The Downing Street Years

by Margaret Thatcher

  The Cabinet meeting then resumed. It was almost business as usual. This ranged from matters of the utmost triviality — an unsuccessful Fisheries Council ruined by incompetent Italian chairmanship — to matters of the greatest importance, the decision to increase our forces in the Gulf by sending a second armoured brigade. Somehow I got through it by concentrating on details, and the formal Cabinet ended at about 10.15 a.m. But I invited ministers to stay on. It was a relief to have more or less normal conversation on what was uppermost in our minds, namely the likely outcome of the second ballot, over coffee.

  After Cabinet I signed personal messages to Presidents Bush and Gorbachev, European Community and G7 heads of government, and a number of Gulf leaders. Douglas and John were by now busily organizing their campaigns, both of them having decided to stand.

  Later I worked on my speech for the afternoon debate. By this time I was beginning to feel that a great weight had been lifted from me. A No Confidence debate would have been a taxing ordeal if I had been fighting on with so many of the Cabinet, junior ministers and back-benchers against me. Now that I had announced my departure, however, I would again enjoy the united support of the Tory Party. Now it would be roses, roses, all the way. And since this would be my last major parliamentary performance as Prime Minister, I determined to defend the achievements of the last eleven years in the same spirit as I had fought for them.

  After a brief Audience with the Queen I returned to No. 10 for lunch. I had a quick drink with members of my staff in the study. I was suddenly conscious that they too had their futures to think about, and I found myself now and later comforting them almost as much as they sought to comfort me. Crawfie had begun the packing. Joy was sorting out outstanding constituency business. Denis was clearing his desk. But I had more public duties to perform. I held my normal briefing meeting for Questions and then left for the House at just before 2.30 p.m.

  GRAND FINALE

  No one will ever understand British politics who does not understand the House of Commons. The House is not just another legislative body. On special occasions it becomes in some almost mystical way the focus of national feeling. As newspaper comments and the reflections of those who were present will testify, I was not alone in sensing the concentrated emotion of that afternoon. And it seemed as if this very intensity, mingled with the feelings of relief that my great struggle against mounting odds had ended, lent wings to my words. As I answered Questions my confidence gradually rose.

  Then I sat down to draw breath and listen to Neil Kinnock make his opening speech in the No Confidence Debate. Mr Kinnock, in all his years as Opposition leader, never let me down. Right to the end, he struck every wrong note. On this occasion he delivered a speech that might have served if I had announced my intention to stand for the second ballot. It was a standard, partisan rant. One concession to the generosity that the House feels on such occasions (and that his own back-bencher, Dennis Skinner, no moderate and an old sparring partner of mine, was about to express in a memorable intervention) might have exploited the discomfiture that was palpably growing on the Tory benches. It might have disarmed me and eroded the control that was barely keeping my emotions in check. Instead, however, he managed to fill me and the benches behind me with his own partisan indignation and therefore intensified the newfound Tory unity — in the circumstances a remarkable, if perverse, achievement.

  The speech which I then rose to deliver does not read in Hansard as a particularly eloquent one. It is a fighting defence of the Government’s record which replies point by point to the Opposition’s attack, and which owes more to the Conservative Research Department than to Burke. For me at that moment, however, each sentence was my testimony at the bar of History. It was as if I were speaking for the last time, rather than merely for the last time as Prime Minister. And that power of conviction came through and impressed itself on the House.

  After the usual partisan banter with Opposition hecklers, I restated my convictions on Europe and reflected on the great changes which had taken place in the world since I had entered No. 10. I said:

  Ten years ago, the eastern part of Europe lay under totalitarian rule, its people knowing neither rights nor liberties. Today, we have a Europe in which democracy, the rule of law and basic human rights are spreading ever more widely; where the threat to our security from the overwhelming conventional forces of the Warsaw Pact has been removed; where the Berlin Wall has been torn down and the Cold War is at an end.

