Talk:Margaret Thatcher

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This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on May 18, 2005.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 9, 2004	Featured article candidate	Promoted
July 24, 2006	Featured article review	Kept
July 11, 2007	Featured article review	Demoted
November 29, 2008	Good article nominee	Not listed
December 23, 2008	Good article nominee	Listed
January 12, 2009	Peer review	Reviewed
January 9, 2011	Good article reassessment	Delisted
January 21, 2011	Good article nominee	Listed
February 22, 2012	Good article reassessment	Delisted
March 18, 2012	Good article reassessment	Listed
June 12, 2013	Good article reassessment	Kept
June 24, 2018	WikiProject A-class review	Approved
A news item involving this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on April 8, 2013.
Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on May 4, 2004, October 12, 2004, May 4, 2007, May 4, 2008, May 4, 2009, May 4, 2011, May 4, 2012, May 4, 2016, May 4, 2019, May 4, 2023, May 4, 2024, and May 4, 2025.
Current status: Former featured article, current good article

Biography: Peerage and Baronetage / Politics and Government / Science and Academia

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This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Naomi Alderman (7 April 2009). "Encarta's failure is no tragedy". The Guardian.
Stephen Foley (3 February 2009). "Is Wikipedia cracking up?". The Independent.
Alex Hern (9 April 2013). "How Wikipedia covered Thatcher's death". New Statesman.
Fatima Ahmed-Farouta (2 May 2013). "Redressing Wikipedia's Historical Gender Gap". George Mason University.

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Section sizes

Section size for Margaret Thatcher (47 sections)
Section name	Byte count		Prose size (words)
Section name	Header	Total	Header	Total
(Top)	11,752	11,752	484	484
Early life and education	1,052	20,287	0	1,355
Family and childhood (1925–1943)	4,836	4,836	332	332
Oxford (1943–1947)	7,256	7,256	437	437
Post-Oxford career (1947–1951)	7,143	7,143	586	586
Early political career	2,358	34,158	177	2,340
Member of Parliament (1959–1970)	1,914	10,054	175	797
On the frontbenches	3,977	3,977	276	276
In the Shadow Cabinet	4,163	4,163	346	346
Education Secretary (1970–1974)	5,328	5,328	503	503
Leader of the Opposition (1975–1979)	12,729	16,418	759	863
"Iron Lady"	3,689	3,689	104	104
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979–1990)	1,886	83,657	37	4,674
Domestic affairs	23	37,979	0	2,290
Minorities	3,172	3,172	199	199
The Queen	1,564	1,564	83	83
Economy and taxation	12,244	12,244	670	670
Industrial relations	8,227	8,227	579	579
Privatisation	4,616	4,616	362	362
Northern Ireland	8,133	8,133	397	397
Environment	3,270	3,270	116	116
Foreign affairs	1,805	30,449	153	1,722
Cold War	4,996	4,996	307	307
Ties with the US	9,888	9,888	408	408
Crisis in the South Atlantic	3,194	3,194	192	192
Negotiating Hong Kong	911	911	123	123
Apartheid in South Africa	3,044	3,044	194	194
Europe	6,611	6,611	345	345
Challenges to leadership and resignation	10,073	10,073	509	509
Later life	16	36,550	0	1,536
Return to backbenches (1990–1992)	1,497	1,497	64	64
Post-Commons (1992–2003)	16,175	16,175	669	669
Final years (2003–2013)	11,733	11,733	588	588
Death and funeral (2013)	7,129	7,129	215	215
Legacy	12	37,041	0	1,594
Political impact	4,350	28,884	152	1,251
Overview	14,171	14,171	697	697
Reputation	10,363	10,363	402	402
Cultural depictions	8,145	8,145	343	343
Titles, awards and honours	10,578	10,578	270	270
Published works	691	691	0	0
See also	276	276	0	0
References	16	32,804	0	0
Explanatory notes	484	484	0	0
Citations	1,001	1,001	0	0
General and cited bibliography	31,303	31,303	0	0
External links	8,292	8,292	0	0
Total	276,086	276,086	12,253	12,253

The following reference(s) may be useful when improving this article in the future:

Moore, Charles (2019). Margaret Thatcher: Herself Alone. Vol. 3. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-241-32474-5.

Origin of nickname

Latest comment: 2 months ago4 comments3 people in discussion

Are there sources regarding who and when started calling PM Thatcher "Iron Lady"? White Spider Shadow (talk) 04:20, 20 September 2025 (UTC)Reply

This is in the article under the heading 'Iron Lady':

In 1976, Thatcher gave her "Britain Awake" foreign policy speech which lambasted the Soviet Union, saying it was "bent on world dominance". The Soviet Army journal Red Star reported her stance in a piece headlined "Iron Lady Raises Fears", alluding to her remarks on the Iron Curtain. The Sunday Times covered the Red Star article the next day, and Thatcher embraced the epithet a week later; in a speech to Finchley Conservatives she likened it to the Duke of Wellington's nickname "Iron Duke". The "Iron" metaphor followed her throughout the rest of her career, and would become a generic sobriquet for other strong-willed female politicians. LastDodo (talk) 08:06, 23 September 2025 (UTC)Reply

Thank you. White Spider Shadow (talk) 22:50, 24 September 2025 (UTC)Reply

Can you 👄 ~2026-28444-16 (talk) 11:31, 11 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

Description

Latest comment: 1 month ago4 comments3 people in discussion

She is described in the first sentence as '..a stateswoman who served as prime minister..' Shouldn't stateswoman be changed to politician? She was first notable as a politician, who then became PM, and then later still became a stateswoman. The term stateswoman can be mentioned later in the lead. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 08:15, 15 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

The term "stateswoman" is an opinion ("praise") ... Xo4v (talk) 18:59, 13 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

The term is not an opinion, it was how she was described by many outlets regardless of political beliefs. Queenmotherfan (talk) 14:37, 15 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

I disagree, it really makes no difference and it should stay. The article has been there for a long time and it has said "stateswoman", changing it now is ridiculous and the reasoning too. Stateswoman is summarising her as a whole. Queenmotherfan (talk) 14:38, 15 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Flat tax

Latest comment: 1 month ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Rates Act 1984, Community Charge, Council Tax

can these be explained better here? Xo4v (talk) 18:59, 13 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Semi-protected edit request on 17 June 2026

Latest comment: 1 month ago2 comments2 people in discussion

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

European Economic Community for the top Sinking of ARA General Belgrano for primership and take out Geoffrey Howes title on the later life section ~2026-35537-92 (talk) 14:59, 17 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want made. Please detail the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. LizardJr8 (talk) 17:16, 17 June 2026 (UTC)Reply