Discuss Whether Margaret Thatcher was a Pragmatist or an Ideologist
After Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in May 1979, the legislation to implement the ‘Right to Buy’ was passed in the Housing Act 1980 which had a huge impact on Britain's housing market. The high discounts made the offer a fantastic bargain for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. It meant that there was some real growth in levels of owner occupation and was considered to be great for individuals. Half of the proceeds of the sales were paid to the local authorities, but they were restricted on spending the money (they were made to reduce their debt until it was cleared, rather than being able to spend it on building more homes). The effect was to reduce the council housing stock, especially in areas where property prices were high such as London and the south-east of England. 200,000 council houses were sold to their tenants in 1982, and by 1987, more than 1,000,000 council houses in Britain had been sold to their tenants, although the number of council houses purchased by tenants declined during the 1990s. The ‘Right to Buy’ can be argued to be both ideological and pragmatic. Firstly, it could be said that the reason that Margaret Thatcher followed through with this plan is because it appeases the traditional conservative ideology; that home owners are more likely to care for the society/the wellbeing of the country, including the responsibility of owning a home, if they have ‘a stake’ it in. Heseltine stated that ‘There is in this country a deeply ingrained desire for home ownership. The Government believe that this spirit should be fostered. It reflects the wishes of the people, ensures the wide spread of wealth through society, encourages a personal desire to improve and modernize one's own home, enables parents to accrue wealth for their children and stimulates the attitudes of independence and self-reliance that are the bedrock of a free society’. This could also lead to increase in people’s public and social awareness. On the other hand, this political move could also be seen as pragmatic as it allowed for critical funds to be raised for the government itself. Also, figures from the Chartered Institute of Housing’s UK housing review, published by Inside Housing, reveal that 1.34 million council homes were sold between 1980 and 1990. Over the same period, overall housing completions dropped from 251,820 in 1979 to 202,500 in 1990. These figures show a significant decrease in housing completions, which would have been due to the decrease in the demand for new homes, therefore, arguably, saving the country more money. These action in turn helped stabilise the economy- a necessary objective during the 1980s.

Furthermore, the recession of the early 1980s created the environment that allowed the Conservatives to drive forward the idea of moving nationalised industries into private ownership. The policy of privatising the UK's large utilities (such as water, gas, oil) revolutionised share ownership in the UK, and as such it was widely popular with many people, though the initiatives also had their critics. During the Thatcher years, more than 50 companies were sold or privatised – including the dozens from the power and water industries – raising more than £50bn for the Exchequer. This could be seen as an obligatory act because the denationalisation of Britain’s utilities was thought to increase the quality and decrease the price of the products due to the competitive nature of business. Also, the money raised could again help stabilise the country’s economy. Therefore, this could be seen as a pragmatic move- doing what needed to be done for the good of the country. Contrastingly, as she explained in her memoirs, Lady Thatcher saw privatisation as “fundamental to improving Britain’s economic performance”, but it also chimed with her political ideology. The privatization of these utilities could be seen as Thatcher’s attempt to create a smaller state which again falls in line with a traditional conservative view on government. This may suggest that this was an ideological decision rather than a pragmatic one.
Well behind in the polls and with the new Social Democratic party challenging both Labour and Conservatives, few believed Thatcher would ever lead her party to another election win. However the battle for the Falklands was a clear military triumph for Thatcher. One key aspect of the conservative ideology is believing in the country and defending the state. This suggests that the decision to fight for the Falklands was based on ideological beliefs. She believed in the defence of what she saw as fundamental British interests. Another view could be that the victory dragged Thatcher's leadership from the brink of collapse. She won global celebrity, in both the United States and the Soviet Union, and 10 points were added to her poll rating. She was at last in the lead over Labour. Soon after her spike in popularity, she called a general election in 1983 with a landslide majority. It could be said that fighting for the Falklands was pragmatic in the sense that it could possibly boost her popularity and therefore increase the chances of another Conservative government with her as the leader. This would be ‘doing what is needed’ for the country in her eyes, giving Great Britain the best chance at survival politically, economically and socially.
Her record shows that translating ideology into practical politics is more often a question of public duty rather than a demand for consistency. It is thought that Margaret Thatcher intertwined pragmatic ideas with ideological views. Because of this there’s even a separate ideology ‘Thatcherism’ which is described as conviction politics of economic and social policy- a style of the British Conservatism. This shows that even though her actions as Prime Minister can been seen in different lights, the lady herself was seen by the public as an ideological leader.