The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas government has extended its condolences in the death of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Baroness Margaret Thatcher – known to many as “The Iron Lady.”

In a statement released yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell reminisced on Lady Thatcher’s 1985 visit to the Bahamas and praised her role in securing the freedom of Nelson Mandela during South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Opposition leader Dr Hubert Minnis also noted her Bahamas visit and spoke of his “great admiration” for her political career.

The UK’s longest serving prime minister of the 20th century, Lady Thatcher “died peacefully” yesterday morning aged 87 in London’s Ritz Hotel following a stroke, according to a statement released by the family.

Lady Thatcher also has the distinction of being the first and only woman to have held the post of prime minister in Great Britain. She held the office from 1979 and 1990.

“The Bahamas government extends condolences on the passing of Dame Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Our country joins the world communion in our expressions. She is remembered for her visit to The Bahamas during the Heads of Government conference for the Commonwealth that was held here in Nassau in 1985.

“In a landmark shift, she agreed to change her country’s position with regard to the relationship with the apartheid regime in South Africa and to sign on to the Nassau Accords which led to the freedom of Nelson Mandela. This truly marks the end of an era.”

Dr Minnis said: “It was with a great sense of sadness that I learned of the death of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain. A former Leader of the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher holds the impressive distinction of serving as Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.

“In her 11 years as prime minister, Mrs Thatcher became well known in all the great capitals around the globe as a leader with a sense of purpose. As PM, she was determined to re-establish her nation’s power, prestige and influence in the world. By the time she left office there was no question that she had achieved her mission. My contemporaries and I watched her with great admiration.”

Her presence at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Nassau in 1985 “brought renewed focus and determination” to many important issues facing the Commonwealth at the time, Dr Minnis said.

As prime minister, Lady Thatcher was a “relentless reformer” who came to office at a time when the UK’s economic and social infrastructures were “in need of reform,” he continued.

“Indeed, by the time she left office, Britain had been transformed. Her contributions to her nation and the example she set for leaders around the world will long be remembered.”

On October 17, 1985, it was reported in The Tribune that Lady Thatcher was delighted to have arrived in Nassau.

“I am delighted to be visiting the Bahamas for the first time to attend what will be my fourth Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting,” she had said. “The people of the Bahamas must feel very proud to host this important gathering of getting on for 50 countries who make up our modern Commonwealth.

“I am looking forward to a constructive meeting which, under your Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling, addresses a wide range of issues frankly and openly and tries to advance the interest of all our people.”

During another visit in 1999, Lady Thatcher met with a number of prominent Bahamians, including former British High Commissioner Peter Young, Olympic gold medallist Sir Durward Knowles,Tribune publisher Eileen Carron, and former Governor General Sir Clifford Darling.

Mr Young, who served in the British Foreign Office after the Falklands conflict, had said: “History is going to say Margaret Thatcher is the ‘Woman of the Century.’”

The former UK prime minister had also visited the Freeport Container Port in Grand Bahama.

Lady Thatcher won her first political seat in 1959 when she was elected as a Member of Parliament for Finchley and by 1961, she became a Parliamentary Under-secretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. She also held the post of Secretary of State for Education and Science in 1970.

Less than a decade later, in 1979, she became prime minister – leading the country for 11 years during a tumultuous economic time in the UK. Her leadership was one of controversy but during her tenure, she established herself as a renowned figure in British politics.

Among her achievements, Lady Thatcher pushed for a free-market economic system, led her country against Argentina to regain control of the Falkland Islands, and supported the end of the Cold War.

She left her post as leader of her party in 1991, following internal discontent and struggles over leadership.

Lady Thatcher will receive a ceremonial funeral with military honours in keeping with the wishes of her family, a Downing Street statement said. The service will be held next week in a televised service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Lady Thatcher was born Margaret Roberts in 1925 in Grantham, England. She attended Somerville College, Oxford – studying chemistry – and later qualified as a barrister-at-law in 1953.

She had married Denis Thatcher in 1951 and they remained together until his death in 2003. Twins, Mark and Carol, were born to the couple in 1953.