People Like Us: Margaret Thatcher and Me

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Caroline thinks Theresa May shares a number of qualities with our previous female Prime Minister: “Being prepared to be unpopular, and determined against all odds to drive things through; personally courageous, and stepping up to what some people are calling a poisoned chalice… women taking on a difficult job men largely won’t do.” This biographical article is written like a résumé. Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic. ( July 2022) Cronyism and Corruption Byline Times uncovers the nepotism that greases the wheels of British politics. She has been been Chair, Chief Executive, Trustee and Non-Executive Director of many public and third sector bodies and an advisor to enterprises, the corporate sector and community businesses. I have been named by Cranfield University as one of the ‘100 Women to Watch’ in relation to the Boards of the FTSE100 One of my mother’s brothers had been a racing driver with his own team of Jowett Jupiter sports cars – Alf Thomas. He was famous for finishing a race even after he had been hit on the head by the bonnet that had flown off the car in front of him.

The Better Way is a network of people working together to improve services, build strong communities and bring about a fairer society. Caroline has over thirty years experience, including working at the highest levels in Government and the wider public and voluntary sectors. One said the video monitoring was “utterly unacceptable” while a second said malicious people had bugged the health secretary’s office and were snooping on him. But this is being eroded. Over the last decade, there has been a quiet reduction in social infrastructure assets either from closure, sales or poor maintenance – playing fields and play areas, children centres and youth services, libraries and arts facilities have all been affected to name but a few. As well as a loss of assets, our collective sense of the value of commonly owned social infrastructure has reduced and public support for the welfare state has declined.Mrs Thatcher’s class and her gender were both fundamental to what made her special. Even those who are not political supporters, like me, will no doubt admit to a sneaking admiration for her courage, conviction and determination. We see the Queen doing just that in this series, and if viewers feel the same, then The Crown has done its job well. Identity, Empire and the Culture War Byline Times explores the weaponisation of Britain’s past as a key tool in a dark project of division and distraction Finally, social infrastructure is strengthened by working collaboratively and right across sectors. Caroline cites as evidence the hate mail and messages sent to many females in politics; “and people like Caroline Criado-Perez, who wanted a woman on a new British banknote, got rape and death threats. With Hillary Clinton, there were T-shirts of her as Medusa, with her severed head being held by Trump (as Perseus). So there is still misogyny around”. In the wider public service and voluntary sector, she was the Chief Executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission between 2002 and 2007, a statutory body which promoted equal opportunities between men and women; and then moved on to become Chief Executive of Refugee and Migrant Justice, a not for profit organisation providing legal advice to asylum seekers, between 2007 and 2010.

I think – I’m just guessing – she saw in me someone who had a similar belief in change.” Caroline had worked on a project trying to make the civil service more businesslike. Last month, the UN Commission on Human Rights said that the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill, now part of UK law, breaks international law. And in June, the Government introduced regulations – which cannot be amended by Parliament and receive limited scrutiny – that overturned a Lords Amendment to primary legislation to change the threshold for restrictions on protests from ‘serious disruption’ to ‘more than minor’. And so it goes on. I love the variety: the marshes, the forest, the sea. They’re all on the doorstep. The villages are so unspoilt. We like the pubs; the places to eat; the walks. It seemed Margaret Thatcher had, whether formally or through the vibes she gave off, created a bar on the promotion of women. As Caroline says, “the word had gone out, at least for a period, that she would not work with a woman”. Lynne has served on many Government bodies including the Office of Civil Society Advisory Board and several Better Regulation Taskforces, most recently to reduce burdens on charities and social enterprise.Also, the whole term ‘feminism’ is very problematic for conservative women, and not even just for conservative women. (Actress) Meryl Streep, who played Margaret Thatcher and is known to be outspoken on gender-equality issues, has said she doesn’t see herself as a feminist. We talk about poverty and income inequalities but some places are very much richer in social infrastructure than others and this also makes a real difference to personal health and well-being, equality and opportunity. A remarkable political and personal memoir, People Like Us charts the dying days of Thatcher’s No. 10 and reflects on women and power, then and now. It came to a head in 1990, when Mrs Thatcher withdrew from a Conservative Party leadership challenge despite winning the initial ballot. Caroline had a ringside seat that November. She was the only other woman in the Cabinet room when the Prime Minister revealed she was quitting.