Margaret Thatcher, the prime-minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 until 1990, died today at the age of 87. Her spokesman, Lord Bell, released a statement in which her son and daughter confirmed the reports of her death. "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning."
Thatcher was the longest running UK prime minister of the 20th Century and the UK's only female one -- ever. She had been a key figure in British and world history. London daily The Guardian characterized her as "the most dominant British prime minister since Winston Churchill in 1940 and a global champion of the late 20th century free market economic revival." Even more than 20 years since she left office, Thatcher remained a divisive and influential figure.
Her uncompromising and controversial style was well known and she stayed true to her character until her last day in the office. Here are a couple of exchanges she had with two opposition MP's on her last speech in the House of Commons on 22 November 1990.
After her death, in a sign of official mourning, flags at 10 Downing Street, the residence of the UK Prime Minister, were at half mast.
The current resident of 10 Downing Street, prime minister David Cameron, reacted to her death on Twitter.
"It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher’s death. We've lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton"— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) April 8, 2013
Prime Minister David Cameron on the death of Lady Thatcher: "She didn't just lead our country; she saved our country."— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) April 8, 2013
Reactions from the world quickly followed, with #Thatcher and #IronLady instantly rising to the top of Twitter World Wide Trends. India's Prime Minister expressed his condolences and stressed Thatcher's influence.
PM: "She was a transformative figure under whom the United Kingdom registered important progress on the national and international arena."— Dr Manmohan Singh (@PMOIndia) April 8, 2013
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos joined in mourning Thatcher. He tweeted in Spanish: "We mourn the death of the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. Controversial, brave, with character and Colombia's friend." And European Union President linked to a lengthier statement through his Twitter account.
Lamentamos la muerte de la Dama de Hierro, Margaret Thatcher. Controvertida, valiente, con carácter y amiga de Colombia.— Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) April 8, 2013
My regrets on the death of Baroness #Thatcher:bit.ly/12Av3m7— José Manuel Barroso (@BarrosoEU) April 8, 2013
In the United States, President Barack Obama tweeted a quote from the White House official statement, in which he said that "the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend." And Speaker of the House John Boehner expressed his admiration for the Iron Lady on Twitter.
"She stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered." —Obama on Margaret Thatcher's passing— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 8, 2013
There was no secret to Lady Thatcher’s values - hard work & personal responsibility - & no nonsense in her leadership j.mp/10LaFOH— Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) April 8, 2013
Ever a divisive figure, politicians and the public alike reacted with passion to her death, defending or attacking her legacy. Daniel Hannan, a British journalist and member of the European Parliament, exalted her accomplishments.
Margaret Thatcher took a country that was demoralized, dishonoured & bankrupt, and left it prosperous, confident & free. Our greatest PM.— Daniel Hannan (@DanHannanMEP) April 8, 2013
Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor for the Clinton administration, criticized her conservative views.
Margaret Thatcher famously dismissed the idea of a "society." In her view, nations are composed of individuals with no duties to one other.— Robert Reich (@RBReich) April 8, 2013
Politicians were obviously not the only ones to react to Thatcher's death. Her importance in defining a whole generation of Britons was underlined by Emily Bell, the former director of digital content for the Guardian and now a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and by Robert Peston, Business Editor of the BBC.
Thatcher politicized all those of us who grew up in the 80s, left and right.— emily bell (@emilybell) April 8, 2013
For my generation, hard to imagine a world without Margaret Thatcher. We still define ourselves by whether we were for or against her— Robert Peston (@Peston) April 8, 2013
As a bonus, here's Thatcher talking about the Internet.