On this day in 1979 Margaret Thatcher walked into Downing St as Prime Minister. With so much coverage of this anniversary we thought we might try to collate it – allowing you to get full coverage.

Decision 79 on BBC Parliament – watch it here

David Cameron has written a letter to Baroness Thatcher:

I wanted to write and send my best wishes on this, the 30th anniversary of the great day when you first walked into Downing Street as our Prime Minister.

I still find it awe inspiring to think of the state of the nation you inherited and the immense achievements of your governments. Getting the country to live within it means, bringing the trade unions within the law, rolling back the tide of state ownership, standing steadfast with our allies in the Cold War… but above all giving the British people back their pride and self-belief. The whole country owes you a huge debt.

It is with huge trepidation that I attempt, 30 years on, to get rid of an exhausted Labour Government and start the process of mending the national finances and tackling some deep and entrenched problems that we face. If we are elected as the next Government, I know that it will be extremely difficult work – but in your life and your work you have given all of us an example of real courage to follow.

Comment pieces in the papers:

Telegraph Leader – Margaret Thatcher: A singular lady

Boris Johnson – Blond on blonde: Mrs T’s unassailable legacy 

Alan Cochrane – Scotland needed Margaret Thatcher as much as the rest of Britain

Bruce Anderson – Cometh the hour, cometh the woman 

Maurice Saatchi – Lady Thatcher would despise today’s vision 

and from the blogs:

Alistair Cooke – On this day… Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister

Simon Richards – 30 years on – I was there, in Downing Street!

Dr Madsen Pirie – Thatcher: Thirty years on

John Bercow MP – It was during the 1979 campaign that Margaret Thatcher advised me to join the YCs

Eric Pickles MP – The Thatcher Years began for me with feelings of disappointment and regret

Douglas Hurd – Margaret Thatcher’s election was the start of an amazing eleven years

John Whittingdale MP – Celebrating the immense political achievements of Margaret Thatcher

Michael Brown – How I was launched into Parliament thirty years ago today

David Torrance – Debunking the myths about Margaret Thatcher and Scotland

Conor Burns – Margaret Thatcher: modest and authentic

Dan Hannan – Margaret Thatcher 30 years on

Donal Blaney – 30 lessons from Margaret Thatcher: 30 years on

UPDATE:

Fraser Nelson – 30 years on

Bernard Jenkin – It was an election night of mixed emotions in the Jenkin household in 1979

UPDATE:

David Alton – Margaret Thatcher represented fundamental change – and on some measures I keenly supported her

Michael Ancram MP – Memories of defeating Gordon Brown in 1979

Tory Historian – Thirty years ago

Archbishop Cranmer – Margaret Thatcher – 30 years today…

Tom Harris MP – The myth of Margaret Thatcher

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