Can it be only eight years since Thatcher left 10 Downing Street? Since the tears were shed and the net curtains twitched? Historians of the Thatcher era in British politics are undoubtedly helped by the fact that it ended with both a bang and a whimper. The bang meant the precipitous termination of three notable political careers by 1990: that of Thatcher herself after the 20th century's longest premiership; that of Geoffrey Howe, her lieutenant as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1979-83, during the period of the so-called 'Thatcher experiment'; and that of Nigel Lawson, who succeeded him at the Treasury from 1983-89, during the period of the so-called 'economic miracle'.

LRB 10 December 1998 | PDF Download