Daily Inspiration Quote by Margaret Thatcher

A defiant credo of resolve, the line helped cement Margaret Thatcher’s reputation as a leader who valued principle over expediency. Delivered at the 1980 Conservative Party Conference in Brighton, it answered mounting pressure from within her own party and from a bleak economic climate to perform a policy U-turn. Britain was enduring deep recession, factory closures, and rapidly rising unemployment, while Thatcher’s monetarist program sought to crush inflation through high interest rates and tight control of the money supply. Senior Conservatives known as the “wets” urged retreat. She refused, and this pithy phrase became the applause line that defined her stance.

The wording was also a witty theatrical flourish. Crafted with the help of speechwriter Ronald Millar, it plays on the title of Christopher Fry’s play “The Lady’s Not for Burning.” That playful edge softened a severe message: the government would not abandon its long-term anti-inflation strategy, even at high short-term social and political cost. It signaled to financial markets and international observers that Britain would stick to a coherent strategy; to party rebels, it was a warning that conviction, not consensus, would guide No. 10. The line dovetailed with her “Iron Lady” persona, recasting a gendered label as a badge of authority.

Its legacy is double-edged. Admirers see a courageous refusal to pander, arguing that inflation did indeed fall and that the economy was reshaped for global competition. Critics hear a boast of inflexibility that worsened deindustrialization, widened inequality, and fueled unrest. Either way, the phrase passed into political lore as shorthand for a leader’s refusal to reverse course. It evokes the central wager of Thatcherism: that clarity and consistency, even when painful, would ultimately command respect and deliver results. It is remembered because it captured a governing philosophy in a single, memorable turn of phrase that was itself the opposite of a U-turn.