Thatcher dies but her politics live on

Baroness Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), Prime Minister 1979-1990

MARGARET THATCHER, Britain's longest-serving and first - and so far only - female Prime Minister, has died at the age of 87, following a stroke.

Mrs Thatcher was PM from 1979 to 1990, and utterly transformed the country with her radical Right-wing policies during a controversial 11-year rule.

However, as shown by Meryl Streep's Oscar-winning portrayal of Mrs Thatcher in the film The Iron Lady, her recent years had been blighted by ill-health.

And, at Monday lunchtime, her friend and spokesman Lord Bell confirmed: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."

The flags over Downing Street were lowered to half-mast, and Mrs Thatcher's latest successor, David Cameron said: "Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds. The real thing is she didn't just lead our country; she saved our country.

"I believe she will go down as the greatest British peacetime Prime Minister."

Tributes followed from across the political spectrum. Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "She will be remembered as a unique figure. She reshaped the politics of a whole generation.

"She was Britain's first woman prime minister. She moved the centre ground of British politics and was a huge figure on the world stage.

And deputy Prime Minister, the leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg added: "Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics.

"Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served."

Meanwhile, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family."

But Mrs Thatcher was also truly a divisive figure, and has indeed become a hate-figure for many on the Left, having privatised several state-run industries and been involved in long run-ins with trade unions.

The most famous of these was the miners' strike of 1984-85 when pit-workers and police officers held brutal, running battles, notably in Orgreave, South Yorkshire.

Ultimately, though, Mrs Thatcher won. Unemployment in these communities soared, and the communities themselves broke down and lost any sense of purpose.

For this, Mrs Thatcher will never be forgiven in the pit towns and mining villages. As far as they are concerned, they were considered collateral damage in her reforms and their wounds remain to this very day.

At the time, there were many unashamedly spiteful protest songs - notably Elvis Costello's Tramp The Dirt Down and Hefner's The Day That Thatcher Dies, which foretold her demise with children singing "Ding Dong, the witch is dead" in its closing section.

Of course, it mattered not. The political result was the same - victory for Mrs Thatcher.

Indeed, it was clear by the time New Labour were swept into power in 1997, replacing John Major's tired Tory administration, that the post-war consensus was over and free-market economics had become the order of the day.

Tony Blair, who was elected in 1997, paid tribute to Mrs Thatcher, describing her as a "towering political figure" who changed "not only the political landscape of their country but of the world".

Of course, just like Mrs Thatcher, Mr Blair won three general elections and did not lose one, before being forced out instead by an internal party rift.

But, unlike Mrs Thatcher, Mr Blair did not significantly change the political landscape of Britain, as he has admitted himself.

"I always thought my job was to build on some of the things she had done rather than reverse them," he said, and in doing so he has effectively rendered Labour and the Conservatives as two sides of the same coin.

Mr Blair's successor Gordon Brown even invited a frail Mrs Thatcher to Downing Street in a seemingly fruitless attempt to broaden his appeal.

Now, at this point, I should point out that my parents actually benefited from Mrs Thatcher's period in power. The Right to Buy scheme took them out of council accommodation and put them on the property ladder.

But, in many ways, they were fortunate. My dad had a steady job as an electrician with a sign firm and the company he worked for did not go bust - but many did, especially in the early 1990s recession.

This meant that a lot of people who bought their homes could not afford to repayments, and a lack of social housing, which the government felt was not much required, left no safety net to those who became insolvent.

Famously, as Chancellor, Mr Brown foolishly promised an end to Tory "boom and bust". But then, in 2008, coincidentally shortly after he had become PM himself, came the biggest crash since the Great Depression in 1930s.

Just like in Mrs Thatcher's day, growth in the economy under New Labour had been utterly reliant on the financial services sector and an unsustainable housing boom.

Nothing had changed, and still nothing has. Mrs Thatcher is dead but her politics live on.