TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/120390/1203000.000

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                                                                                WORLD, Page 60

COVER STORIES

"It Is Time to Go"


Facing a Tory revolt, Thatcher steps aside. Now her successor
must attempt to match her considerable influence at home and
abroad.

By FREDERICK PAINTON -- Reported by William Mader/London


    "She's reached the point where everyone else is wrong and
she's right. None of us want it, but there comes a point when
simply we have to say, `Enough.'"

    -- William Powell, Tory M.P.

    "Once again Britain stands tall in the councils of Europe
and of the world. Over the last decade, we have given power back
to the people on an unprecedented scale."

    -- Margaret Thatcher


    History keeps its own peculiar rhythms, sometimes rewarding
the lowly and punishing the mighty with a brutal speed that
leaves spectators gasping. Once imprisoned playwrights suddenly
become Presidents (witness Vaclav Havel); dictators suddenly
become jailed pariahs (witness Erich Honecker, among others).
And sometimes history conspires to undo a leader who had so
completely embodied the spirit of the times that she seemed
destined to govern forever.

    In one of those harsh accelerations that have transformed
Europe over the past 12 months, Margaret Thatcher stumbled --
and then was pushed from power by her own ruling Conservative
Party leadership last week. What had still seemed a distant
possibility suddenly telescoped into a historic event that
caught even Thatcher by surprise. In telling her stunned Cabinet
colleagues Thursday morning of her decision to resign as Prime
Minister, Thatcher said with a touch of bitterness, "It is
rather a funny old world that it has to come to this, when I had
won three elections for the Conservative Party and still have
the majority of the party's support . . ."

    Even the funny old world's leaders were taken aback at the
spectacle of a head of government being challenged, then brought
down by her own party. When she arrived in Paris for the summit
on European security on Sunday, Thatcher was a virtual
institution, the doyenne of chiefs of state and the
longest-serving British Prime Minister in more than 160 years.
There were rumblings of discontent within the ruling
Conservative Party, but she was confident she could keep them
muffled. Within three days, however, Thatcher rushed back to
London bearing fatal political wounds inflicted in her absence
by her party.

    Furtive rebellion was in the air. Led by former Defense
Minister Michael Heseltine, the anti-Thatcher movement was based
less on sharp policy differences than on the growing conviction
that the Prime Minister's continued leadership seemed certain
to lose the Tories the next general election, which must be held
before mid-1992. Opinion polls, giving Labour a 14-point lead,
showed that Heseltine would do better than Thatcher as Tory
standard bearer. Accordingly, in a first-round vote by the 372
Conservative Members of Parliament, Heseltine won 152 to
Thatcher's 204; under the complicated leadership formula, that
was just enough, with 16 abstentions, to force a second ballot
and encourage opposition to the Prime Minister.

    For the first time since she wrested the party leadership
from Edward Heath 15 years ago, Thatcher was shown to be
vulnerable. In Paris she had celebrated the end of the cold war
and the start of "a new era of Europe." Returning to London, the
Prime Minister was determined that her own era, in its 12th
year, would not end quite so soon. She was not ready to write
her memoirs, Thatcher said, vowing to "fight on. I fight to
win." But this time the Prime Minister found her troops
deserting all around her. In the end, Thatcher, who had once
quipped to fainthearted Tories, "You can turn, if you wish. The
lady is not for turning," had no choice but to make her last
U-turn for the sake of party unity.

    Meeting with her Cabinet ministers on the eve of her
announcement, Thatcher found that 12 out of the total of 21
members of her government felt she had no chance of winning the
second round against Heseltine. Even M.P.s who had voted for her
the first time wanted to abandon her cause. To test the waters
herself, Thatcher ventured into the Commons tearoom, a cavernous
oak-paneled chamber. Settling comfortably into an armchair, she
exhorted the Tory M.P.s who gathered around her to keep her in
office. It was an extraordinary moment: rarely do Cabinet
ministers, let alone Prime Ministers, mingle in the tearoom.

    Two of her ministers actually threatened to resign unless
Thatcher stepped down. Only three swore total loyalty. David
Howell, Tory chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee
and a key Heseltine supporter, talked of an "avalanche sliding
away from the fantastic Thatcher achievements of the '80s and on
to a new presentation and a new assertion of the direction we
already are going in. You can't stop an avalanche halfway."

