ABSTRACT
During her long prime ministership, Margaret Thatcher’s political demise was frequently prophesied, and, by her many critics, eagerly awaited. It was widely felt that she could not survive the desperate economic depression of 1980-1, for which her government’s economic management was directly responsible. Many in her own party hoped that she would not. Her recovery after the Falklands campaign and her substantial election victory in 1983 silenced Tory doubters for a while. However, it is reasonable to date the background to her eventual fall to 1986, the year of the Westland Affair and the resignation of Michael Heseltine.
