Margaret Thatcher was the woman who began the shift to the right that has affected almost all the countries of the West in the past three decades. But it is an open question whether even the crash of 2008 and the ensuing prolonged recession have finally ended the long reign
Gwynne Dyer: Thatcherism spread far and wide
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Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Photo / AP
That was what carried her into office in the 1979 election, and as Prime Minister she acted on her convictions. After she had won the Falklands War against long odds in 1982 her popularity was unassailable, and she used it to break the power of the trade unions and privatise state-owned industries. More than that, she made free-market ideology for all intents and purposes the state religion.
So it remained for 30 years, long after her harsh and confrontational style had lost her the support even of her own party.
She was ousted as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister by her own colleagues in 1990, but the Labour governments of 1997-2010 were also in thrall to her ideas. Their influence abroad, particularly in the US, was equally great.
Yet her greatest contribution to politics was not ideological but tactical. She was the first politician to grasp the fact that with the decline of the old working class, it had become possible to win elections on a platform that simply ignored the wishes and needs of the poor. There weren't as many of them as there used to be, and the poorest among them usually failed to vote at all.
This insight was key to the success of President Ronald Reagan in the US in the 1980s, and to the triumph of conservative parties in many European countries. It continues to be a major factor in the calculations of parties on the right and left down to the present day.
Thatcher's influence lives on, at least for the moment, but it may not last much longer. The powerful middle class on which she founded her political strategy has been hollowed out by the very success of the free-market policies she promoted. Once you allow for the effects of inflation, average middle-class income in the US, for example, has not grown at all in the past three decades. The time may be coming when gaining the votes of the poor will once again be essential to win elections.
Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.