UK politics can move in strange ways when a major change is about to occur at the top. Sometimes an apparently insignificant player in national events has huge leverage. For example, many people around the world could immediately name the Prime Minister depicted in the accompanying photo. Few, even within the UK, could name the men whose challenge for the party leadership led to her downfall.

There were two formal attempts at removing Thatcher: the first, in 1989, was interesting; the second, in 1990, was decisive.

All in the answer options played a role in Thatcher’s fate. Heseltine, formerly in her cabinet, launched the second (1990) challenge. Hurd and Major joined in as candidates when Heseltine did not immediately secure enough votes. Major eventually won.

The first challenge had an unusual feature. The challenger, Sir Anthony Meyer (1920-2004), had no hope of winning: he knew that; all his fellow MPs knew that. So, why did the challenge go ahead? In 1989 Thatcher was doing worse in the polls than her own party. Who would move against the Great Leader? The trick is to put up a stooge to see what happens when the MPs (the electors in the contest) vote; this tests the water while preserving the anonymity of a real challenger. Meyer won few votes, but more than he expected. There were several abstentions and spoilt ballots: valuable information to a real challenger. Thatcher beat off the 1989 challenge: but the stooge had laid the basis for the 1990 challenge.

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