THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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NEWS Baroness Margaret Thatcher – a personal reminiscence by Sir Robert Worcester
She was the least popular Prime Minister in polling history up to December 1981, with just 25% satisfied with her performance as Prime Minister. It seemed then that the outcome of the following election was sure to see the end of 'Margaret Thatcher, milk snatcher‘, as crowds shouted at her when she ventured out to do a walk about and even by students at the American School in London. The further North she went, the worse it was; during periods of industrial strife such as during the miners' strike, she was vilified. The Falklands War tested her, and revealed steel in her backbone which the voters rewarded with their support, first with 83% support for sending the task force to regain the Falklands, and by June 1992, her satisfaction rating more than doubling, to 59%. At the 1983 election she was given a 143 seat majority. She defined ‘conviction politics'. Bernard Ingham, her press secretary, told me she'd said "Bob's asked a thousand people, I've got 12 million behind me!". She joined the Institute one meeting after I did, taking the chair as her right, slapping away the hand of the Director when he thought she'd lost her place on the agenda. Then sharply responding to the American Minister's attempt to raise a question, "Not now, not now" she said, and later seeing the small rise in the next year's budget, proposed sending University Governors a demand for more money. "Agreed?" her eyes swept around the room. One member said "No". Her sweep of the room halted. "No?" she said, her eyes blazing towards him. "Why not?" "Lady Thatcher, I am the Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, if your Institute - gets more money, my Institute will get less." She retorted: "You see that door? When you come through that door you have one responsibility and one responsibility only and that is to this Institute." And the demand went forth. As she raced through the agenda, having visions of her cabinet in mind as portrayed on Spitting Image, I felt like one of the vegetables. When she brought down her gavel to close the meeting, she apologised for running late as the meeting was due to end at 6. My watch said 18 seconds after 6. As we got up from Sunday lunch one visit to us, Margaret on my right and her former Foreign Secretary Peter Carrington on her right, she said "Why, there's more talent around this table than in the entire shadow cabinet!" Peter responded, "Tell you what Margaret, you be Prime Minister and I'll be the Foreign Secretary." I broke in timidly to ask "Will you let me be the American Ambassador?" Poking me in the chest with her finger, Margaret said "No we won't, we'll make you party chairman, and we'll win the election!" At her 80th birthday party, her former Cabinet colleagues John Gummer, now Lord Deben and Lord (Kenneth) Baker and I were talking, "Why, it's the 80s revisited", said Ken; "Yes, it's a shame to be at a party when you don't know anybody", responded John. We gathered at the door when the Queen was about to arrive. When Her Majesty entered, she firmly linked her arm into Margaret's, and they toured the room, the best of friends. The Queen made Margaret the star of the evening. © Sir Robert Worcester, Founder, MORI, @RobertWorcester |
