Baroness Thatcher, the former Conservative Prime Minister who has died at 87, was a Marmite leader – the voters either loved or hated her.
That is a view of John Thomson, Tory-controlled Wiltshire Council’s deputy leader, who has declared: “I think she was rather like Marmite: you either loved her or hated her, but you can’t help but admire her strength of conviction.
“She was a politician who you really knew what she thought and what she believed in, even though you may not agree with it.
“You may not have liked what she was saying, but at least you knew what she was thinking. We don’t have that clarity in our politicians at the moment.”
Offering his tribute to Lady Thatcher, he adds: “It’s history now, the world has moved on. She was probably right for her time, but the world has changed a lot since those days.
“Her legacy is we still have the Falkland Islands, and she did enable a huge amount of people to become property owners.
“She may not necessarily have got it right on her industrial base, moving us more towards a service economy, but we are working now to correct that.
“She changed the laws with unions, and handed more power back to individuals rather than the union barons.”
Jane Scott, Wiltshire Council’s leader, points out that her death is not only a sad day but the end of an era, declaring: “Margaret Thatcher was a great inspiration and has changed the perception of women in politics and what they can achieve.”
Conservative MP for North Wiltshire James Gray, who worked for a short time as her special adviser, says he was inspired to become a politician by her leadership of the party.
“I owe my entry to politics to her, she inspired me in the 1970s,” he reveals. “The nation owes her a great debt. She made an enormous mark on Britain, which was the sick man of Europe at the time.
“Britain was bankrupt and she turned it around to the benefit of all. Many people are in their houses thanks to her. The Falklands remained Britain thanks to her.
“There are a lot of freedoms and prosperities we enjoy thanks to the bold, brave and tough things she did. Though controversial, she was nevertheless a truly great leader.”
And Stewart Dobson, branch chairman of Marlborough Conservative Association, said: “I was very saddened to learn of the death of Baroness Thatcher. She became Prime Minister at a critical time in our country’s history and showed tremendous vision and leadership in those difficult times.
“What ever one may think of some of her more controversial decisions, I believe that no one can ever doubt her patriotism and sincere belief in trying to make Britain great.
“Her lasting legacy must be that she proved once and for all that women could and should be able to achieve the highest office in whatever career they chose.”
