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Actors Geoffrey Palmer (actor), Clive Russell (actor), John Bird (actor), James Frain (actor), Rob Lane (composer), Ron Cook (actor), Clive Merrison (actor), Douglas Hodge (actor), Pia Di Ciaula (editor), Matt Smith (actor), Joel Holmes (miscellaneous crew), Thomas Arnold (actor), Adrian Lukis (actor), Anastasia Hille (actress), David Blair (director),
1968. It's a man's world. But not for long...
Dagenham, England, 1968. An ordinary woman fights for equal pay and achieves something extraordinary.
Barbara Castle: I am what is known as a fiery redhead. Now, I hate to make this a matter of appearance and go all womanly on you, but there you have it. And me standing up like this is in fact just that redheaded fieriness leaping to the fore. Credence? I will give credence to their cause. My god! Their cause already has credence. It is equal pay. Equal pay is common justice, and if you two weren't such a pair of egotistical, chauvinistic, bigoted dunderheads, you would realise that. Oh, my office is run by incompetents and I am sick of being patronised, spoken down to, and generally treated as if I was the May Queen. Set up the meeting!
Rita O'Grady: All right, um, everybody out!
Rita O'Grady: Look, I know you're not mentioning it because you're being polite and everything, but when we met in the corridor, well I was really upset, and I never usually use that type of language.::Lisa Hopkins: Don't you?::Rita O'Grady: No.::Lisa Hopkins: Well I called Mr Clarke a complete cock.
Lisa Hopkins: I'm Lisa Burnett, I'm 31 years old and I have a first class honours degree from one of the finest universities in the world, and my husband treats me like I'm a fool.
News Reporter 1: What if Mrs. Castle says "no deal"?::News Reporter 2: How will you cope then?::Rita O'Grady: Cope? How will we cope? We're women. Now, don't ask such stupid questions.
Eddie O'Grady: Christ, I like a drink, but I ain't out on the beer every night or screwin' other women, or... 'Ere, I've never once raised me hand to you. Ever. Or the kids.::Rita O'Grady: Christ.::Eddie O'Grady: What? Why are you looking like that?::Rita O'Grady: Right. You're a saint now, is that what you're tellin' me, Eddie? You're a bleedin' saint? 'Cause you give us an even break?::Eddie O'Grady: What are you saying?::Rita O'Grady: That is as it should be. Jesus, Eddie! What do you think this strike's all been about, eh? Oh yeah. Actually you're right. You don't go on the drink, do ya? You don't gamble, you join in with the kids, you don't knock us about. Oh, lucky me. For Christ's sake, Eddie, that's as it should be! You try and understand that. Rights, not privileges. It's that easy. It really bloody is.
Albert Passingham: This dispute's got nothing to do with what skill level you are. Ford decided to give you less money because they can. They're allowed to pay women a lower wage than men. All over the country women are getting less because they're women. You'll always come second. You'll always be fighting over the scraps from the top table, until you...::Rita O'Grady: Until we get equal pay, yeah.::Albert Passingham: Yeah.::Rita O'Grady: What I don't get is why it's so important to you.::Albert Passingham: I got brought up by my mum. Me and me brothers. She worked all her life. And she paid my aunt Lil to take care of us during the day. And it was hard, especially as she was getting less than half than what the blokes at the factory was getting, for doing the same work. And there was never any question that it could be any different. Not for her. Someone has got stop these exploiting bastards getting away with what they've been doing for years. And you can, you can, Rita, believe me.
Rita O'Grady: All those in favour of not only maintaining but increasing our current industrial action by going to an immediate all-out stoppage until we get the same rates of pay as the men! Well, why not? Cause that's what this is really about, innit? We're on the lowest rate of the entire bleeding factory despite the fact we got considerable skill. And there's only one possible reason for that. It's cause we're women. And in the workplace, women get paid less than men, no matter what skill they got! Which is why from now on, we got to demand a level playing field and rates of pay which reflect the job you do, not whether you got a dick or not! This strike is about one thing and one thing only! Fairness. Equal pay or nothing! All those in favour?::The Women: Yeah!::Rita O'Grady: Everybody out!
