ABSTRACT
The election result in 1983 was above all a triumph for the Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher was in a very different position from 1979 when she formed her new Cabinet. There was some prospect of Labour recovery from the debacle of 1983, but scarcely of victory. In fact, she went on until November 1990 when the Conservative parliamentary party deposed her as leader. The dissatisfaction which her attitude towards the European Community had caused in some sections of the party will be noted subsequently but in itself that would not have been a sufficient reason for her defeat. Yet, within a year, the plummeting personal stature of the Prime Minister, the protracted delay in the economic recovery and the virulence of the party's debates over Europe suggested that the Conservatives had still to find an ideological equilibrium 'after Thatcher' which would, with certainty, carry that ascendancy into a fifth successive term of office.
