Thatcher was a little ashamed of. The high spot of this period was the coronation of the new Queen in 1953 – Margaret and Denis bought tickets just opposite Westminster Abbey – a good investment, as it poured with rain all the day and the young couple stayed dry.

  The most important change was that she no longer had to earn her living. Marriage to Denis meant that the Lyons’ job was no longer necessary. Alfred Roberts’ daughter would always expect to earn her own living, but now she had some choice about how that could be done. She had the time and space to consider her next move. As always, it was Alfred Roberts who provided the key. As Mayor of Grantham, he had sat on the bench, and Margaret had accompanied him to court. They had been dined by a King’s Council called Norman Winning, who had fascinated her with his discussion of the working of the law. He had studied Physics at Cambridge, and had told her of the possibility of joining the Inns of Court and studying for the bar part time. She had done this in 1950 – now with Denis’ support she was able to concentrate on her studies without taking up new employment.

  Running a home and studying for the Bar did not take all Margaret Thatcher’s time or fulfil her ambitions. She approached Central Office to be considered for another seat, with Denis’ full support. At 26, she was far from being ‘on the shelf’. Her writing was in demand, and she was an active speaker. However, she was not immediately selected, which was lucky. In August 1953, she gave birth to twin babies, Carol and Mark. At the time, Denis was at the Oval watching a test match. Before the age of mobile phones, he was quite unaware that his wife’s pregnancy had culminated in twins delivered by caesarean section – they had only expected one baby. As soon as she was home, Margaret Thatcher paid to take her Bar exams in six months time. Like many new mothers, she hoped that this psychological trick would prevent her from being overwhelmed by the demands of two babies. Unlike many mothers at the time she had the help of a live-in nanny who became a family friend.

  I saw no harm either in courting the fates: so I wore not just my lucky pearls but also a lucky brooch which had been given to me by my Conservative friends in Dartford.

  --THATCHER

  When the twins were six months old, Margaret Thatcher had already taken and passed her Bar exams. She wished to specialise in tax law, and so began a journey through different chambers in preparation. She also asked to be put forward for the Orpington constituency – winnable and next to Dartford. She did not get the seat. She was not a candidate in the 1955 election. She was building alliances through the bar networks, and was still in close touch with the party. She was also considered for safe seats at Orpington, Hemel Hempstead and Maidstone, but a young mother with twins was not seen as a safe bet for a safe seat. She was furious about this – she wrote and spoke about the rights of married women to fulfil their potential at work. In 1958, she put herself forward for Finchley, in North London. Here, she paid great attention to her presentation: I decided to obey instructions and wear the black coat dress. I saw no harm either in courting the fates: so I wore not just my lucky pearls but also a lucky brooch which had been given to me by my Conservative friends in Dartford.7

  The constituency party saw a well-off professional woman, well-tailored and well-groomed. Her husband was not with her – he was on a business trip and learned of the selection two days later from the London Evening Standard. In 1959, the constituency rewar
ded the party and her by returning her to Westminster with a big increase in the Conservative majority. Her first task as an MP was to take the six-year-old twins to tea on the terrace of the House of Commons.

  The Margaret Thatcher who entered Parliament was a very different woman from the Margaret Roberts who had gone to Oxford. Marriage to Denis had given her social confidence and the freedom to pursue a professional career, but perhaps more importantly it had separated her from Grantham and from Methodism. Her lifestyle now was social and cosmopolitan. The wife of a successful businessman, she had holidayed in Paris and Germany and had entertained and been entertained on a grand scale. She even drank wine. Her own hard work had separated her intellectually. She had read widely, and included works like Hayek’s The Road To Serfdom, the work that described parliamentary socialism and collectivist policies in general as steps in a route that would lead to a state where individual freedoms were non-existent. It was an influential piece of writing among right-wing thinkers of the time. She had refined and discussed her political opinions with friends in Parliament and at the Bar. Some things had not changed, however – this period of her life confirmed both her dislike and distrust of socialism, and her commitment to economic policies that were practical, sound, and based on ‘free-market’ principles.

  Chapter 3: Taking on the Party

  The election on 8 October 1959 saw the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan returned with a majority of 100, and 64 new Conservative MPs. Of these, only Margaret Thatcher had her first taste of office before 1964. She was one of 12 Conservative women (Labour had 13), and younger and better-dressed than her contemporaries. She was slim, attractive, blond, with blue eyes and young children – unusual in the corridors and lobbies of Westminster. She was determined to bring her usual hard work and attention to detail to the new task. She had waited a long time to get to the centre of power – she did not leave Westminster again until her final exit in 1990.

  First, she established a ‘pair’ relationship with an old admirer. Charles Pannell had been leader of Erith Council when Margaret Thatcher had been candidate for Dartford in 1949. Now an established Labour MP, he became her ‘pair’ – a relationship that continued until his retirement in 1974. The ‘pair’ relationship, where if one MP is absent the other does not vote, allowed Margaret Thatcher to leave the chamber when necessary. She had a standing date to telephone the twins each night at 6.00 p.m., and her share of parents evenings and constituency duties. She was a fastidious and careful ‘pair’, and also became good friends with this Labour member – He was exactly the kind of good-humoured decent Labour man I liked.1 For his part, he told fellow Leeds MP Denis Healey to watch her – ‘she was exceptionally able, and also a very nice young woman’.2

  Second, Margaret Thatcher had one stroke of real luck. She was placed third in the regular ballot of backbenchers chosen to present a private member’s bill. This annual ballot gives members the opportunity to choose a topic, draft a bill, and speak to it during parliamentary session. The number of bills heard in this way is limited, so candidates pull a number at random from a bag. For Margaret Thatcher, third place gave the opportunity to replace her maiden speech with a memorable introduction of a specific measure.