[Albert is being accused by his union of scuppering other negotiations with management by supporting the women's equal-pay strike]::Bartholomew: As a union we have to remember who comes first. The Communist Party. And Marx himself said "Men write their own history". That's "men", Albert.::Albert Passingham: But didn't he also say "Progress can be measured by the social position of the female sex"? Or was that a different Marx? That was Groucho, was it?::[Bartholomew is lost for words]::Albert Passingham: Equal pay across the board. You telling me that ain't worth fighting for? Of course it is, and you know it. I'll tell you something. This Rita has got a bigger set of balls than you three put together. And she ain't scared to lay 'em on the line, neither. And I for one am gonna help her. And if you are what you say you are, an organisation pledged to support its members, then you'll get off your lazy fat arses and you'll help her too. Good fucking evening.::[Albert walks out of the office]
[Rita gives an impromptu speech at the trade union conference]::Rita O'Grady: My best friend lost her husband recently. He was a gunner in the 50 Squadron in the RAF. Got shot down one time, on a raid to Essen. And even though he was badly injured, he managed to bail out. I asked him why he joined the RAF, and he said "Well, they've got the best women, haven't they?"::[audience laughs]::Rita O'Grady: And then he said "Well, you've got to do something, haven't you? You had to do something, that was a given. Cos it was a matter of principle. You had to stand up. You had to do what was right. Cos otherwise you wouldn't be able to look at yourself in the mirror." When did that change, eh? When did we, in this country, decide to stop fighting? I don't think we ever did. But you've got to back us up. You've got to stand up with us. *We* are the working classes - the men *and* the women. We're not separated by sex, but only by those who are willing to accept injustice and those like our friend George who are prepared to go into battle for what is right. And equal pay for women *is* right.
Actors Miranda Richardson (actress), Geraldine James (actress), Richard Schiff (actor), Lee Nicholas Harris (actor), John Sessions (actor), Rosamund Pike (actress), Lee Nicholas Harris (actor), Rupert Graves (actor), Bob Hoskins (actor), Phil Cornwell (actor), Kenneth Cranham (actor), Roger Lloyd-Pack (actor), Danny Huston (actor), Stephen Woolley (producer), Christine Langan (producer),
David Turner: I've just had a spot of bother in Birmingham - I was ganged-up on by a group of schoolgirls and that demented housewife.::Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: Ah yes, of course. Now what *is* her name? No, don't tell me. Well you know what they say, old chap? Writing well is the best revenge. [he turns to walk away] Though garrotting your enemy with cheesewire runs a close second.
[at breakfast, with his wife and two teenage sons]::Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: Pass the butter.::Elaine Carleton Green: What's the magic word?::Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: Pass the *fucking* butter.
Mary Whitehouse: Oral sex. Have you heard of it?::Ernest Whitehouse: I have.::Mary Whitehouse: Why would anybody want to... I suppose I should feel sorry for the poor souls. I mean if relations are really *so* unsatisfactory that they have to turn to that. It's sad, more than anything.
[Mary Whitehouse has just sent a supposedly obscene script to the Postmaster General who has ordered an episode of Swizzlewick which lampoons her to be pulled mid-way through its broadcast. Sir Hugh is fuming]::Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: Who? Who? I want the traitor flushed out. I want strict controls of all scripts issued to anyone and everyone - anywhere and everywhere. Contrive some memo to that effect.::Miss Tate: Yes, Sir Hugh.::Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: And! And! I am issuing a directive with immediate effect. No-one connected to the Corporation is to have anything whatsoever to do with that woman, either socially or professionally. Though Christ knows why anyone would want to!::Miss Tate: Yes, Sir Hugh. You *do* mean Mrs Whitehouse?::Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: I don't want to hear her name.
Sir Hugh Carleton Greene: The woman wants to censor us, Hill. If she had her way, all we'd show would be Andy bloody Pandy - and she'd stop him climbing into that basket with Looby Loo, let alone Teddy, lest some innocent child be corrupted by the whiff of puppet troilism. And bestiality, I suppose - or *would* it be bestiality with a teddy bear rather than a real bear?
