Margaret Thatcher: a life in pictures

A selection of images from the life of Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female prime minister

  • Margaret Thatcher, prime minister 1979-90
    Margaret Thatcher: Margaret Thatcher, prime minister 1979-90

  • 1930s: Margaret Roberts in a school photograph
    Margaret Thatcher: 1930s: Margaret Roberts in a school photograph

  • 1948: Margaret Roberts plays the piano and sings with a group of voters, at the Bull Inn, in her constituency of Dartford, Kent
    Margaret Thatcher: 1948: Margaret Roberts plays the piano in Dartford, Kent

  • 1950: Conservative Party candidate, Margaret Roberts, the youngest candidate for any party in the 1950 General Election, at work in a laboratory where she is a research chemist
    Margaret Thatcher: 1950: Margaret Roberts at work in a laboratory as a research chemist

  • 1951: Conservative candidate for Dartford, Miss Margaret Roberts
    Margaret Thatcher: 1951: Conservative candidate for Dartford, Miss Margaret Roberts

  • 1951: Margaret Roberts on her wedding day, with husband Denis (1915 - 2003). The dress was in royal blue velvet, the halo-styled hat was trimmed with ostrich feathers
    Margaret Thatcher: 1951: Margaret Roberts on her wedding day, with husband Denis

  • 1953: Margaret Thatcher aged 28 with her twins Carol And Mark. She had been married for two years and was trying to juggle her new career as a lawyer with her political ambitions
    Margaret Thatcher: 1953: Margaret Thatcher aged 28 with her twins Carol And Mark

  • 1962: Margaret Thatcher, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, waves as she leaves Euston Station on the start of her journey to Llandudno where she will be attending the Annual Conservative Party Conference
    Margaret Thatcher: Margaret Thatcher, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions

  • 1971: Minister of Education Margaret Thatcher tries on different hats in her Lamberhurst home, near Tunbridge Wells
    Margaret Thatcher: 1971: Minister of Education Margaret Thatcher tries on different hats

  • 1971: Education secretary Margaret Thatcher visits a school. She was bitterly attacked as 'milk snatcher' in the press
    Margaret Thatcher: 1971: Education secretary Margaret Thatcher visits a school.

  • 1974: Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative spokesman on the Environment, with William Whitelaw, the Pary Chairman at the Conservative party conference
    Margaret Thatcher: 1974: Margaret Thatcher with William Whitelaw and the party conference

  • 1975: Margaret Thatcher leaves her house in London's Chelsea district, for her first day's work as a new head of Britain's Conservative party. Mrs Thatcher had to face the gentlemen of the press and of television. The first woman ever to head a political party in Britain, fixed herself a boiled egg for breakfast before leaving for the job
    Margaret Thatcher: 1975: Margaret Thatcher's first day as leader of the Conservative party

  • 1975: Opposition Leader Margaret Thatcher shows her European colours in Parliament Square as she links up with three of the young pro-Market campaigners starting a vigil beneath the statue of Sir Winston Churchill, on the day before polling for the Common Market referendum
    Margaret Thatcher: 1975: Margaret Thatcher with pro Common market campaigners

  • 1976: Racing to the polls: Margaret Thatcher jogs around the Rotherham constituency with the Conservative candidate Douglas Hinckley
    Margaret Thatcher: 1976: Margaret Thatcher in Rotherham with candidate Douglas Hinckley

  • 1979: Labour Isn't Working. Margaret Thatcher speaks at the Conservative Local Government Conference at Caxton Hall, London when she angrily accused the Government of having tried to whip up non-existent emotions in the referendum campaigns. Unemployment was set to reach a major milestone, falling below a million for the first time in more than 25 years dropping to its lowest level since December 1975.
    Margaret Thatcher: 1979: Labour Isn't Working. Margaret Thatcher speaks

  • 1979: Margaret Thatcher outside 10 Downing Street following her election as Prime Minister in May
    Margaret Thatcher: 1979: Margaret Thatcher outside 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister

  • 1980: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in white overalls, a miner's helmet and donkey jacket for her trip down a mine shaft at the Wistow colliery in the Selby coalfield
    Margaret Thatcher: 1980: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Selby coalfield

