To: miraje who wrote (100173 ) 1/14/2008 9:42:52 PM From: Lizzie Tudor Respond to she sure didn't go out on a good note. 48% believed she had not been good for the country? Come on. You probably agree with most americans (me too) that she obviously WAS good for the country, the UK was a mess in the late 70s just like the US. But for her to go out with approval ratings like that was a little surprising.Fall from powerThatcher's political downfall was, according to witnesses such as Alan Clark, one of the most dramatic episodes in British political history. By 1990, opposition to Thatcher's policies on local government taxation (the community charge, or poll tax),[46] and the divisions opening in the Conservative Party over European integration made her seem increasingly politically vulnerable and her party increasingly divided. Her distaste for consensus politics and willingness to override colleagues' opinions, including that of Cabinet, emboldened the backlash against her when it did occur.[47] The dislike for Thatcher that had previously come primarily from her political opponents was now being expressed by some members of her own party. After her resignation a MORI poll found that 52% agreed with the proposition that "On balance she had been good for the country", while 48% disagreed thinking she had not.[48] In 1991, she was given a long and unprecedented standing ovation at the party's annual conference, although she politely rejected calls from delegates for her to make a speech. She did, however, occasionally speak in the House of Commons after she was Prime Minister. She retired from the House at the 1992 election, at the age of 66 years.
