Few modern politicians have been as controversial or as divisive as Margaret Thatcher. The highly ambitious daughter of a grocer ended up in charge of Great Britain from 1979 to 1990 and became a worldwide phenomenon. She was the first female leader of the western world.Her premiership was a time of turbulent change. She transformed the economy by selling off public institutions and curbing inflation. She battled and defeated the trade union movement and brought low the seemingly invincible National Union of Mineworkers. She took the nation to war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands and won, more than living up to her nickname as 'The Iron Lady'. She became an international stateswoman and strode the world stage, playing a vital role in relations between America and the USSR at a most critical time.Despite all this she was forced out not by a public vote but by members of her very own party a betrayal she has never quite recovered from. Her fall was sudden and unexpected but her legacy still endures.She is the only Prime Minister to become an 'ism' and she has heavily influenced Tony Blair's New Labour and David Cameron's Conservatives. Mrs Thatcher's shadow still looms large over the country with Meryl Streep recently winning an Oscar for playing her in the film The Iron Lady. Love her or hate her, what is clear is that we'll never forget her. She has indelibly become an integral part of British history, culture and society.