A-level HISTORY Component 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007

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Source A From recollections on Margaret Thatcher’s career by Paddy Ashdown, published in The Guardian, 2013. Ashdown joined the Liberal Party in 1975 and became Liberal Democrat leader in 1989.... I didn’t like her politics. I always regarded Margaret Thatcher as a one-man demolition squad. She was a destroyer. However, it was clear that if we on the left had had the same degree of intellectual rigour about our ideas as she had about hers, however much I didn’t like most of them, we wouldn’t have suffered so badly. I fought against elements of her agenda, including some of her economic liberalisation agenda, but there’s no question that she was one of the great prime ministers of our century. She was forceful because of her character, not her intellect. If you don’t have courage, all the other qualities you may have – good strategic sense and oratory etc – vanish like the morning dew when you need it. But she had it. Her other quality was of leadership, of the sort that is rare in senior leaders. She tied people to her with genuine bonds of affection because she appeared in the frontline when life was tough and inspired her troops. 5 10 Source B From the book ‘Dancing With Dogma, Britain Under Thatcherism’ by Ian Gilmour, 1992. Gilmour served in Thatcher’s first cabinet until he was sacked in September 1981. The circumstances by early 1981 were unprecedented. Never before had a prime minister and a few close associates embarked upon so disastrous an economic experiment while keeping the cabinet at a dist [Show More]

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