Former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Has Died at 87

Former British Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister between 1979 and 1990, died this morning following a stroke, according to Lord Bell, her spokesman.
As Britain's first female premier, she was renowned for her political dominance in the 1980s, which saw a rolling back of the state and an emphasis on the free market.  This broke the post-war pro-state consensus that dominated Britain for nearly three decades.

"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," Lord Bell said.

Current Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron said, ""It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher's death. We've lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton."

London Mayor Boris Johnson echoed Cameron's statement: "Very sad to hear of death of Baroness Thatcher. Her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today's politics."

Buckingham Palace said the Queen was sad to hear the news of Baroness Thatcher's death and that she would send a private message of sympathy to the family.

Thatcher's impact had a significant effect on British politics: many credit her electoral success with pushing Tony Blair into creating "New Labour," and just recently, the current British Finance Minister George Osborne's budget was labelled by some as a "Thatcherite" piece of work.