Word: thatcherism
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...cover girl, Margaret Thatcher hardly compares to Elle McPherson. Nonetheless, the former British prime minister's face graces the covers of most of the news magazines this week, and she has been on the front page of most of the major newspapers since her battle for the leadership of the Conservative Party began last week...
That was the arithmetic of victory, but measuring the impact of the contest itself is less clear cut. Heseltine's challenge was only the latest proof of Thatcher's declining fortunes as her third term nears its end. She can lose even by winning. In last year's leadership ballot, 60 M.P.s voted against her or abstained. This time, Heseltine's supporters claim he will top 100, which would be a major blow to her authority. As the Times of London put it last week, "The country needs to know whether Mrs. Thatcher does or does not retain sufficient party...
Ostensibly, the divisive issue is Europe. Britain has been debating its role in the European Community for decades. Thatcher, though she insists she backs such steps as monetary union and closer political cooperation, in fact does her best to delay or weaken them. Her obstructionism has produced a string of Cabinet resignations by ministers who tried to correct her course. Howe was demoted from Foreign Minister to the powerless post of deputy to Thatcher in July 1989 for pushing her to accept currency union...
Even Heseltine's resignation in 1986 was precipitated by a dispute over whether to sell the country's only helicopter producer to an American consortium or a European group. When Thatcher tilted, as she usually does, to the "special relationship" with the U.S., Heseltine literally stormed out of the Cabinet...
Maybe not, nor a Gorbachev-Yeltsin pact either. -- Thatcher could lose even by winning her Tory contest. -- Putting on the brakes in Saudi Arabia...