CONSERVATIVE councillors in Hammersmith and Fulham have paid tribute to former prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who died today aged 87.
Greg Smith, deputy council leader, told the Chronicle: "She was an incredible inspiration and I tweeted to say she was our greatest prime minister and our greatest leader. She took over the country at a time when Britain was literally on its knees and left at a considerably more prosperous time.
"And she did many things that still today enable us in Hammersmith and Fulham to change people’s lives, the most prominent being the right to buy scheme.”
The union flag was flown at half mast at the Hammersmith Town Hall in memory of Britain’s first and only female prime minister.
But Lady Thatcher’s death has stirred more than tributes, with many people taking to Twitter and Facebook with derogatory comments of ‘The Iron Lady’.
In response, Mr Smith said: "The reality is an 87-year-old woman who gave the majority of her live to serving this country has passed away. No matter how much people disagreed with her politics, if they want to react with vitriol and in some cases celebrating her death, that says more about them than it does about Margaret Thatcher. At the end of the day she was our first woman prime minister and was elected at three general elections. She changed the face of politics for female politicians; she proved it wasn’t a man’s game."
Borough housing boss Andrew Johnson tweeted: “Terribly sad news about the passing away of the great Lady Margaret Thatcher. What a lady and a legacy. She truly made Britain great again.”
Councillor Peter Graham called her the ‘greatest peace time Prime Minister of the 20th Century’.
Lady Thatcher died from a stroke on Monday morning. She was elected in three general elections from 1979 and stepped down in 1990 when she received the Freedom of the City of Westminster.
* What are your memories of Margaret Thatcher? Did she have an impact on your life in the borough? Email poppybradbury@trinitysouth.co.uk.