[Mary Whitehouse is appearing on a discussion programme which is about to go on air]::Female Panellist: Mrs Whitehouse, can I just say before the programme starts, that I've followed your campaign right from the beginning.::Mary Whitehouse: Oh yes, dear.::Female Panellist: And I utterly disagree with everything single thing you're doing.::Male Panellist: Hear hear. Freedom of expression is one of the most precious values we have in our society. You seem to have taken it on yourself to speak for people who don't support you in any way whatsoever. You should be ashamed of yourself.::Mary Whitehouse: [sulking] Oh well, we're all here to put our different views.
[at a meeting of her supporters at her house, Mary Whitehouse proposes a name for the organisation]::Mary Whitehouse: We'll call it Clean Up National Television.::[she holds up a placard featuring the name, with the initial letters highlighted]::Ernest Whitehouse: [chuckling] Er, I think you might want to choose a different name, dear.
Actors William Rushton (actor), Alun Armstrong (actor), Patrick Troughton (actor), Julie Walters (actress), Rebecca Eaton (producer), William Rushton (actor), Hugh Bonneville (actor), Frazer Hines (actor), Ron Cook (actor), George Pastell (actor), Barbara Kidd (costume designer), Martin Trenaman (actor), Nicholas Woodeson (actor), Nicholas Le Prevost (actor), Stephen O'Connell (editor),
Actors John Hurt (actor), James Bolam (actor), Elizabeth McKechnie (actress), David Bark-Jones (actor), Paul Dwyer (producer), Paul Dwyer (director), Laura Craig Gray (producer), Peter Hamilton Dyer (actor),
Actors Celia Imrie (actress), Kenneth Cranham (actor), Gina McKee (actress), Patrick Ryecart (actor), Neil Dudgeon (actor), Emma Fryer (costume designer), Allin Kempthorne (actor), Eric Carte (actor), Stan Fus (miscellaneous crew), Colin Barr (director), Vivianne Royal (miscellaneous crew), Dominic Rowan (actor), Vicky Johnson (miscellaneous crew), Francis Wheen (writer), Alison Willett (producer),
Actors Kim Horton (editor), Gareth Williams (producer), Gareth Williams (writer), Gareth Williams (director), Emma Hawley (director), Emma Hawley (producer), Andrew James Davies (actor),
Actors Sean Barrett (actor), Greg Bennett (actor), Jim Carter (actor), James Fiddy (actor), Roger Evans (actor), David Blight (costume designer), Grahame Fox (actor), Alister Cameron (actor), Samir Shah (producer), Shane Attwooll (actor), Jonathan Jones (producer), Jonathan Jones (director), Paula Prynn (miscellaneous crew), Morgan James (actor), Morgan James (actor),
The only thing more shocking than her crime was his crusade to free her.
[On his first visit to Myra Hindley in prison, Lord Longford is looking aimlessly around the visiting room trying to find her. He approaches a woman with bleached blonde hair, then discovers that this is not Hindley. Suddenly a woman with jet-black hair stands up]::Myra Hindley: I think it's me you're looking for.::Lord Longford: Myra Hindley?::Myra Hindley: I got rid of the peroxide before the trial. I was blue at the trial, for most of it. And then red for the sentencing. Apparently it counted against me - showed I had no remorse.::Lord Longford: I wasn't aware of a correlation between hair colour and contrition.
[Lord and Lady Longford are sitting up in bed looking at pornographic magazines, such as Mayfair and Slave, to decide whether they are offensive]::Lady Elizabeth Longford: Frank, it's harmless. Completely harmless.::Lord Longford: I disagree. These things are read by children at a vulnerable age. The boys on the bus can't have been more than twelve.::Lady Elizabeth Longford: And in our day it was just the same.::Lord Longford: Nothing *like* so graphic or as available. Look at it! Sexual arousal is Pavlovian - if boys grow up thinking that these kind of breasts or this kind of submission is normal, they'll expect it in later life.::Lady Elizabeth Longford: I'm afraid I'm with Marilyn Monroe on this. When asked what she thought about sex she thought for a moment and then said that she felt it was here to stay. And if it is, so is prostitution and so is pornography.