  • 1982: Together at Chequers. Mrs Thatcher with her son Mark who returned to Britain after going missing for six days in the Sahara Desert during the Paris - Dakar rally
    Margaret Thatcher: 1982: Together at Chequers. Mrs Thatcher with her son Mark

  • 1983: Margaret Thatcher visiting British troops on the Falkland Islands. Y Company 1st Battalion Royal Hampshire Regiment surround Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse at Goose green, East Falklands
    Margaret Thatcher: 1983: Margaret Thatcher visiting British troops on the Falkland Islands

  • 1983: Jubilant Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher waves to well-wishers after her election win at Tory Party headquarters
    Margaret Thatcher: 1983: Jubilant Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher waves to well-wishers

  • 1984: Exterior of the Grand Hotel, after a powerful IRA bomb aimed for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet exploded killing at least 2 people and injuring 30 others
    Margaret Thatcher: 1984: Exterior of the Grand Hotel

  • 1984: Margaret Thatcher reaches up to shake someone's hand at the Liverpool Festival
    Margaret Thatcher: 1984: Margaret Thatcher shakes someone's hand at the Liverpool Festival

  • 1985: President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher walk Reagan's dog Lucky on the White House lawn
    Margaret Thatcher: 1985: Margaret Thatcher and Reagan walking a dmacdiarmidog

  • 1986: Margaret Thatcher at the opening of the M25 motorway
    Margaret Thatcher: 1986: Margaret Thatcher at the opening of the M25 motorway

  • 1986: Margaret Thatcher out for spin in Union Jack-flying Challenger tank during manoeuvres at the NATO training ground near Falling Bostel
    Margaret Thatcher: 1986: Margaret Thatcher on a Challenger tank

  • 1987: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the start of talks at the Kremlin in Moscow
    Margaret Thatcher: 1987: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

  • 1987: Spitting Image puppets of Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock, David Steel and David Owen with a model of the Houses of Parliament
    Margaret Thatcher: 1987: Spitting Image puppets of Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock

  • 1987: Prime minister Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street, London, at the start of her third term in office
    Margaret Thatcher: 1987: Prime minister Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street

  • 1989: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stands on top of the nuclear reactor at Torness Power Station, East Lothian
    Margaret Thatcher: 1989: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on nuclear reactor at Torness

  • 1990: Margaret Thatcher leaving Downing Street
    Margaret Thatcher: 1990: Margaret Thatcher leaving Downing Street

  • 1992: Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher holding a cup of tea
    Margaret Thatcher: 1992: Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher holding a cup of tea

  • 2000: Lady Thatcher and Iain Duncan Smith at the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth
    Margaret Thatcher: 2000: Lady Thatcher and Iain Duncan Smith at Conservative Party Conference

  • 2003: Baroness Margaret Thatcher reunited with her husband Sir Denis Thatcher when he returned home after spending the last few weeks recovering from his six-hour coronary by-pass operation
    Margaret Thatcher: 2003: Baroness Margaret Thatcher with her husband Sir Denis Thatcher

  • 2003: Former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher and daughter Carol outside the Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, where the funeral of Baroness Thatcher's husband, Sir Denis Thatcher, took place
    Margaret Thatcher: 2003: Baroness Thatcher at Denis Thatcher's funeral

  • 2003: Baroness Thatcher sits alone as she waits for the start of the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London
    Margaret Thatcher: 2003: Baroness Thatcher sits alone at the State Opening of Parliament

  • 2007: Former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher shakes hands with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during commemorations marking the 25th anniversary of the Britain-Falklands conflict
    Margaret Thatcher: 2007: Baroness Thatcher shakes hands with Prime Minister Tony Blair

  • 2007: Prime Minister Gordon Brown with Baroness Thatcher outside 10 Downing Street
    Margaret Thatcher: 2007: Prime Minister Gordon Brown with Baroness Thatcher at 10 Downing St

  • 2009: Baroness Thatcher stands at the front door of her home after returning from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital following an operation on her broken arm. The former Prime Minister has had a pin placed in her shoulder after suffering a fall at home
    Margaret Thatcher: Margaret Thatcher leaves hospital after surgery on her arm

  • 2010: Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is assisted in the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in May
    Margaret Thatcher: 2010: Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is assisted

  • 2010: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher looks towards the camera as she meets Prime Minister David Cameron inside 10 Downing Street
    Margaret Thatcher: 2010: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street
Topics