A GLITTERING
CAREER

I suppose I was about twenty…
Suddenly it was crystallised for me.
I knew.

Margaret Thatcher on going into politics

I don’t want to give my life over
entirely to politics. I don’t think I’d
have the ability and I’d never be
given the chance.

Margaret Thatcher in an interview with The Sunday Times,
5 March 1967

 

I am very pleased
with my promotion
to prime minister.

Margaret Thatcher

There is much to do and I hope
you will allow me time to do it
thoughtfully and well.

Margaret Thatcher

I am, as you may know, the first…
research chemist to hold this
great position.

Margaret Thatcher

To me it’s like a dream that the next
name in the line Harold Macmillan,
Alec Douglas-Home and Edward
Heath, is Margaret Thatcher. Each has
brought his own style of leadership
and stamp of greatness to the task. I
shall take on the work with humility
and dedication.

Margaret Thatcher during a press conference after winning
Conservative leadership

Her Majesty The Queen has asked
me to form a new administration and
I have accepted.

Margaret Thatcher

I hope that where I have led, others
may follow – but not too soon.

Margaret Thatcher

The job you have given me is at once
a supreme honour and the greatest
possible challenge.

Margaret Thatcher

The country might in some ways be a
chillier, bumpier, less cosy place – but
infinitely more invigorating.

Margaret Thatcher during her second term in office,
February 1984

I promise you this – I won’t make
empty promises.

Margaret Thatcher

I much prefer this job to the other.

Margaret Thatcher

Winning an election is
a splendid thing.

Margaret Thatcher