[after visiting Myra Hindley in prison]::Lady Elizabeth Longford: It seemed to me that for years I have been merrily attacking your father for supporting her, without having the slightest idea what I was talking about. And I must say my eyes have been opened, rather. Ironically, the thing that finally persuaded me to offer her my help was the very same thing that had so made me hate her in the first place: the fact that she is a woman. Did you know there have been half a dozen similar child murders? The reason none of us has heard about them is because the killers in each case were men. And men, being sadistic violent killers, isn't a story. Incidentally, in each case, the men have also been paroled. The reason that Myra Hindley is still in jail and has never been considered for parole, is because she is a woman. And for that reason she will always have my understanding... if not my sympathy.
Lord Longford: Hello Myra, is this the nightie you wanted, I couldn't remember what colour you asked for.::Myra Hindley: It's great thanks [quietly]::Lord Longford: Now the business.::Myra Hindley: Frank.::Lord Longford: I have a friend on the parole board::Myra Hindley: _Frank.::Lord Longford: ...who tells me your application will be considered next month, now if that goes well and all things being equal the national::Myra Hindley: _Frank enough. [Inhales cigarette slowly] The police have been to see me. Brady's talked to the press about the other bodies. I'm saying, that i'm going to give a full confessional to all five murders.::Lord Longford: What other bodies?::Myra Hindley: Pauline Reade. And the Bennet boy. He hasn't given them any details yet, but he says he knows where they're buried, and before he grabs the initiative i'm going to come clean and tell the prison "I know".::Lord Longford: but you know nothing about the bodies you've told me as much yourself.::Myra Hindley: [Stares blankly]::Lord Longford: What are you saying?::Myra Hindley: I'm saying, that i'm going to make a confessional to all five murders.::Lord Longford: Dear girl... I asked you specifically if there was anything that you hadn't told me. I've staked my name on this, my reputation.::Myra Hindley: I know. And i'd perfectly understand if you never wanted to see me again. It's what my new solicitor suggested anyway.::Lord Longford: Your new solicitor...?::Myra Hindley: He feels, and if i'm honest i'd agree with him, that the campaign you have conducted on my behalf has hurt me, more than helped me, and that we should make this our last meeting.I see...::Lord Longford: I see... if that's what he feels... that you feel. [Looks down]::Myra Hindley: [pause] Goodbye Frank. [Walks off]::Lord Longford: [Sits for a bit, and then apprehensively walks towards the door]
Myra Hindley: I'm trying Frank, to know the God that you know. But if you had been there, on the moors, in the moonlight, when we did the first one, you'd know, that evil can be a spiritual experience too.
Myra Hindley: It would be a nice place to be.::Lord Longford: Where?::Myra Hindley: Inside your head.::Lord Longford: Oh, I'm not sure about that.
[last lines]::Myra Hindley: You know, we only missed it by a few weeks.::Lord Longford: What?::Myra Hindley: The death sentence. They abolished it while we were on remand. Looking back, don't you think it would have been better for everyone if they'd just hung us?::Lord Longford: Certainly not! Only God has the right to take human life.::Myra Hindley: Would He not have wanted to give the families that comfort?::Lord Longford: [staring off into space] None of us knows the true purpose of our lives on earth... Besides, [gallant again] had you been hanged, I would never have had the privilege of getting to know you!::Myra Hindley: [gazes at him with sadness in her eyes] You really believe that, don't you? [he smiles at her shyly, and says nothing]::Myra Hindley: Must be a rather nice place to be.::Lord Longford: [he glances around them] Where?::Myra Hindley: Inside your head.::Lord Longford: [grins awkwardly and wags his head from side to side as if to dismiss the thought] Oh! I'm not so sure about that!::Myra Hindley: [taking another cigarette from her pack and pulling out her lighter] A fine pair we are, then. [long pan on the two chatting on their bench, so close they are almost touching. Credit sequence rolls]
Ian Brady: [at first seeing Lord Longford in prison] How good of you not to disappoint! Wonderful, isn't it, when people look *exactly* as you imagined? So this is my competition? This is what I'm up against? Myra's new boyfriend? She certainly picks them, doesn't she? I did a little research before our first meeting. I'd say there's great evidence of mental instability in your past and mine.
