Paul Taggart, Professor of Politics

Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher “was brilliant at winning things, but she wasn’t brilliant at winning people over”, argued University of Sussex political expert Professor Paul Taggart on the morning of Baroness Thatcher’s funeral.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sussex today (Wednesday 17 April), Professor Taggart said: “Margaret Thatcher changed Britain and changed British politics, and we’re still living with the legacy.

“She changed the economy, and she changed the shape of the two main parties. Those are the big impacts you can see.”

He noted the irony that one of the “greatest achievements” of a Conservative politician was the effect that she had on the Labour opposition. “Many would argue that [Tony] Blair’s New Labour was a consequence of Thatcher,” he said. “What she did to Labour during her time was her achievement for the Conservative party.”

But Professor Taggart noted that Margaret Thatcher “left a divided party” and was “kicked out” by her own party. “She changed the Conservative party quite fundamentally,” he said. “She left the Conservatives with a lot of difficulties with succession and the time after her.”

Acknowledging Margaret Thatcher’s divisive legacy since leaving office and in the days since her death on 8 April, Professor Taggart said: “She won elections, and she won battles against the unions, and she won in the Falklands.

“But she defeated people, and often the defeated come back later and are fighting back. Politics is about division, and those divisions still exist. She’s a very symbolic figure that people can use to resurrect those conflicts.”

Asked if a large-scale, ceremonial funeral was appropriate for Margaret Thatcher, Professor Taggart concluded: “She’s the second-most significant peace-time prime minister [after Winston Churchill] we’ve had since the war.”

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