Join this channel to get access to get access to the rest of the series right away: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUYK0BJZF3yNb2fw1EdAXUQ/join How did Margaret Thatcher rise to become leader of the Conservative Party in Britain? Why were British politics so tumultuous in the 1970s? And, who was Thatcher up against? Join Dominic and Tom as they launch into the dramas, calamities, and triumphs of Thatcher’s rise to power, in 1970s Britain. Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Social channels: https://www.instagram.com/theresthistory/ https://www.tiktok.com/@theresthistory https://x.com/TheRestHistory https://bsky.app/profile/theresthistory.bsky.social https://www.threads.com/@theresthistory Video Editor: Jack Meek, Adam Thornton & Harry Swan Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Aaliyah Akude & Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Callum Hill Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Head of Digital & Social: Sam Oakley 0:00 Britain in crisis: oil shock, inflation, and the arrival of Margaret Thatcher 3:05 Setting the scene: mid-1970s Britain after empire, decline, and industrial conflict 6:12 The 1974 political and economic meltdown: inflation, strikes, and a sense of national collapse 9:14 Thatcher’s early life in Grantham and the influence of her father 13:02 Methodism, discipline, Oxford, and the making of Thatcher’s character 16:15 Thatcher’s tastes, blind spots, and the limits of her imagination and empathy 20:42 From chemist to barrister to MP: reinvention, marriage, and political ambition 23:08 Thatcher as a woman in Tory politics and her tense relationship with Ted Heath’s world 27:19 Education secretary, “milk snatcher,” and the myth of Thatcher as pure ideologue 31:12 Pragmatist before revolutionary: Thatcher inside Heath’s government 34:30 Ted Heath refuses to go, Keith Joseph collapses, and Thatcher enters the leadership race 37:20 Why Thatcher’s leadership bid looked absurd to almost everyone 41:34 The deeper Tory shift: anti-Heath anger, free markets, and the demand for tougher conservatism 46:04 Housewife politics: how Thatcher packaged economics, image, and ideology 49:44 The first ballot shock: Thatcher defeats Heath 53:06 Willie Whitelaw enters, but Thatcher becomes Tory leader 57:17 Labour’s reaction and Barbara Castle’s recognition of the historic moment 59:29 Why Thatcher really won: class revolt, ideology, populism, and Methodism 1:05:52 Ted Heath’s spectacular sulk and Thatcher’s shaky start as opposition leader