50 years ago today (11/02/2025), Margaret Thatcher won the 1975 Conservative Party leadership election. Her victory made her not only the first female leader of the Conservative Party, but the first female leader of any British political party.
Often remembered as a polarising figure, Thatcher’s rise to power was unexpected. When it became apparent that the leadership of her predecessor, Edward Heath, was no longer succeeding, very few members of the party regarded Thatcher as a serious contender for the position.[1] As a woman born to a modest, middle-class family in Grantham, her class and sex made her an outsider in the male-dominated, largely upper-class Tory party.[2] Many regarded these features of her identity as disadvantages for a potential leader.[3]
When it was announced that Thatcher had beaten Heath by 130 votes to 119 at the first ballot, many party members were surprised. Her success at this ballot, conducted on 4 February 1975, has been widely attributed to “luck and a series of accidents”.[4] In fact, Thatcher’s appearance on the ballot was a consequence of the withdrawal of Sir Keith Joseph from the leadership race, while her success at the vote was greatly bolstered by widespread dissatisfaction with Heath’s leadership.[5] Ultimately, the vast majority of votes for Thatcher at the first ballot came from MPs who wanted to vote against Heath, hoping to cause a second ballot to be called.[6]
As a result of Thatcher’s success, Heath resigned and a second ballot was called. Thanks to her well-organised campaign, managed by Airey Neave, Thatcher was able to maintain momentum between the ballots, giving her a significant upper-hand against the four new candidates, William Whitelaw, Sir Geoffrey Howe, James Prior, and John Peyton.[7] On 11 February 1975, Thatcher received a winning total of 146 votes at the second ballot, making her the first female leader of the Tories.
During her first press conference as party leader, Thatcher was almost immediately met with questions regarding her sex. As one journalist posited, people were “sceptical about the idea of a lady leader”.[8] Sexism and misogyny were widespread at this time, both in the male-dominated Westminster and throughout wider society, and Thatcher had faced this prejudice throughout her political career to date.[9] To this journalist, she light-heartedly responded, “Give me a chance! [laughter]”.[10]
Thatcher’s success 50 years ago today was a historic achievement for women. However, it is important to note that she did not view her accomplishment in this light. Thatcher was decidedly not a feminist. She believed she owed nothing to feminists of the past for her achievements, did little to engage with women’s issues politically, and, with the exception of Baroness Young, did not promote women while Prime Minister.[11]
Much like her long and influential political career, Margaret Thatcher’s legacy as the first female British party leader is complex and divisive.
[1] Mark Wickham-Jones, “Right Turn: A Revisionist Account of the 1975 Conservative Party Leadership Election”, Modern British History 8, no.1 (1997): 74–89, at p. 80.
[2] June Purvis, “What Was Margaret Thatcher’s Legacy For Women?”, Women’s History Review 22, no. 6 (2013): 1014–1018, at p.1015.
[3] Wickham-Jones, “Right Turn”, 74–75.
[4] Ibid., 75.
[5] Ibid., 80.
[6] Ibid., 75.
[7] Ibid., 79, 81–82.
[8] Margaret Thatcher, “Press Conference after winning Conservative leadership (Conservative Central Office)”, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, 11 February 1975, transcript available at https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102487.
[9] Purvis, “What Was Margaret Thatcher’s Legacy For Women?”, 1015.
[10] Thatcher, “Press Conference”, transcript available at https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102487.
[11] Purvis, “What Was Margaret Thatcher’s Legacy For Women?”, 1016. Anneke Ribberink, “‘I don’t think of myself as the first woman Prime Minister”: Gender, Identity and Image in Margaret Thatcher’s Career”, in Making Reputations: Power, Persuasion and the Individual in Modern British Politics, ed. Richard Toye and Julie Gottlieb (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 174–75.