First Thatcher ministry

First Thatcher Ministry
85th cabinet of United Kingdom
1979–1983
Date formed	4 May 1979
Date dissolved	9 June 1983
People and organizations
Head of government	Margaret Thatcher
Head of state	Queen Elizabeth II
Member party	Conservative Party
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Labour Party
Opposition leader	James Callaghan (May 1979 – November 1980) Michael Foot (November 1980 – Oct. 1983)
History
Election(s)	1979 general election
Outgoing election	1983 general election
Previous	Callaghan ministry
Successor	Second Thatcher ministry

Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 4 May 1979 and 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative government. She was the first woman to hold that office. During her premiership, Thatcher moved to liberalise the British economy through deregulation, privatisation, and the promotion of entrepreneurialism. This article details the First Thatcher Ministry, which existed from 1979 until 1983.

Formation [edit]

Following the vote of no confidence against the Labour government and prime minister James Callaghan on 28 March 1979, a general election was called for 3 May 1979. The Tories won the election with a majority of 44 seats and their leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister.

Thatcher inherited some of the worst economic statistics of postwar Britain. The nation was still feeling the effects of the endless strikes during the recent Winter of Discontent. Inflation stood at 10.3% in May 1979. 1,500,000 were unemployed – a increase of 50% in five years.

Thatcher's monetarist and deflationary economic policies saw a cut in the inflation rate from from a high of 22% in May 1980 to just over 13% by January 1981, and by June 1983 it had fallen to a 15-year low of 4.9%.

She also oversaw union reforms which saw strikes at their lowest for 30 years by 1983. However, her economic policies also resulted in the loss of much of Britain's heavy industry. Coal pits, steel plants, machine-tools and shipyards were particularly hard hit, most of all in Scotland and the north of England. Unemployment rose from 1,500,000 at the time of the 1979 general election to a record 3,200,000 four years later.

The Labour opposition, who changed leader from James Callaghan to Michael Foot, was in no position to exploit the situation. The change of leader saw the party shift dramatically to the left, and in 1981 a host of disenchanted Labour MP's formed the breakaway Social Democratic Party. The new party swiftly formed an alliance with the Liberals with a view to forming a coalition government at the next election. For a while, opinion polls suggested that this could happen, with support for the Alliance peaking at 50% in late 1981.

However, when the Falkland Islands (a British colony in the South Atlantic) were seized by Argentine forces in March 1982, Thatcher was swift to declare war on Argentina which was won on 14 June when the Argentines surrendered. The success of this campaign saw a swift turnaround in support for the Tory government, who by the summer of 1982 were firmly in the lead in all of the major opinion polls.

Fate [edit]

Thatcher had the option of waiting until May 1984 before calling a general election, but the opinion polls remained in her favour as 1983 dawned and so she called a general election for 9 June. With all the pollsters pointing towards a Tory majority, the most interesting outcome of the election was the guessing game as to whether it would be Labour or the Alliance who formed the next opposition.

In the event, the Tories were re-elected with a 144-seat majority. The election was an unmitigated disaster for Labour, who polled a mere 27.6% of the vote and were left with just 209 MPs in the new parliament. The Alliance came close to Labour in terms of votes with 25.4% of the electorate voting for them, but won a mere 23 seats.

Cabinets [edit]

May 1979 – September 1981 [edit]

• Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister
• William Whitelaw: Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary
• Lord Soames: Lord President of the Council
• Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone: Lord Chancellor
• Sir Ian Gilmour: Lord Privy Seal
• Sir Geoffrey Howe: Chancellor of the Exchequer
• John Biffen: Chief Secretary to the Treasury
• Lord Carrington: Foreign Secretary
• Peter Walker: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
• Norman St John-Stevas: Minister for the Arts and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Francis Pym: Secretary for Defence
• Mark Carlisle: Secretary of State for Education and Science
• James Prior: Secretary of State for Employment
• David Howell: Secretary of State for Energy
• Michael Heseltine: Secretary of State for the Environment
• Patrick Jenkin: Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
• Keith Joseph: Secretary of State for Industry
• Humphrey Atkins: Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Angus Maude: Paymaster-General
• George Younger: Secretary of State for Scotland
• John Nott: Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade
• Nicholas Edwards: Secretary of State for Wales

