Margaret Thatcher - Prime Minister - England 1980's Essay

Margaret Thatcher - Prime Minister - England 1980's - Essay Example Her father was a great influence in her life. Her father, who owned a grocery shop, was also a respectable member of the town council and later became a mayor. Margaret got married in the early 1950s and got two kids; Mark and Carol. Political interest and career can be traced in her early life before marriage, when she became the president of Oxford University Conservative Association. After receiving her degree in chemistry, she became a research chemist, and later attempted to run for Dartford’s parliamentary seat prior her marriage. Though she lost in both trials under a Conservative ticket in areas dominated by Labour party, she endeavoured to prepare herself by practicing law (tax law) before being elected as a representative of Finchley in 1959 (â€Å"Margaret,† biography.com) under conservative party. She served in various positions afterwards; as a junior minister for pensions and national insurance under Harold’s government, a member of Edward Heathâ₠¬â„¢s shadow cabinet during Labour party regime, secretary for education when Heath became PM, a conservative party leader after Heath in 1975, and finally, the first female elected PM in Britain in 1979, to serve until her resignation towards the end of 1990 (Owen, theguardian.com). She later quitted the House of Commons and was appointed a peeress in the House of Lords, but due to health effects, she retired from public speaking early during the 21st century. She earned the title ‘Iron lady’, following her rise into power and political career. Leadership Style The leadership style of Margaret Thatcher was influenced by her principles, beliefs, background, and other qualities she possessed. Her leadership can be described as a combination of dominant-authoritarian and charismatic styles (Ribberink genderforum.org). In her leadership efforts to reform Britain, most of the policies she put forth faced opposition even from some of her party members. Though she demonstrate d certain good qualities of leadership like confidence and focus to accomplish an objective, her decisions could be difficult to changes, lacking room for flexibilities, or accommodating other thoughts to shape the policies she used for the future of Britain’s economy. During the conflicts over the Malvinas Island, the PM ignored the immediate advice to use diplomacy as a way to resolve the issue, and instead remained adamant to the use of a naval task force, rejecting pleas and negotiation of a resolution (Sides, themonkeycage.org). Her lack of inflexibility in decision or policy making increased her opposition, as it felt she had overstepped the civil service and party structures into personal oriented influence. However, despite her authoritative leadership style, she would manage to get things done, but her iron will which her party failed to tolerate led to her demise as a PM. Right from her youth and for the rest of her political career, Margaret Thatcher reflected the qualities of a charismatic leader. The charismatic qualities she had persuaded the electorate to vote for her, both as a constituency representative and a party leader later in power. Public speaking equipped her better into this leadership style. Beyond that, she expressed self confidence, had a strong will to perform, and articulated her strong vision for Britain and its economy. It is her charismatic leadership that led to her