The revolutionary, radical Margaret Thatcher

Thirty years ago this week, Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister. Back in 1979, politics, especially British politics, was a man's world, so how did a grocer's daughter from the English Midlands get the top job in the Conservative Party? There's a simple answer: Because the UK was a mess. Inflation over 25 percent, mass unemployment, constant strikes, high taxes...

Under the socialist Labour government, nothing worked any more. Margaret Thatcher changed all this. "The Iron Lady", as she called herself, fought the corrupt trades unions; she fought the wicked Argentine junta and she restored the British economy. As a result, after almost two decades of Conservative rule, the country felt that it was safe enough to vote the Labour Party back into power, which it did in 1997 with Tony Blair.

Now, after 12 years of Labour, the lessons of Margaret Thatcher have been forgotten and the British government is once more spending money faster than the economy can generate it. Like drug addicts, the British are hooked on unaffordable "services", but can no longer imagine life without them. Time for change! The next general election must be held on or before Thursday, 3 June 2010, and when the votes have been counted, the Conservative leader David Cameron will be the next prime minister.

But it is highly unlikely that he'll be able to change the culture, the media, the schools and the universities, which are all profoundly liberal. David Cameron is a conservative, but he is neither a radical nor a revolutionary, which is exactly what the great Margaret Thatcher was.