TWBN #8: Thatcher Years

Margaret Thatcher has been the dominant politician of the last thirty years. She was Prime Minister from 1979-1990. In 1979 (the first election I voted in), 1983 and 1987 she won the General Election against my wishes; I've felt out of step ever since. The Thatcher years changed a lot of things. Here are some of the things I believed that have been overtaken (some of them may need explaining later):

Council houses are a good thing
Buying your own house is for rich people
If you're rich you own a house and you pay rates
The Government should run utility (power, telephone, post) companies; how else can you get the same service all over the country?

The wiki page for her portrays a more liberal politician in the early years than I remember later; maybe she grew out of it, but she supported David Steel's Abortion Bill and Leo Abse's bill to decriminalise homosexuality. On the other hand she supported capital punishment and supported the reintroduction of the birch.

These are some of the highlights of the Thatcher Years:
Falklands War 1982
Miners' Strike 1985
Section 28 1987

I thought she and her pals were awful and I was very glad when she was defeated, except that she was replaced by John Major, another Tory, who then proceded to win another election against Neil Kinnock's Labour Party. What a nightmare.