Margaret Thatcher was one of the most highly-regarded and recognizable British politicians of all time. Though she may be gone, it will be a long time before anyone forgets Thatcher’s legacy. However, despite the fact that Thatcher spent a considerable amount of time in the spotlight and under the scrutiny of the public eye, there are still some things that many people don’t know. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about Margaret Thatcher. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: She Was Born Above a Grocery Store. And it was her father’s grocery store, no less. Thatcher was born in an apartment above her father’s grocery store, and that’s also where she grew up. The apartment had no running water, no central heating, and no indoor toilet.
Number Fourteen: She Was a Food Scientist Before She Was a Politician. Before she became renowned for her politics, Thatcher helped develop soft-serve ice cream as a food scientist. She graduated with a degree in chemistry from Oxford in 1947, and she used her skills to help invent soft-serve ice cream.
Number Thirteen: He Lost Her First Two Elections in Parliament. The first time Thatcher ran for a seat in the House of Commons, she was 24 years old and the youngest candidate there. Though she lost, she was noticed. She ran the next year and lost, but by the third time she ran in Finchley of northern London, she won.
Number Twelve: She Gave Birth to Twins While Studying Law. Thatcher gave up her career in chemistry after she married a rich businessman in 1951. Thatcher and her husband had twins together in 1953, and the very next year Thatcher became a barrister.
Number Eleven: She Is Thatcher the Milk Snatcher. Thatcher became known as “Thatcher, the Milk Snatcher” after she ended a free milk program for young students in an effort to cut spending. She did this in 1970 while she was serving as secretary of education.
Number Ten: She Thought She’d Die Before Seeing a Female Prime Minister. Thatcher never really believed she’d live to see the day when a woman became Prime Minister of Britain. She believed that the male population was “too prejudiced.” However, little did she know that she would become the first female British Prime Minister in 1979.
Number Nine: Laurence Olivier Did Her a Big Favor. Before the general election in 1979, one of Thatcher’s advisers was concerned that her speaking voice was too shrill. The adviser fortuitously ran into Sir Laurence Olivier on a train, and Olivier recommended his voice coach to Thatcher. Thatcher subsequently went through voice training and was sounding calm, cool, and collected by the time elections rolled around.