THE 1980’S AND 1990’S WERE A TIME OF GREAT POLITICAL CHANGE

INTRODUCTION

THE 1980’s and 1990’s were a time of great political change in many ways, perhaps most importantly, and most controversially in the way that the traditional, conventional way of doing politics came to an end, and a new, in part more modern, in part more radical way of politics took over.

The Winter of 1978/1979 saw a significant decline in public service, widespread strikes and ongoing conflicts between the government and the people, dubbed as the ‘Winter of Discontent,’ Britain was challenged to re-think about how she was governed, and rightly so.

The defining character of this period of reformation is Margaret Thatcher, born in Grantham, to a grocer, in 1979, succeeding ‘socially disillusioned’ James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher became the first, and as of date, only female Prime Minister to take up office, winning three consecutive elections she is also credited of being the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th Century.

Credited with overseeing a dynamic change in Britain’s economic, political and cultural structure, Thatcher oversaw the privatisation of nationalised industries, allowed council tenants the right to buy their own homes, and to an extent, challenged the power of trade unions.

Thatcher’s government was then inherited by conservative John Major, before another political shift came in 1997, when Tony Blair turned the government’s focus to healthcare and education reformation.

THE WINTER OF DISCONTENT

THE phrase being taken from Shakespeare’s, Richard III, ‘The Winter of Discontent’ saw widespread public sector strikes fused by unsustainable state enterprises, three day weeks, rubbish piling up in the streets, and public sector trade unions demanding larger pay rises triggered by the ongoing pay caps of the days Labour Government led to a lack of public service, during the coldest winter for 16 years.

In the later part of the 1970’s, an outrageous number of working days were being lost a year through strike action, however at the end of her premiership, public sector strikes were very few, and far between.

　

THATCHER’S REFORMS

THE 1980’s and 1990’s saw many reforms affecting lots of people throughout Britain, reforms to the economy, health, care and defence were hugely controversial, and hard to endure, however many people cannot deny that the reformations and investments haven’t proved to be beneficial in the longer-term.

Ironically for a Prime Minister whose policies, on the whole, focused on family life, the 1980’s saw the end of the traditional family unit for many; divorce rates reached 13.4% per 1,000 married in 1985.

As well as the radical increase in public sector unemployment which triggered industrial manufacture declination, Britain also got hit by two major recessions, many people turned to trade union, reports show that 1 in 4 people was a member of a trade union.

However, on the other hand, as a response to the needs of global business and finance, Thatcher’s government oversaw the deregulation of the stock market. This deregulation meant that Britain was now, from a business owner’s perspective, a viable place to do business.

For the first time, doctors could now take control of their own budgets.

As well as many other reforms, the introduction of the right to buy encouraged people to operate outside the welfare state, in effect, encouraging people to get out there, get a job, and contribute.

OTHER FOCUSES

MUCH of the 1980’s and 1990’s have been dominated by Margaret Thatcher, in fact, she has recently been called ‘a towering figure’ by Labour leader, Ed Milliband, however it is also important to remember that there were many other significant people in politics who shaped British politics of the 1980’s and 1990’s, James Callaghan’s reforms led to the Winter of Discontent, and Tony Blair’s premiership focused much on the needs of education, and healthcare.

THATCHER’S LEGACY

AS a result of Thatcher’s radical, sometimes controversial, sometimes un-empathetic right-wing reforms, Britain went through short-term hardship, that has resulted in long-term investment and economic, social and political achievement, a by-product of these reforms has been a political shift across the whole spectrum, most political parties have now become more aligned to the centre than ever before.

Speaking in an interview, David Cameron told viewers “we‘re all Thatcherites now,” but the question remains ~ are we all Thatcherites, or are we all Thatcher’s children? One thing is for sure ~ she will make the history books.