  These immense changes did not come about by chance. They have been achieved by strength and resolution in defence, and by a refusal ever to be intimidated. No one in eastern Europe believes that their countries would be free had it not been for those western governments who were prepared to defend liberty, and who kept alive their hope that one day eastern Europe too would enjoy freedom.

  My final reflection was on the Falklands and Gulf Wars, the second of which we were just then gearing up to fight.

  There is something else which one feels. That is a sense of this country’s destiny: the centuries of history and experience which ensure that, when principles have to be defended, when good has to be upheld and when evil has to be overcome, Britain will take up arms. It is because we on this side have never flinched from difficult decisions that this House and this country can have confidence in this Government today.

  Such was my defence of the record of the Government which I had headed for eleven and a half years, which I had led to victory in three elections, which had pioneered the new wave of economic freedom that was transforming countries from eastern Europe to Australasia, which had restored Britain’s reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the world, and which at the very moment when our historic victory in the Cold War was being ratified at the Paris conference had decided to dispense with my services. I sat down with the cheers of my colleagues, wets and dries, allies and opponents, stalwarts and fainthearts, ringing in my ears, and began to think of what I would do next.

  BOWING OUT

  But there was one more duty I had to perform, and that was to ensure that John Major was my successor. I wanted — perhaps I needed — to believe that he was the man to secure and safeguard my legacy and to take our policies forward. So it was with disquiet that I learnt a number of my friends were thinking of voting for Michael Heseltine. They distrusted the role which John Major’s supporters like Richard Ryder, Peter Lilley, Francis Maude and Norman Lamont had played in my downfall. They also felt that Michael Heseltine, for all his faults, was a heavyweight who could fill a room in the way a leader should. I did all I could to argue them out of this, not only in personal conversation but also at the lunch to which I invited my supporters on Monday. In most cases I was successful.

  Before then, however, I was to spend my last weekend at Chequers. I arrived there on Saturday evening, travelling down after quite a jolly little lunch with the family and friends at No. 10. On Sunday morning Denis and I went to church, while Crawfie filled a Range Rover with hats, books and a huge variety of personal odds and ends which were to be delivered to our house in Dulwich. Gersons took away our larger items. Denis and I entertained the Chequers staff for drinks before lunch to say farewell and thank you for all their kindness over the years. I had loved Chequers and I knew I would miss it. I decided that I would like to walk round the rooms one last time and did so with Denis as the light faded on that winter afternoon.

  From the time that I had announced my resignation, the focus of public interest naturally switched to the question of who would be my successor. As I have said, I did all that I could to rally support for John without publicly stating that I wanted him to win. From about this time, however, I became conscious that there was a certain ambiguity in his stance. On the one hand, he was understandably anxious to attract my supporters. On the other, his campaign wanted to emphasize that John was ‘his own man’. A joke — made in the context of remarks on the Gulf — about my skills as a ‘back-seat driver’ provoked a flurry of anxiety in the
Major camp. It was, unfortunately, the shape of things to come.

  However, I was truly delighted when the results came through — John Major 185 votes, Michael Heseltine 131 and Douglas Hurd 56. Officially, John was two votes short; but within minutes Douglas and Michael had announced that they would support him in the third ballot. He was effectively the new prime minister. I congratulated him and joined in the celebrations at No. 11. But I did not stay long: this was his night not mine.

  Wednesday 28 November was my last day in office. The packing was now all but complete. Early that morning I went down from the flat to my study for the last time to check that nothing had been left behind. It was a shock to find that I could not get in because the key had already been taken off my key-ring. At 9.10 I came down to the front hallway. (I was due shortly at the Palace for my final Audience with the Queen.) As on the day of my arrival, all the staff of No. 10 were there. I shook hands with my private secretaries and others whom I had come to know so well over the years. Some were in tears. I tried to hold back mine but they flowed freely as I walked down the hall past those applauding me on my way out of office, just as eleven and a half years earlier they had greeted me as I entered it.

