Stephen Tall

The Guardian is the first off the blocks with an ICM poll asking the public’s retrospective verdict on Margaret Thatcher’s record in office. Here’s the topline figure of whether her 11-year premiership had been good or bad for Britain:

The paper also asked about specific policies, finding:

The sale of council homes and tackling of trade union power remain popular today, but people are less supportive of the fights she picked with Europe and tax cuts for the rich. Privatisation of the utilities and the poll tax remain deeply unpopular.

You can read the breakdown on the Guardian’s website here.

Five years ago, in July 2008, I posed the same question to LibDemVoice readers: “On balance, do you believe Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister was a good or a bad thing for the UK?”

And this is what we found:

• Yes, Margaret Thatcher was a Good Thing on balance: 162 (37%)
• No, Margaret Thatcher was a Bad Thing on balance: 272 (63%)

* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, a Research Associate for the liberal think-tank CentreForum, and also writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.