Margaret Thatcher.

Margaret Thatcher

1925-2013

You may not have agreed with her politics, her style, or even that she should have been Prime Minister but one thing cannot be denied, that Margaret Thatcher changed the face of British life forever. As the first female Prime Minister she made history as soon as she stepped over the threshold of 10 Downing Street. She provided us with some of the most defining moments of modern British politics and as the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century, made her mark on Britain forever. When I heard the news this morning I was in my Father's pub in an old mining town in Nottinghamshire. The news here, as you can imagine, was greeted with mixed responses but one sentiment ran true. That her achievement of becoming the first and currently only woman to govern Britain should be commended.

"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."

At the Conservative conference in 1980

"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope."

On her election as prime minister in 1979