Changes [edit]

• January 1981: Francis Pym succeeds Norman St John-Stevas as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Pym succeeds Angus Maude as Paymaster-General. John Nott succeeds Pym as Secretary of State for Defence. John Biffen succeeds Nott as Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade. Leon Brittan succeeds John Biffen as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. St John-Stevas resigns as Minister for the Arts. His successor is not in the cabinet. The post of Secretary of State for Transport is brought into the cabinet and Norman Fowler is given the post.

September 1981 – June 1983 [edit]

September 1981: A substantial reshuffle took place:

• Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister
• William Whitelaw: Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Francis Pym: Lord President of the Council
• Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone: Lord Chancellor
• Humphrey Atkins: Lord Privy Seal
• Sir Geoffrey Howe: Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Leon Brittan: Chief Secretary to the Treasury
• Lord Carrington: Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
• Peter Walker: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
• John Nott: Secretary of State for Defence
• Keith Joseph: Secretary of State for Education and Science
• Norman Tebbit: Secretary of State for Employment
• Nigel Lawson: Secretary of State for Energy
• Michael Heseltine: Secretary of State for the Environment
• Norman Fowler: Secretary of State for Health and Social Security
• Patrick Jenkin: Secretary of State for Industry
• Baroness Young: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• James Prior: Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Cecil Parkinson: Paymaster-General
• George Younger: Secretary of State for Scotland
• John Biffen: Secretary of State for Trade and President of the Board of Trade
• David Howell: Secretary of State for Transport
• Nicholas Edwards: Secretary of State for Wales

Changes [edit]

• April 1982: Francis Pym succeeds Lord Carrington as Foreign Secretary. John Biffen succeeds Pym as Lord President of the Council. Baroness Young succeeds Humphrey Atkins as Lord Privy Seal. Cecil Parkinson succeeds Baroness Young as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Lord Cockfield succeeds John Biffen as Secretary of State for Trade.
• January 1983: Michael Heseltine succeeds John Nott as Secretary of State for Defence. Tom King succeeds Heseltine as Secretary of State for the Environment.

List of Ministers [edit]

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

See also [edit]

• List of Thatcher ministers

References [edit]

• "British Cabinet and Government Membership". Retrieved 20 November 2007. 
• "British Government 1979–2005". Retrieved 20 November 2007. 

v t e British governments 18th century Godolphin–Marlborough Harley Townshend First Stanhope–Sunderland Second Stanhope–Sunderland Walpole–Townshend Walpole Carteret Broad Bottom First Newcastle Devonshire–Pitt 1757 Caretaker Second Newcastle Bute Grenville First Rockingham Chatham Grafton North Second Rockingham Shelburne Fox–North Coalition First Pitt the Younger 19th century Addington Second Pitt the Younger Ministry of All the Talents Second Portland Perceval Liverpool Canning Goderich Wellington Grey First Melbourne Wellington Caretaker First Peel Second Melbourne Second Peel First Russell Who? Who? Aberdeen First Palmerston Second Derby Second Palmerston Second Russell Third Derby First Disraeli First Gladstone Second Disraeli Second Gladstone First Salisbury Third Gladstone Second Salisbury Fourth Gladstone Rosebery Third Salisbury 20th century Balfour Campbell-Bannerman First Asquith Second Asquith Lloyd George Bonar Law First Baldwin First MacDonald Second Baldwin Second MacDonald First National Second National Third National Fourth National Chamberlain War Churchill War Churchill Caretaker Attlee Third Churchill Eden Macmillan Douglas-Home First Wilson Heath Second Wilson Callaghan First Thatcher Second Thatcher Third Thatcher Major Blair 21st century Brown Cameron Current Ministry