Thatcher 30 Years

3o years ago today Thatcher the Marmite of politicians was elected. Her name brings joy and warmth to the hearts of Tories, but outside of them opinions can divide people in an instant, friendships destroyed and born from a single word. On this 30 year mark, what does Thatcher mean to me?

I was born in 1981, so I fall into a generation that wasn't directly effected by Thatchers policy at the time. She falls into the backdrop of my life, if I think back to my childhood I see her as imposing figure in the TV set, as a Spitting Image puppet and remember snippets of conversations that I didn't understand until I got older. Perhaps that leaves me in a grey area, I don't have that deep hatred that comes from feeling wronged.

I can't say Thatcher influenced me with her politics, as I find a lot of her policies to polarised and life isn't that simple. That's not to say she's without effect on me. I do think having a female Prime Minster made me feel legitimatised has a girl growing up. Not in an iconic nor raging feminist way, more that there was something reassuring that a woman could get to that position.

That is the one thing I can take from Thatcher, politics aside, I do admire the fact she was a woman with backbone. I'm glad I have know that in a Prime Minster, given there is a generation that hasn't.