Word: thatcherism
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...election. Party leaders and Cabinet ministers turned their thoughts to clearing their appointment calendars and hiring campaign planes, buses and walkie-talkies, while workers distributed campaign posters and thousands of beribboned lapel rosettes in Tory blue, Labor red and Alliance gold. Buckingham Palace was alerted that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher might suddenly seek an audience with Queen Elizabeth...
...results of local elections poured in, election fever gripped Britons. Although the 61-year-old Prime Minister is not required to call a general election until her five-year term ends in June 1988, virtually everyone expected Thatcher to announce a bid this week to become the first British Prime Minister in this century to win three consecutive terms. Her governing Tories hurdled the final obstacle to an early poll last week with an unexpectedly strong showing in elections for local councils. Some 27% of Britain's registered voters, or about 12 million people, cast ballots to fill...
Conservative strategists spent the weekend analyzing thick printouts detailing the results from the 369 councils. Thatcher retired to Chequers, her official country residence, where she planned to meet with top political counselors, including Conservative Party Chairman Norman Tebbit, Deputy Prime Minister Viscount Whitelaw and Chief Whip John Wakeham. She reportedly intended to make a final decision early this week. If Thatcher's choice is for a snap election, she will inform her Cabinet, then ask Queen Elizabeth to dissolve Parliament. The favored election date is June...
After trailing Labor in popularity for most of 1986, the Tories have roared back. Thatcher's triumphant Moscow trip, contrasted with Labor Leader Neil Kinnock's failed venture to Washington, gave the government a sharp boost in April. Labor's demand that Britain scrap its nuclear arsenal and ban American nuclear weapons and bases, a stance the U.S. claims would destroy NATO, continues to cut deeply into the party's support. So have fierce intraparty ideological rivalries between moderates and the militant left. The quarreling allowed the Conservatives to jump into a lead of between 10 and 15 points...
Good economic news also boosted Thatcher's fortunes. The unemployment rate, now 11.4%, dropped in April for the eighth straight month. The government expects the May jobless total to fall below 3 million for the first time in four years. British banks dropped interest rates from 9 1/2% to 9%, the lowest in two years. The pound sterling, currently valued at $1.68, is at its strongest since October 1982. And the Confederation of British Industry found business leaders in the "most optimistic mood in years...