Word: tabletop
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...split between her own brand of doctrinaire Tory ideologues and the more pragmatic traditional conservatives. Cabinet meetings are often prickly. Ministers who make a weak case or are deemed "wet" (spineless) are sharply chastised. In extreme irritation, Thatcher has a habit of slapping her palms against the green baize tabletop. In the House of Commons, her majority of 43 harbors rebellious, hard-line backbenchers who demand tougher restrictions on trade unions and more ruthless cuts in public spending...