  If the draw was lucky, then the bill was not. Margaret Thatcher had little time to decide, and recognised that this was her opportunity to shine. She was warned against her first choice, a bill changing the law of contempt of court, by the Attorney General with the promise that the government would deal with the matter. In the end, The Public Bodies (Admission of the Press to Meetings) Bill was not a memorable or useful piece of legislation, but steering it through the House showed both determination and skill on Margaret Thatcher’s part. It was opposed both because it was seen as an unnecessary measure, designed to upset local authorities that were peaceful in order to discipline the few who were disruptive, and because it was not broad enough – why open up meetings to the press and not to the public as a whole? While Margaret Thatcher agreed that council meetings should be open to the public, she had a specific reason for concentrating on the press. During a recent newspaper dispute, Nottingham and some other Labour councils had denied access to reporters who worked during the strike. This was not a new trick: the Act of 1908 that guaranteed press entry into council meetings could be bypassed if a council went into committee, and the full council could enter committee if it chose. Alfred Roberts had done this in 1937, to avoid reporting of Grantham council overspending. For Margaret Thatcher, the principle was not so much entry into meetings as control of the trade unions and action against strikes. This is the first example of a major theme – control of industrial unrest. She was working in direct agreement with the Conservative manifesto, but against the expressed preference of Henry Brooke, Minister of Housing and Local Government, who wanted a code of conduct rather than a law.

  The second reading, at which Margaret Thatcher spoke in defence of her bill, was set down for 5 February. Margaret Thatcher sent 250 hand-written letters to backbench MPs – both Labour and Conservative – to ensure a good turnout. She began without the usual maiden speech conventions of introduction of herself and her constituency: This is a Maiden Speech, but I know that the constituency of Finchley which I have the honour to represent would not wish me to do other than come straight to the point and address myself to the matter before the house. I cannot do better than begin by stating the object of the Bill...3 She spoke for 27 minutes, clearly and fluently. As a maiden speech by a young, inexperienced and attractive woman it was an unusual feat, and put down a clear marker – Margaret Thatcher had arrived!

  She did not speak again for more than a year. She did identify herself by voting in committee for the re-introduction of corporal punishment for young offenders. Drawing perhaps on her experience at the Grantham court with her father, she said: Some cases which come before the courts concern persons who are so hardened, vicious and amoral that a much more curative element [than rehabilitation] is needed in the sentence.4 Here again she was out of step with her party, and the amendment was defeated by 26 votes to six. In her final speech as a backbencher she raised a specialised point about powers in relation to speculators: At present the system of control of Government expenditure is very dangerous in that it gives all the appearance of control without the reality, and that is about the worst situation which one can possibly have.5 Another recurring theme of later years.

  ‘At this pace, Margaret Thatcher is quite capable of quads and the Foreign Office.’

  --JEAN MANN MP

  Her profile both inside and outside Westminster was high during those years on the back benches, even with few parliamentary speeches. Her colleagues, especially those in the Labour Party, seem to have thought highly of her. The veteran Scottish MP Jean Mann wrote of her maiden speech and her family life: ‘At this pace, Margaret Thatcher is quite capable of quads and the Foreign Office.’6 Of course, to expect to be a woman Prime Minister was unthinkable. Legislation giving equal pay and equal rights for women was far in the future. Asked at the Woman of the Year lunch at the Savoy in 1960 who she would like to be, Margaret Thatcher chose Anna Leonowens, the governess at the court of the King of Siam whose story formed the basis for the musical The King and I.

  In 1961, Margaret Thatcher was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary (Pensions & National Insurance). This was the year that Mark Thatcher, aged eight, went to boarding school. Carol Thatcher, his twin, went to a different school a year after. Years later, in an interview for the Daily Telegraph, she explained: Mark went because he revels in people all around him and Carol went too, to stop her thinking he was getting preferential treatment.7 Carol Thatcher’s view, published in her biography of her father, was different. She realised early on, she said, that the best thing she could do for her mother was not to make demands on her time.

  Pensions was not a high-profile or glamorous post, but it did give a real grounding in the business of managing government. Later, she sent John Major to the same po
st saying in her memoirs: If that did not alert him to the realities of social security and the dependency culture nothing would.8 Not much was expected of Margaret Thatcher. Her first Minister, John Boyd Carpenter, came to meet her on the first day, but only because to him she was a lady. His initial expectations were low. She was succeeding a woman, in a post that was perhaps seen as a woman’s job. He was frankly scornful. ‘I thought quite frankly when Harold Macmillan appointed her that it was just a little bit of a gimmick on his part. Here was a good looking woman and he was obviously, I thought, trying to brighten up the image of his government.’9

  He was wrong. Margaret Thatcher’s tax and chemistry-trained mind made light of learning the intricacies of the system, and her job was, in the main, to refuse change in the laws with as little upheaval as possible. In this she was ferocious, and adept at parliamentary debate. She was not always charming, and had little patience with questioners who had not done exhaustive preparation. She was smart, well turned-out, and hard-working. She was interested in her appearance – opening a Conservative fundraiser in Finchley, she remarked on the pure pleasure of fashion, and that, You are apt to see the very outfit you are looking for walking down the high street at Finchley.10