Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990, during which time she led a Conservative majority government.

It enabled Margaret Thatcher to become the longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, as Britain's economic recovery continued.

Geoffrey Howe, the Deputy Prime Minister, long resentful of being ousted as Foreign Secretary, resigned from the cabinet over its European policy.

Soon afterward, in his resignation speech in the House of Commons, he publicly denounced Thatcher, having once been one of her closest allies, personally and for her hostility towards the programmes of the European Community.

Her successor was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Major, who was elected on 27 November 1990, and who at 47 became the youngest Conservative Prime Minister of the 20th century.