BARONESS Margaret Thatcher was one of the most influential and defining post war Prime Ministers our country has ever seen, according to leading Surrey Conservatives.
The former Conservative Prime Minister, who died following a stroke on Monday aged 87, held the role from 1979 to 1990 and is the first and only woman to do so.
Reigate MP Crispin Blunt, chairman of the East Surrey Conservative Association Colin Thomas, and Richard Ashworth, the Conservative European Member of Parliament for the South East and leader of the Conservative delegation in the European Parliament, said the former PM had left a legacy as "the greatest peacetime Prime Minister" the country has ever witnessed.
"It's extremely sad for her family but also marks the end of an era," said Mr Blunt. "What she will be remembered for is nothing less than the regeneration of Britain. In 1979 she took over a country which was about the management of decline and she refused to accept that. She put it back in a place that was growing in influence in the world, an economy that was put back on a road to recovery and recovering in confidence."
The Reigate MP pointed to the late 70s as a time when the country was essentially being run by the unions and was unmanageable by the ruling Labour party. He said Mrs Thatcher's confrontations with the unions, culminating in the 1984/85 miners' strike, was one of the great confrontations to mark her premiership and more defining that the Falklands conflict.
He also pointed to her determination to lead in the face of opposition as her most defining characteristic.
He said: "That's the most striking thing, and the thing that comes back time and time again is that she didn't package things so they looked good."
"She led on her beliefs," he added. "If you're anxious about the story and not what you're going to do you'll find you won't be as successful as Margaret Thatcher.
"It's a sad day and she was by any standards a great, great, Prime Minister."
Paying tribute to Mrs Thatcher – commonly referred to as The Iron Lady – Mr Ashworth said: "Margaret Thatcher was an inspirational leader who transformed the United Kingdom from a country at the behest of the trade unions, into a modern highly skilled competitive economy. We owe a great deal to Baroness Thatcher for her leadership and bravery and her legacy can be seen today all over this nation. She was a great patriot, may God rest her soul."
Mr Thomas said: "She was definitely one of the defining post war PMs for sure. She had a view and she wasn't for turning, she wasn't dissuaded from doing what she thought was necessary. I think we could do with a few more people with her vision. Too many MPs think about the next headline rather than years down the line."
East Surrey MP Sam Gyimah said: "Baroness Thatcher was in a class of her own. She will be remembered around the world for her role in transforming the face of Britain and restoring confidence on the international stage."