    The Prime Minister came to the same conclusion by relying on
one of her favorite axioms: "You act on what your mind tells
you, not what your heart tells you." Late Wednesday night
Thatcher discussed her plight with Denis, her husband of 39
years, in their second-floor apartment at 10 Downing Street. His
succinct advice: "Margaret, it is time to go."

    At 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Thatcher broke the news to Energy
Minister John Wakeham, who had served exactly one day as her
campaign manager. (Thatcher had angrily dismissed his
predecessor, who had assured her she would prevail handily in
the first round.) At 8:45 she notified the Queen of her decision
by telephone. Then, 15 minutes later, she entered the Cabinet
room and informed the rest of her colleagues. In light of the
back-room battles that shook the Conservative Party and the
hypocritical talk about loyalty and harmony, Thatcher's written
statement was a model of clarity: "Having consulted widely among
colleagues, I have concluded that the unity of the party and the
prospect of victory in a general election would be better served
if I stood down to enable Cabinet colleagues to enter the ballot
for leadership."

    Though the Cabinet session was devoted almost entirely to
testimonials to Thatcher, the group did conduct a piece of
business: agreeing to double the British force in the gulf by
sending 14,000 more troops there, including another armored
brigade. In one of her last acts as Prime Minister, Thatcher
showed Britain to be Washington's staunchest ally, with the
second largest force deployed against Saddam Hussein.

    Once her mind was made up, Thatcher had to act quickly to
block the snowballing bid for leadership by Heseltine. She
dislikes the ambitious, 57-year-old self-made millionaire as
much for his views (she considers some of them dangerously
socialistic, particularly his willingness to intervene in
industrial policy) as for his flamboyant public personality. For
her successor, Thatcher preferred one of two Cabinet ministers:
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major, 47, or Foreign Secretary
Douglas Hurd, 60, both of whom, out of loyalty, could not
declare themselves as candidates until the Prime Minister
retired from the contest. She pulled out just in time for the
two ministers to beat the deadline of noon Thursday for entering
the election. In a three-way race, Thatcher counted on the
contest going to a third round of voting, thereby making it more
difficult for Heseltine, the early front runner, to sweep to
victory.

    That afternoon Thatcher gave one more bravura performance --
perhaps her last -- in rallying the numbed Tories against a
motion of no confidence proposed by Labour leader Neil Kinnock,
who had felt obliged to respond to the spectacular disarray in
the Conservative camp. In an emotion-charged atmosphere, the
Prime Minister lit into Kinnock with such freewheeling
enthusiasm that she brought Tory M.P.s to their feet cheering;
others had tears in their eyes.

    As she spoke eloquently about the evils of socialism and
the European Community's ambitions, Thatcher drew laughter when
she said, "I'm enjoying this." Said Ann Widdecombe, a Tory
M.P., who reflected the remorse many in her party felt: "The
rest of the world will think we are mad, as indeed we are," to
have forced Thatcher out of office. Jack Straw, a Labour M.P.,
found it "wonderful to be rid of that awful woman." Liberal
M.P. Menzies Campbell called her decision "brave but
inevitable." Even Kinnock offered a grudging bit of praise,
saying her departure showed "she amounts to more than those who
have turned upon her in recent days."

    Even on such a historic day, the session had its
characteristic verbal swordplay. Labour M.P. Greville Janner
stood and thanked Thatcher for "many personal kindnesses." Then,
voice rising, he ticked off a list of miseries and inquired if
she was aware that she was leaving the country "in such a
shambles." Murmurs of approval from the Labour benches. Thatcher
quickly stood up and tartly replied to the Right Honourable
Janner, "He can speak to any brief, and I don't believe he
believes a word of it." Roars of delight from the Tory side.

    Praise and assessments of Thatcher poured in from all over
the world, along with bouquets of flowers from Britons touched
by her leave taking. President Bush, who had last seen her in
Paris, praised her for being a "staunch friend and ally."
Continued Bush: "She's a woman of principle. She stood for what
she believed . . . I'll miss her."

    Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov cited
the "personal chemistry" she enjoyed with Mikhail Gorbachev and
lauded her for helping to end the cold war. "She was the first
[in the West] to  recognize Gorbachev as a world leader, the
first to say she could do business with him, and that gave him
the ammunition to approach others like Reagan and convince them
he was a man to be trusted." Newspapers in Eastern Europe
lamented Thatcher because of her unwavering stand against
communism and her insistence on human rights. From Britain's
partners in the 12-nation European Community, tributes were
almost invariably accompanied by the comment that Thatcher had
needlessly obstructed the movement toward greater European
political union.

    Still, at E.C. headquarters in Brussels, where Thatcher was
reviled, resented, even hated by many Eurocrats, she will be
missed for two reasons. First, as one senior Commission civil
servant put it, "Margaret Thatcher was the good enemy," meaning
that tirades brought the E.C. public attention and gave it
importance. Her opposition to European integration put it on the
front pages. Second, Thatcher served as an alibi for other
member governments that did not dare openly question E.C.
President Jacques Delors's pressure for a quick-step march
toward a supranational European government.

    Behind Thatcher's full skirts hid skeptics on issues
ranging from the abolition of all border controls, to a single
currency by 1994, to free immigration within the European
Community. "It was easy for certain countries to sit back and
let her do the talking," said a senior E.C. diplomat. "She would
take the political risks in saying what some others also
thought." West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, for example, may
have to come out in the open in slowing down the movement toward
a common E.C. currency, a goal heatedly opposed by Thatcher and
Kohl's own Bundesbank. A new, more European-minded British
Prime Minister might also complicate Franco-German relations by
simply joining in the subtle games of balance of power within
a European Community still adjusting to the enhanced status of a
united Germany.

    Few doubted that with Thatcher gone, her successor among
the three candidates would improve relations with Britain's
European partners, even if basic Thatcherite reservations about
giving up national sovereignty remained. But first, the party
had to unite behind a new leader. "We must heal the wound
quickly," said Alan Clark, junior Minister of Defense and a
Thatcher supporter. Echoed Timothy Raison, a Tory M.P. and Hurd
backer: "We simply must put all this rancor behind us and
unite." A Thatcher admirer to the last, Hurd nevertheless called
for an end to her confrontational style of politics. "We must
practice persuasion rather than assertion," he said.

    That may be harder than it seems. The ideological right
wing seethed with rage at what it saw as Heseltine's betrayal
in contesting Thatcher for the leadership. In an editorial, the
London Times said the challenge was "monstrous cruel,"
exemplifying "squalid maneuvering by an introverted male
establishment terrified it might lose office." Still, the voice
of that same British establishment went on in its editorial to
fault Thatcher for complacency. She was blamed for failing to
defuse the threat to her position that had begun 10 days earlier
with the devastating resignation speech in the House of Commons
by Sir Geoffrey Howe, former Deputy Prime Minister.

    Howe launched Thatcher's downfall. He attacked the Prime
Minister's public undermining of her ministers' policies,
comparing it to sending out batsmen in a cricket game with their
bats broken by the captain. He said Thatcher saw a continent
"positively teeming with ill-intentioned people scheming, in her
words, `to extinguish democracy.'"

    Howe closed by saying the tragedy for him, his party and
the country was that Thatcher's attitude toward Europe was
risking the "future of our nation." In resigning, he invited
"others to consider their response" to his "conflict of
loyalty." It was an invitation to insurrection. No one doubted
that if Howe had not made that speech, Heseltine would not have
dared a leadership challenge. On Saturday Howe threw his support
behind Heseltine.

    For all the hand wringing among the Tories about Thatcher's
departure, most were looking forward to a smooth transition to
the next government. One by one, the issues that exploded under
Thatcher were expected to be defused, starting with her grating
style of leadership. From now on, the contenders pledged,
collegial government would be the rule. Heseltine has announced
that he would be ready to serve under either Hurd or Major if he
loses the leadership race. Hurd and Major also seem willing to
become players on somebody else's team.

    All three agree on how to deal with the European Community.
Said Major, echoing the views of the others: "I don't have a
shred of doubt that we could negotiate an agreement [over
economic and political union] with our European partners that
would be perfectly acceptable to Britain." In that respect,
Major admitted he was differing from Thatcher.

