1979-87

Question 1

In a 1981 party conference, in the height of discontent with her policies, Thatcher said what?

Answer 1

‘You turn if you want to - the lady’s not for turning’

Question 2

Name the Gang of Four
/4

Answer 2

1 David Owen
2 Roy Jenkins
3 Shirley Williams
4 Bill Rodgers

Question 3

In the 1983 election what was the anti-conservative vote?

Answer 3

16 million

Question 4

What was the conservative overall majority in the 1983 election?

Answer 4

144 seats

Question 5

What % of the vote did the SDP-Liberal alliance get in the 1987 election?

Answer 5

24%

Question 6

The protests in the H-Block of the Maze prison in Belfast were called off in October 1981 after how many more deaths after Bobby Sands’?

Answer 6

9

Question 7

When was the Grand Hotel Brighton bombing, and how many died?

Answer 7

October 1984, 5

Question 8

How many people attended Iain Paisley’s anti Irish Republic speech?

Answer 8

200,000

Question 9

What was inflation at by 1980?

Answer 9

Over 15%

Question 10

By 1980 unemployment was rising and totalled at ______?

Answer 10

Over 2 million

Question 11

By 1988 the top rate of income tax had fallen from 83% to what %?

Answer 11

40%

Question 12

By 1988 the standard rate of income tax had fallen from 33% to what?

Answer 12

25%

Question 13

By 1979 VAT had risen from 8% to what %?

Answer 13

15%

Question 14

When was British Petroleum privatised?

Answer 14

1979

Question 15

When was British Aerospace privatised?

Answer 15

1980

Question 16

When was British gas privatised through the biggest share offer in history?

Answer 16

December 1986

Question 17

Between 1979 and 1990 the number of individuals owning stocks and shares rose from 3 million to what?

Answer 17

9 million

Question 18

What did the enterprise allowance scheme do?

Answer 18

Encouraged the unemployed to start their own businesses by giving them £40 a week for up to a year

Question 19

When was the ‘big bang’ that deregulated the London stock exchange?

Answer 19

27th October 1986

Question 20

What was the GDP growth rate throughout the 1980s?

Answer 20

2.2% which was no better than the 70s

Question 21

Interest rates were raised to what % to control inflation in 1979?

Answer 21

17%

Question 22

By 1983 unemployment rose to over how many million, and what % of the workforce was this?

Answer 22

3 million, 13.5%

Question 23

Until what year did unemployment stay over 3 million?

Answer 23

1987

Question 24

What did the housing act of 1980 do?

Answer 24

Gave council tenants the right to buy their house, receiving a discount of anywhere from 33-50% depending on the length of their tenancy

Question 25

By 1988 how many new homeowners did the housing act create?

Answer 25

2 million

Question 26

In A. 1981 and B. 1984 the NCB warned of the need to close how many pits?

Answer 26

A. 23
B. 20

Question 27

In 1979 the coal industry employed 200,000, dropping to what by 1990?

Answer 27

60,000 and falling

Question 28

In some areas across England and Wales what % refused to pay poll tax?

Answer 28

30%

Question 29

In a March 1990 Trafalgar Square poll tax riot how many attended? How many of them were injured? How many were arrested?

Answer 29

Over 200,000 attended
Almost 5000 injured
Over 300 arrested

Question 30

In April 1983 how many protestors made up a 14 mile human chain in protest of cruise missiles being held in Britain?

Answer 30

70,000

Question 31

When did the USA invade Grenada after a communist coup against the advice of Thatcher?

Answer 31

1983

Question 32

When did Thatcher give permission for the US to use British air bases to bomb Libya despite this being unpopular in Britain?

Answer 32

1986

Question 33

In London, 1983, how many joined a march with the CND opposing nuclear weapons?
How many were there at a similar march in Germany?

Answer 33

200,000
600,000 in Germany

Question 34

What did BBC TV drama ‘Threads’ (1984) depict?

Answer 34

Aftermath of a nuclear conflict in a British city

Question 35

When was the Westland affair?

Answer 35

1986