Lady Thatcher’s Words with Larry King: Do They Still Ring True?

With the passing of Lady Margaret Thatcher being announced around the world Monday morning, many are reminiscing on her political career, especially her time as British Prime Minister and right-hand woman to U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the Cold War of the 1980s.  Thatcher, who passed away at 87 in her sleep early Monday morning in England, led the country and the Conservative Party from 1979 to 1990 and became known as “The Iron Lady” for her management style and for her rock-ribbed will in standing with the U.S. against the growing communist threat from Russia, which ended  with the destruction of the Berlin Wall.

As part of our tribute to Thatcher in this corner of the world, we’d like to show you a brief clip from an interview Thatcher had with Larry King in 1995 that was part of her tour that promoted her just-released book at the time. She was asked  at one point about the election process in the U.K., in which at the time, Prime Minister John Major was out as prime minister due to a challenge from within his party. Thatcher said about this in an expression of disapproval, “The prime minister is not only answerable to members of his own party, he is answerable to Parliament as a whole and to the people as a whole. … not only does the prime minister have to get a majority of the votes from his party, but he has to get 15 percent more than the next person in line. I don’t think that’s a way to get rid of a prime minister.”

Thatcher also commented about the then-recent increase in taxes on the people of the U.K., which she said her party campaigned against in the first place. “When you put up public expenditures, you have to increase taxes, but the people weren’t expecting that. It’s very much similar to (President George H.W. Bush increasing taxes). What it means is that people don’t want socialism, they want more conservatism. When conservative governments return, they (the people) want them to be really conservative.”

You can watch the clip here: