Margaret Thatcher, born in 1925, was the first woman to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Looking back at her past, she was not likely to succeed: her father was a grocer and her paternal grandfather was a grocer too; two among her other ancestors were a shoemaker and a railway worker. So, basically, if you strongly believe in social reproduction – and you should, given than the gap between the poor and the rich is wide and widening -, you may be very befuddled. Praised for her obstinacy, she climbed the social ladder through her own effort. Surprisingly, she became known for her harshness, particularly against trade unions, and did not show pity for the poorest.
Therefore, her life and career may seem confusing; on the one hand, Thatcher challenged the work of the best-known sociologists – Karl Marx and Bourdieu – and the inequality between men and women, and, on the other hand, her family’s poor background did not make her a socialist – quite the contrary. How can we explain that?
3. 1925 1938 ... 1943 1946 1948 1950-51 1953 1959-70 1970-74
Accommodation
of a Jewish
teenager
Education
(grammar
school, head
girl in 1942-
1943)
Birth (in
Grantham)
Oxford (Chemistry
Bachelor of
Science degree)
President of the
Oxford
University
Conservative
Association
Integration of
the local
Conservative
Association
General
elections
Barrister
specialized
in taxation
Member of
Parliament
Education
Secretary
1979-1990
Prime Minister
2013
Death
4.
5. 1948: Margaret Roberts plays the
piano and sings with a group of
voters, at the Bull Inn, in her
constituency of Dartford, Kent
A young Lady Thatcher is pictured on
the right of the picture, with (L-R) her
sister, Muriel, her father, Alfred
Roberts, and her mother, Beatrice,
pictured in the late 1930's
1930s: Margaret Roberts in a
school photograph
Photograph: Rex Features
6. A young Lady Thatcher is pictured on
the right of the picture, with (L-R) her
sister, Muriel, her father, Alfred
Roberts, and her mother, Beatrice,
pictured in the late 1930's
7. Children drinking free
milk in the 1970s.
Margaret Roberts (the
future Margaret
Thatcher) in the late
1930’s with her parents.
“MILK SNATCHER”
8. 1950: Conservative Party
candidate, Margaret Roberts,
the youngest candidate for
any party in the 1950
General Election, at work
in a laboratory where she
is a research chemist
10. Photograph of Denis
Thatcher, MT’s husband
1951: Margaret
Roberts on her
wedding day, with
husband Denis (1915
- 2003). The dress
was in royal blue
velvet, the halo-
styled hat was
trimmed with
ostrich feathers