  Before going outside and with Denis and Mark beside me, I paused to collect my thoughts. Crawfie wiped a trace of mascara off my cheek, evidence of a tear which I had been unable to check. The door opened onto press and photographers. I went out to the bank of microphones and read out a short statement which concluded:

  Now it is time for a new chapter to open and I wish John Major all the luck in the world. He will be splendidly served and he has the makings of a great prime minister, which I am sure he will be in a very short time.

  I waved and got into the car with Denis beside me, as he has always been; and the car took us past press, policemen and the tall black gates of Downing Street, away from red boxes and parliamentary questions, summits and party conferences, budgets and communiqués, situation rooms and scrambler telephones, out to whatever the future held.

  * See pp. 755–6.

  ** See pp. 764–7.

  * See p. 757.

  Chronology

  1979

  May 3 General election.

  June-7 European elections.

  June 12 1979 Budget. Standard rate of income tax cut to 30per cent, top rate to 60 per cent.

  June 28 Tokyo G7 summit.

  August 1–8 Lusaka CHOGM.

  August 27 Assassination of Lord Mountbatten / Warrenpoint bomb.

  October 23 Geoffrey Howe announced abolition of remaining exchange controls.

  November 29–30 Dublin European Council: budget arguments.

  December 16 PM and Lord Carrington arrived in Washington for two-day visit.

  December 25 Afghanistan: USSR began invasion.

  1980

  January 2 Steel strike began. Ended 3 April.

  May 5 SAS stormed Iranian Embassy.

  June 2 Cabinet endorsed EC budget agreement.

  June 22 Venice G7 summit.

  September 22 Iran-Iraq War began.

  October 10 PM addressed Conservative Conference, Brighton: ‘The lady’s not for turning.’

  October 27 First Maze hunger strike began. Ended 18 December.

  November 4 USA: Ronald Reagan elected President.

  December 8 Anglo-Irish summit in Dublin.

  1981

  January 5 Norman St John Stevas and Angus Maude left the Government. Francis Pym became Leader of House of Commons, John Nott to Defence, Leon Brittan joined Cabinet as Chief Secretary.

  February 10 NCB announced pit closures. Government announced NCB plan withdrawn on 18 February.

  March 1 Second IRA hunger strike begun by Bobby Sands. Ended 3 October after 10 deaths; then Chelsea Barracks bomb.

  March 10 1981 Budget.

  March 26 SDP formed. Alliance formed on 16 June.

  March 30 364 economists’ letter criticizing economic policy.

  April 11–14 Brixton riots.

  May 10 François Mitterrand elected French President.

  July 3 Southall riot. Toxteth and Moss Side riots 4–8 July.

  July 20 Ottawa G7 summit opened.

  July 23 Argument at public spending cabinet.

  September 14 Reshuffle: Ian Gilmour, Mark Carlisle and Lord Soames left the Government. Nigel Lawson, Norman Tebbit and Cecil Parkinson joined the Cabinet. Jim Prior appointed to Northern Ireland.

  September 30 Melbourne CHOGM opened.

  December 13 Poland: Martial law declared.

  1982

  March 25 Roy Jenkins won Glasgow, Hillhead by-election.

  April 2 Argentina invaded Falkland Islands.

  April 3 Saturday Commons debate on Falklands. Passage of UN SCR502.

  April 5 First naval units left Portsmouth. Lord Carrington and other Foreign Office ministers resigned. Francis Pym became Foreign Secretary, John Biffen Leader HC.

  April 25 South Georgia recaptured.

  May 2 General Belgrano sunk by HMS Conqueror.

  May 4 HMS Sheffield hit by an Exocet.

  May 21 British troops landed at San Carlos.

  June 5 Versailles G7 summit opened.

  June 14 Capture of Port Stanley. Argentinian surrender.

  July 20 Hyde Park, then Regent’s Park bombs.

