Wielding the Knife

As the Conservative Party began to turn against her leadership, the Prime Minister showed no willingness to stand down. Although there was no clear successor, colleagues were beginning to view Thatcher as an electoral liability.

She speaks of what she regarded as their disloyalty. 'What hurts most of all is that this was treachery,' she says of her enforced resignation, 'treachery with a smile on its face.' Naturally this charge is denied by her former colleagues.