It is a testament to the woman's relevance that news of her death was announced during a TV debate about Feminism. In fact, comparison between her and Julia Gillard had been made only 5 minutes before Tony Jones broke with tradition and announced breaking news during his #qanda show. She always had that ability to frame a debate.
I've let the news set in a little now and have reflected on what it means. I am one of Thatcher's Children, I grew up in Thatcher's Britain and her career defined so much of my life I felt it important to jot a few words down. Initially I thought it might bring homesickness, but pretty soon I realised that its the divisive class war that she created that contributed to my decision to leave the country.
Apparently it was her and Keith Joseph's intention to drag British politics so far to the right that even the left would have to repsond to their agenda, and in Tony Blair we see the evidence of that - he was probably the proof of her success in achieving that. I heard Ed Miliband say that he, David Cameron and Nick Clegg were all products of the Thatcher years, and that too demonstrates how her legacy still defines British politics. It wasn't called Thatcher's Britain for no reason - she owned those little islands for 11 years, and the people within them, and re-shaped them in her image. Quite an achievement that demonstrates leadership I've not seen the like of since.
Unlike many of the vox pox and call-back radio phoners I've heard since she died, I've pretty mixed views on Thatch. I grew up in a household sympathetic to the Thatcher message. In fact my father was elected as a Tory Borough Councillor on her coat tails in 1979. I lived in the Britain that benefited from her reforms and most of the people around me either quietly or vocally approved of what she did. Attending private school in the south of England it was easy as a boy to understand the 80s in terms of much needed economic reform, tough love and no gain without pain. I was too young - I was 9 when she was elected - to comprehend the economic realities of the early 80s and by the time I became aware of the economic fortunes the economy was buoyant. The people who stood to gain from privatisation and market liberalism were the fathers of my friends in the most part. It all seemed a good thing. I didn't have much exposure to the families dependent on the coal industry, or the car industry. I didn't know any single mothers. I didn't know any Argentinians.
So when I arrived at University just in time for her demise in November 1990, I was confronted with quite a different perspective on The Thatcher years. As my own politics drifted rapidly to the left - for many reasons - I got a new view. Now I see someone who while obviously strong and courageous and emboldened by conviction; I feel should have done more to win the debate, bring the country with her and unite instead of divide. I certainly feel now as a self-confessed pseudo-socialist that she was a class warrior who only seemed to govern for those that looked after themselves. Government is about more than liberating the able, its about enabling the disadvantaged and she failed to do this. Moreover, she trod on the less fortunate on her way to what she wanted and she brushed aside those that were inconvenient to her life view. In short, she was a tyrant.
However, lacking in almost any goodwill, her message was often received so negatively when she had a point. Norman Tebbit's "get on your bike" comment for instance - that inspired so much anger and seemed to embody her political demeanour - is not so heartless. I've been doing some family tree research and found that my great grand father left Wales when the Coal mines closed in the thirties and my grandfather left Lancashire when the Cotton Mills closed in the 50s. They both moved to the south to look for work and made a better life for themselves. But not everyone had her resourcefulness and she needed to be compassionate and inclusive. Moreover she had a duty to govern for them also.
So on balance I must like everyone recognise her strength and courage of conviction and lament its rarity in today's politics. Living in a country today ruled by a divisive female PM it occurs to me that it is difficult to be a strong female leader and be popular at the same time. But when I heard someone on the radio say in reaction to her death, "she destroyed my home town and I'm glad she's dead" I must conclude that a great leader has failed when they've inspired such animosity and conflict.
But I think this recent TV dramatisation (far more than the Streep movie) of her struggle to battle the Boys' Club glass ceiling of the Conservative Party will be the aspect of her that I might try and dwell on - something everyone can agree on, that by her example achieved so much for gender equality and personal aspiration. She showed that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything and that you shouldn't let others stand in your way.