  July 26 St Paul’s Thanksgiving Service.

  September 17 West Germany: fall of Helmut Schmidt’s Government. Helmut Kohl succeeded him as Chancellor.

  September 20 PM began visit to Japan/China/Hong Kong.

  1983

  January 6 Reshuffle: John Nott resigned. Michael Heseltine to Defence; Tom King to Environment.

  March 23 USA: President Reagan announced SDI.

  May 28 Williamsburg G7 summit opened.

  June g General election.

  June 11 New Government formed: Nigel Lawson Chancellor; Leon Brittan Home Secretary; Geoffrey Howe Foreign Secretary; Francis Pym dropped.

  October 14 Cecil Parkinson resigned.

  October 25 US invasion of Grenada.

  November 14 Cruise missiles arrived at Greenham.

  December 4 Athens European Council.

  December 17 Harrods bomb.

  1984

  February 9 USSR: death of Andropov. PM attended funeral.

  March 8 Miners’ strike began.

  June 25 Fontainebleau European Council: budget settlement.

  July 10 National dock strike (ended 20 July).

  August 24 Second national dock strike (ended 18 September).

  October 12 Brighton bomb.

  October 25 High Court ordered sequestration of NUM.

  October 31 India: Mrs Gandhi assassinated.

  November 6 USA: President Reagan re-elected.

  November 20 British Telecom flotation.

  December 75 Mr and Mrs Gorbachev visited Chequers.

  December 19 China: PM signed Hong Kong agreement in Peking.

  1985

  February 20 PM visited Washington and addressed a joint session of Congress.

  March 5 Miners returned to work.

  March 11 USSR: Mr Gorbachev new Soviet leader. PM visited Moscow for Chernenko’s funeral.

  April 4 PM began eleven-day tour of Far East.

  May 2 Bonn G7 summit opened.

  September 2 Reshuffle. Peter Rees, Patrick Jenkin and Lord Gowrie left the Government. Norman Tebbit new party chairman. Leon Brittan to DTI. Douglas Hurd to Home Office. Kenneth Clarke, John MacGregor and Kenneth Baker all joined the Cabinet.

  September 9 Handsworth riots (continued 10 September). Brixton 28 September.

  September 16–19 PM toured Egypt and Jordan.

  September 25 Plaza Accord to reduce value of the dollar.

  October 6–7 Broadwater Farm riot.

  October 16–23 Nassau CHOGM: arguments about South Africa.

  October 24 PM and President Reagan addressed UN GeneralAssembly.

  November 15 PM signed Anglo-Irish Agreement at Hillsborough.

&nb
sp; December 3 Luxemburg European Council.

  1986

  January 9 Westland: Michael Heseltine resigned.

  January 24 Westland: Leon Brittan resigned.

  January 28 Publication of Community Charge Green Paper.

  April 15 US raid on Libya.

  May 3–6 PM visited South Korea and attended Tokyo G7summit.

  May 21 Reshuffle. Keith Joseph resigned. Kenneth Bakerreplaced him as Education Secretary.

  May 24–27 PM visited Israel.

  August 3 Special London Commonwealth summit on SouthAfrica.

  October 24 Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Syriafollowing Hindawi affair.

  November 13–16 PM visited Camp David, following Reykjaviksummit.

  December 5 London European Council.

  1987

  February 22 Louvre Accord to stabilize the dollar.

  March 28 USSR: PM began five-day tour of USSR (ended2 April).

  June 8 Venice G7 summit opened.

  June 11 General election.

  July 17 USA: PM visited President Reagan in Washington.

  October 6 Conservative Conference: led to abandonment of decision to phase in community charge (dualrunning).

  October 13 Vancouver CHOGM.

  October 19 ‘Black Monday’.

  November 8 Enniskillen bomb killed 11, injured 60.

  December 7 PM held talks with Mr Gorbachev at Brize Norton.

  December 8 INF Treaty signed in Washington.