Lord Longford: [in first visit] What can I do for you, Mr. Brady?::Ian Brady: [looks sad and troubled] I'd like to find my way back to God, Lord Longford. Will ye help me?::Lord Longford: [eagerly] Most certainly, if that's what you want to -::Ian Brady: Don't ye fucking dare. If ye start that pious mumbo-jumbo with me, I will jump across that table and bite out your tongue.
Ian Brady: I want to tell ye about Myra, whom ye no doubt believe is sincere in her religious conversion. Let me tell ye, that woman cares no more about God than she does about the piles in my arse. What she cares about is... getting out! And she thinks you'll help her. But the minute your back is turned, she mocks ye! [pulls three letters from his lap] For your silly hair... and your clothes... and your "self-important autobiography that's only published 'cause his family owns a bloody publishing house!" [pauses for effect] What? She didn't tell ye she was still writing to me?::Lord Longford: No.::Ian Brady: Oh, dear. She probably didn't tell ye she was fucking that little prison officer either? A nun? They do it under the bed in the cell, apparently. Four times a day! She has a very high sex drive, our Myra. It's the sort of detail ye might want about your new girlfriend. She needs it all the time... like a man, in that way. Like a man in other ways, too. She's strong! That came in handy, as ye can imagine. When they were wriggling and trying to get away.
Actors Robert Pugh (actor), Anton Rodgers (actor), Samantha Morton (actress), Andy Harries (producer), John Mortimer (actor), Rob Lane (composer), Lindsay Duncan (actress), David Frost (actor), Andy Serkis (actor), David Frost (actor), Jim Broadbent (actor), Peter Morgan (producer), Peter Morgan (writer), Marigo Kehoe (miscellaneous crew), James Keast (costume designer),
Actors Neville Phillips (actor), Pauline Hume (miscellaneous crew), John Grillo (actor), Jacqueline Hill (actress), Ann Holloway (actress), Nick Reding (actor), John Forbes-Robertson (actor), Susie Blake (actress), Roger Webb (composer), John Kane (actor), Ruth Kettlewell (actress), Joan Blackham (actress), Tony Mathews (actor), Graham McGrath (actor), William Gaminara (actor),
Actors June Whitfield (actress), Joseph E. Levine (producer), Eric Sykes (actor), Bernard Archard (actor), Eric Portman (actor), Marianne Stone (actress), Barry Cryer (actor), Colin Blakely (actor), Arnold Diamond (actor), Denholm Elliott (actor), Laurence Harvey (actor), Julian Orchard (actor), Lionel Jeffries (actor), Alan Simpson (writer), Ray Galton (writer),
BBC obituary documentary written and presented by Anthony Howard. Broadcast on the day of the death of Harold Wilson, May 24th 1995.
Dramatised documentary which explores the reasons behind the sudden resignation on 16 March 1976 of British prime minister Harold Wilson. It is based on secr...
Harold Wilson and Edward Heath are two very different men equally overlooked by history, but they were the political titans of the era in which Britain chang...
The full version of the then Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson's infamous "Pound in your pocket" speech, which saw everyone become 14% poorer. Recorded fro...
Harold Wilson resigns on the 16th March, after having served as Prime Minister 1964-70 and 1974-76.
Yes Penrose and Courtieur were steered out into the long grass by the powers that be. In 1975 Britain's last honest Prime Minister, Harold Wilson was bugged,...
Was British Prime Minister Harold Wilson the target of the Security Service's dirty tricks spying? ------------------ Video Endboard Links: - Operation Snow ...
a short clip fro 1975. margaret thatcher as leader of the opposition tackles prime minister harold wilson.
Audio recording of an interview of Harold Wilson by the BBC that appears to have been halted after Wilson complained about the line of questioning being aske...