    As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Major has a solid
reputation in economic affairs, but his youth and relative
inexperience in the Cabinet are held against him. Hurd, on the
other hand, is regarded as experienced, wise and with the
necessary "bottom," a Tory expression for depth of character.
His drawbacks: a lack of expertise in economic affairs and any
talents for arousing voters in an election campaign. Hurd and
Major are friends with great mutual respect; they are also a bit
like Tweedledee and Tweedledum to many Britons. Heseltine is
different, controversial, and he has one great advantage: he can
fire up a crowd.

    For Thatcher and the Tories who must govern without her,
the downturn in the British economy is seen as a serious threat
in the general election. It is expected that the Tories will
call the election as late as possible, which could mean the
spring of 1992. But the inflation rate, now running at 10.9%,
is slackening, and the pound, linked to the E.C.'s Exchange
Rate Mechanism, is strong. The next Prime Minister may be able
to lower interest rates and even spend more money in the social
areas Thatcher was accused of neglecting so badly -- education
and health services.

    Above all, Britons can expect some relief from the hated
poll tax, a local levy instituted by Thatcher to replace the
property tax. It is a flat tax on everyone in a local community,
regardless of each person's income; the amount is decided by the
local community, based on its financial needs. Thatcher
fervently believed the old tax should be dumped because it
affected only property owners, but the new assessment exacted
the same amount from rich and poor alike. Nothing except perhaps
Thatcher's personality provoked so much anti-Conservative
sentiment among voters. The poor were as angry as the
middle-class homeowners who found poll-tax bills several times
higher than the previous property taxes. In various ways, the
candidates made clear they were ready to make necessary changes.
Foreign investment may grow even faster, encouraged by the
prospect that with a new Conservative government joining the
movement toward a united Europe, Britain would benefit more from
the worldwide recovery predicted in 1992.

    A day after Thatcher announced she was stepping down,
public attention was already focusing on the government to come.
Even as Britons mourned or celebrated the end of her reign,
Thatcher was making plans to move out of 10 Downing Street and
into a five-bedroom Georgian-style house in the leafy south
London suburb of Dulwich. She will continue to represent her
constituency of Finchley, in northwest London, and will
undoubtedly continue to berate the opposition in the House of
Commons, albeit from the back benches. That politics is a cruel
business, Thatcher understood. She neither gave nor expected
quarter. As Neville Cole, a London accountant, put it, "It will
be strange to say Mrs. Thatcher and not mean the Prime
Minister." Now everyone must get used to it, and a good number
may come to rue it.


____________________________________________________________
MAGGIE'S LONG RUN


    Feb. 11, 1975. Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for
leadership of the Conservative Party.

    May 3, 1979. Conservatives win a solid majority; Thatcher
becomes Britain's first female Prime Minister.

    April 18, 1980. Zimbabwe celebrates its independence.

    Feb. 5, 1981. Government offers shares in British
Aerospace, the first step in a massive privatization program.

    April 2, 1982. Argentine troops invade the Falkland
Islands; Thatcher sends a naval task force to reclaim them.

    June 9, 1983. Re-elected Prime Minister with a landslide
majority.

    Oct. 12, 1984. Escapes assassination attempt by I.R.A., but
five are killed in bombing.

    Dec. 17, 1984. Meets with Gorby and says, "We can do
business together."

    March 3, 1985. Britain's long coal strike ends when
mineworkers return to work without a settlement.

    Jan. 9, 1986. Michael Heseltine resigns from Cabinet.

    Feb. 12, 1986. Channel Tunnel agreement signed.

    June 11, 1987. National election makes her the only Prime
Minister in 160 years to win three consecutive elections.

   June 27, 1989. At E.C. summit some concessions are made, but
she still opposes European monetary union.

    Oct. 26, 1989. Following dispute over European monetary
policy, Nigel Lawson resigns from Cabinet.

    March 31, 1990. Protests against poll tax turn into a
violent riot.

    Nov. 20, 1990. In Conservative leadership election,
Heseltine forces Thatcher into second-round ballot.

    Nov. 22, 1990. Thatcher resigns.