The Rise of Thatcherism. 3 May 1979. Italian Reactions to Conservative Politics and Neo-liberalism in the UK

When Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative party in February 1975, her victory was a surprise and rather an unknown quantity in Italy. However, in a few years, after the UK general elections of 1979, the ‘Maggie whirlwind’ rapidly became a fairly familiar—and polarizing—figure in the Italian public debate. This chapter investigates Italian reactions—in the press, party debates, diplomatic circles—to the rise of Thatcherism and her ‘conviction politics’ in the mid- and late 1970s.