Unissued / unused footage - dates and locations may be unclear / unknown. Prime Minister Harold Wilson at Pipe Exhibition. M/S of Harold Wilson lighting his ...
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC (11th March 1916 - 24th May 1995) was a British Labour politician; one of the most prominent ...
Unissued / unused footage - dates and locations may be unknown / unclear. Cuts from newsreel 47/80 - Harold Wilson. Harold Wilson, 31-year-old President of t...
Labour in government (1964 to1970 - 'Swinging Sixties' ) with Harold Wilson as Prime Minister brought in the vote for 18 year olds, the legalisation of homos...
Comedy sketch featuring the voice of Chris Emmett. From Series 1, Episode 1 (1979).
Unissued / Unused material - London. MS New British Prime Minister Harold Wilson seated at his desk busy working with books and answering phone. CU Mr Wilson...
Harold Wilson on the inconclusive results. Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heaths decision to call a snap election in February 1974 backfired. His plea to...
xx.
The Harold Wilson Lecture is held annually in April or May at the University of Huddersfield. The lecture series is run jointly by the University of Huddersf...
Unissued / Unused material. Harold Wilson, President of the Board of Trade, speaks on clothing rationing. London. CU Harold Wilson on roof of Board of Trade ...
Edit, from cassette 1976-03-16.
via YouTube Capture.
Shown again on Feb 2013. Controversial documentary looking at Harold Wilson's shadow cabinet in their first year of opposition following their election defea...
An 81 year old Clement Attlee (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1945-1951) is interviewed by Robin Day during the BBC's 1964 election coverage. The interview took place in the few minutes after Alec Douglas-Home had resigned as Prime Minister but before Harold Wilson had been appointed. Wilson had an overall majority in the House of Commons of just four.
A conversation about life, art, meaning and the power of farts. On April 9th, 2010, Rainn interviewed Harold Ramis as part of a series of conversations about...
Exchange with BBC interviewer David Dimbleby recorded as part of a programme called "Yesterday's Men" in 1971. The BBC did agree not to show the film, but Wi...
Harold Wilson is the Progressive Conservative candidate in Thunder Bay Atikokan. Wilson sits down with James Murray in the NetNewsLedger Newsroom for a two p...
Once, journalists trooped into some drab room at Transport House and interrogated Harold Wilson on ...
The Independent 2015-03-28Now the public can judge the prince’s actions for themselves ... Letters written to Harold Wilson from Prince Charles in 1969.
The Guardian 2015-03-27Its leader Harold Wilson first came to power in the 1960s on a modernising platform but his ...
BBC News 2015-03-27Former prime minister of Great Britain, the late Harold Wilson, said that a week can be as long as a ...
Jamaica Observer 2015-03-26A self-confessed "political junkie" – "At school, I remember drawing pictures of Edward Heath and ...
The Independent 2015-03-25That year, after a series of scandals over tapping MPs’ phones, prime minister Harold Wilson told ...
The Guardian 2015-03-25... Prince gave Prime Minister Harold Wilson the benefit of his views on the plight of Atlantic salmon.
The Independent 2015-03-25... Prince gave Prime Minister Harold Wilson the benefit of his views on the plight of Atlantic salmon.
Belfast Telegraph 2015-03-25... about Viet-Nam, but they were grateful that Harold Wilson kept Britain out of that morass.
Minds 2015-03-24... Harold Wilson, among others, to ask for the line to be saved from closure in the late 1960s.
BBC News 2015-03-24Denis Coe was one of the MPS who entered Parliament in March 1966, when Harold Wilson increased a ...
The Independent 2015-03-24A future prime minister, Harold Wilson, studied here as a teenager and many of the schools retain ...
BBC News 2015-03-24By contrast Harold Wilson (1976), Stanley Baldwin ( 1937) and Lord Salisbury (1902) all went in ...
The Guardian 2015-03-24James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British Labour politician and Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the February 1974 general election resulted in a hung parliament. He is the most recent British Prime Minister to have served non-consecutive terms.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician and the longest-serving (1979–1990) British prime minister of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which later became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As prime minister, she implemented conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became prime minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership.