I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Lady Thatcher.

I was studying my ‘A’level in politics when Margret Thatcher came to power at the 1979 General Election. Little did I know when I was putting together my report of that General Election that the politician who had just become Britain’s first woman Prime Minister would go on to win two more General Elections, In doing so she became the longest serving Prime Minister of the twentieth century. The whole decade of the 1980’s belonged to Thatcherism. It was a decade when I was taking my first steps in politics and regularly losing local election contests in the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire. The Country was transformed and I believe it was transformed for the better.

Her political legacy will continue to be debated for generations to come. My view is that she was a great Party Leader and a great Prime Minister. I was privileged to have been able to meet her on several occasions and indeed Lady Thatcher visited the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency when I was contesting it at the 2001 General Election.