ABSTRACT
Such unity as the period from 1975 to the early 1990s possesses derives, politically, from the impact made by Margaret Thatcher. Unity was indeed one of the themes she stressed. Both domestically and externally she believed she pursued the ‘national interest’ without reservation and could point to her three successive victories as evidence that she had identified it correctly. She upheld the unity of the state in the face of those who sought to undermine it. Yet, throughout these years, there was a paradox, if not a contradiction. It has already been noted that her governments never had the support of a majority of voters, though the Conservatives could validly claim that they enlisted consistently more support than any other party. Whereas in the 1950s, Conservative and Labour had the support of more than 90 per cent of those who voted, by the 1970s their combined support was only more than 70 per cent(293).
