In this episode, we speak with Peter Just, author of a new book, Margaret Thatcher: Life After Downing Street. Peter explores how Thatcher reinvented herself after her departure to maintain her status as an international figure, and how she remained a parliamentary thorn in John Major’s side. We also compare her parliamentary afterlife with that of other Prime Ministers, and consider the value that former leaders can bring to the institution of Parliament.
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Peter Just’s new book, Margaret Thatcher: Life After Downing Street, explores the political afterlife of Margaret Thatcher, once she had left No. 10. Peter explains how Thatcher reinvented herself as a global political figure, championing British business abroad, and how she exerted a continued influence on domestic politics and parliamentary life.
We also compare her legacy with that of other ex-Prime Ministers, including the unusually active parliamentary role of Theresa May, and consider what value former Prime Ministers bring when they stay engaged in the work of Parliament.
Peter explains how, after her personally devastating departure, Thatcher built a new role with the support of trusted aides. Though her interventions in the House of Commons were rare, her mere presence in Parliament carried weight. She became a political irritant to John Major’s Government – encouraging rebels over Maastricht and criticising the Government’s policy on Bosnia – yet behind the scenes she was often a diplomatic and commercial asset.
Peter Just
Peter Just studied history and politics at the University of Hull, where he is a research associate of the Centre for Legislative Studies. He has studied the lives of former Prime Ministers since the dramatic resignation of Margaret Thatcher in 1990, his research being published in the Journal of Legislative Studies. His first book, Margaret Thatcher: Life After Downing Street was published in July 2025 and covers Baroness Thatcher’s work after ceasing to be Prime Minister, analysing her influence in Parliament, on the world stage, and on subsequent leaders of the Conservative Party and Prime Ministers of all parties during the rest of her lifetime and up to the present day.
Peter Just, Margaret Thatcher: Life After Downing Street (Biteback Publishing)
Theresa May, The Churchill–Attlee Democracy Lecture, hosted by the Hansard Society (May 2024)
Parliament Matters podcast, “Democracy is in danger, warns Theresa May” (May 2024)
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[00:00:00] Intro: You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm
[00:00:17] Ruth Fox: Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy, Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox.
[00:00:24] Mark D’Arcy: And I'm Mark D'Arcy. For many people, Margaret Thatcher's tearful departure from Downing Street was the last they saw of the Iron Lady. But Mrs Thatcher remained a very active political player for many years after she left office. She was a force in Conservative politics and a thorn in the side of her successor. She was feted in America. She devoted a great deal of effort to batting for British business abroad.
[00:00:47] Ruth Fox: Peter Just has studied the post-premiership years of post-War Prime Ministers. He came into the studio to talk to us about his new book on the afterlife of Mrs T.
[00:01:02] Mark D’Arcy: So Peter, first all, let's set the scene here. Margaret Thatcher leaves office, what must have felt to her, very, very abruptly, after the Michael Heseltine leadership challenge and the political crisis that had led up to it. What was the impact on her? Did she step out of Downing Street and immediately find her feet as an ex-Prime Minister? Did it take a bit of a while to get over the whole experience? What went on?
[00:01:27] Peter Just: I think there was no doubt that it was totally devastating to her, the way she left and how quickly she left. Ian Dale in his biography - I shouldn't be plugging someone else's, but I will because he employed me - he talks about having post-traumatic stress disorder and I think that that is a totally legitimate thing to have said.
It was obviously totally devastating. It took her some time to recover, but I think all of our views have been shaped by that photograph of her getting in the car and crying, leaving Downing Street, about her life after that. Actually, when you look at it from 1991 onwards when she employed Sir Julian Seymour, we should pay tribute to him who he sadly died in March, he was the director of her office, and Sir Mark Worthington, who worked for her from 1992, they helped her build a completely new life. And actually there is a part of a life that we all know about in the UK, which is essentially around how she got on with John Major and the difficulty she caused his Government.
What is less well known, or was less well known until I wrote the book about it, is her global role. And actually that started incredibly early, so I think it was in February 1991, she went to a birthday party for Ronald Reagan and was feted in America. She was a superstar. She got two standing ovations.
So it's all quite early on abroad that new life started to be built. I think it just took longer here because of the nature of the issues that she continued to be involved in here were themselves, were they not, hugely politically controversial.
[00:02:50] Mark D’Arcy: But what were the options for an ex-Prime Minister? Because there were several ex-Prime Ministers around at the time, notably her immediate predecessor, James Callaghan. What were the options available? How could you go about being a former Prime Minister? What do you do?
[00:03:06] Peter Just: Well, Asquith said, didn't he, that the office of Prime Minister is what its holder is able to and choose to make of it. I think that's even more the case for an ex-Prime Minister. There is actually no defined role about what they actually do.
It's essentially up to them. She continued to attend Parliament. She didn't intervene very often, unlike Callaghan who was intervening all the time. But again, she had an international role that came about, not just because of her, it's because she was in such demand in other countries to go and visit them and do the lecture tours.
Of course, she needed to make money because she had absolutely no money in her bank account when she resigned as Prime Minister…
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