Margaret Thatcher's Leadership in Historical Perspective

In: Parliamentary affairs: a journal of representative politics, Band 45, Heft 1, S. 1-17

Abstract

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's leadership style is compared with those of William Gladstone, Lord Salisbury, Joseph Chamberlain, & Neville Chamberlain with respect to success in setting the political agenda & mobilizing political support. Thatcher is seen as a latter-day Gladstone, or a more effective Joseph Chamberlain. Gladstone's campaign against the Bulgarians arose from moral populism, a blend of charismatic radicalism & conservatism. Salisbury's support of utilitarianism (for the benefit of privileged minorities, eg, the aristocracy & the Church of England) was a feature of his arch-conservatism. Although he failed to inspire the Right, or to gain mass support, Joseph Chamberlain initially was successful in politicizing the masses. Thatcher was able to replace local rates with a poll tax, promote privatization, free choice, & capitalism, & fight for the Falkland Islands. However, judged by Winston Churchill's moral standards of resolution, magnanimity, defiance, & goodwill, Thatcher falls short. Her insularity, concessions to pragmatism, & sudden fall from public favor resemble the career of Neville Chamberlain. J. Sadler