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Margaret Thatcher: Tributes from Wales to former PM | Margaret Thatcher: Tributes from Wales to former PM |
(35 minutes later) | |
Tributes from Wales have been paid to former Conservative Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher, who has died aged 87 following a stroke. | |
Welsh Secretary David Jones said the prime minister of 11 years was "the greatest Briton of the post-war era". | |
Flags flew at half mast over the Wales Office and at the Welsh assembly. | |
Political opponents also paid tribute, with Welsh Labour First Minister Carwyn Jones saying she "was a major force in British political life". | |
Welsh Secretary Mr Jones, the Tory MP for Clwyd West, gave his reaction to the news on Twitter. | |
He wrote: "Margaret Thatcher was the greatest Briton of the post-war era. Her contribution to our national life is immeasurable. RIP." | He wrote: "Margaret Thatcher was the greatest Briton of the post-war era. Her contribution to our national life is immeasurable. RIP." |
First Minister Mr Jones said: "Margaret Thatcher was a major force in British political life who undoubtedly had a significant influence on the political, social and economic landscape in Wales and the UK. | First Minister Mr Jones said: "Margaret Thatcher was a major force in British political life who undoubtedly had a significant influence on the political, social and economic landscape in Wales and the UK. |
"There's no doubt about her personal achievement as the first woman to become British Prime Minister. | "There's no doubt about her personal achievement as the first woman to become British Prime Minister. |
"Her place in the history books is assured." | "Her place in the history books is assured." |
Andrew RT Davies, the leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh assembly, said: "Baroness Thatcher put the Great back into Great Britain. | |
"She was one of a kind amongst politicians - a truly great leader and a magnificent prime minister." | |
Former first minister Rhodri Morgan said she was a "Marmite" politician who divided opinions. | |
"The way the Marmite was spread in Wales, you will find more people who think her time as prime minister was very destructive," he said. | |
Under her leadership the Conservatives won 14 seats at the 1983 general election. | |
However, for many her time in office will be associated with the clashes of the miners' strike the following year. | |
Former Labour MP Kim Howells, a research officer for the National Union of Mineworkers during strike, said she was "a pretty remarkable woman". | |
"She was extremely divisive, but she changed the country," he said. | |
"It was really the very first dent in the post-war consensus. But she could have handled it in a less divisive way. It is difficult to imagine anyone else taking on the Falklands as she did." | |
Fellow Welsh Tory MP Alun Cairns said: "Margaret Thatcher empowered people to buy their own homes, to gain greater rewards for hard work and made state industries realise that they couldn't survive on subsidies from the taxpayer. | |
Monmouth MP David Davies said he would "always remain proud to call myself a Thatcherite" and that governments of the right and left emulated her economic reforms. | |
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said: "Margaret Thatcher dominated the political landscape for over 20 years, an achievement in itself regardless of one's position on her politics and the effects of which are still felt today." |