BBC撒切爾夫人生平訃文: 接過父親的接力棒大綱
Father's influence
父親的影響
Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, the daughter of Alfred Roberts, a grocer, and his wife, Beatrice.
瑪格麗特• 希爾達• 撒切爾，1925年10月13日生於林肯郡的格蘭瑟姆。她的父親阿爾弗雷德•羅伯茨是一個雜貨商，她的母親叫比阿特麗斯。
Her father, a Methodist lay preacher and local councillor, had an immense influence on her life and the policies she would adopt.
她的父親是衛理公會的世俗佈道者，同時也是當地的議員。撒切爾在她之後的生活和政治上深受其父親的影響。
"Well, of course, I just owe almost everything to my own father. I really do," she said later. "He brought me up to believe all the things that I do believe."
“當然了，我幾乎可以把一切都歸功於我父親，的確如此。”撒切爾說道。“他把我養大，讓我堅信我認定的東西。”
She studied chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, and became only the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
她曾在牛津大學的薩默維爾學院學習自然科學。她還是牛津大學保守黨協會的第三位女性主席。
After graduating she moved to Colchester where she worked for a plastics company and became involved with the local Conservative Party organisation.
畢業後，她搬到了科爾切斯特，在當地一家塑料公司工作，隨後加入了當地保守黨組織。
In 1949, she was adopted as the prospective Conservative candidate for the seat of Dartford in Kent which she fought, unsuccessfully, in the 1950 and 1951 general elections.
1949年，她被定爲未來肯特郡達特福德區的保守黨候選人。然而，在1950年和1951的兩次大選中均不幸敗北。
However, she made a significant dent in the Labour majority and, as the then youngest ever Conservative candidate, attracted a lot of media attention.
但是她卻大大撼動了工黨主體。同時作爲當時有史以來最年輕的保守黨候選人，她也吸引了衆多媒體的關注。
In 1951 she married a divorced businessman, Denis Thatcher, and began studying for the Bar exams. She qualified as a barrister in 1953, the year in which her twins Mark and Carol were born.
1951年，她嫁給了一個離過婚的商人，丹尼斯•撒切爾。同時她還投考律師公會，並於1953年成功取得訟務律師的資格。同年，夫婦倆誕下了一對孿生兄妹，分別取名爲馬克和卡洛兒。
She tried, unsuccessfully, to gain selection as a candidate in 1955, but finally entered Parliament for the safe Conservative seat of Finchley at the 1959 general election.
1955年她再次競選保守黨候選人，卻未能如願，最終在1959年的大選中成功當選芬奇利議會成員。
Within two years she had been appointed as a junior minister and, following the Conservative defeat in 1964, was promoted to the shadow cabinet.
不到兩年，她就被任命爲初級部長。1964年保守黨落選後，她又被晉升爲影子內閣。Margaret Thatcher, who has died following a stroke, was one of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century.
撒切爾夫人，20世紀最有影響力的政治人物之一，在2013年4月8日，因中風不幸逝世。
Her legacy had a profound effect upon the policies of her successors, both Conservative and Labour, while her radical and sometimes confrontational approach defined her 11-year period at No 10.
她深深影響了她之後的包括保守黨和工黨在內的歷屆英國首相。這樣一位激進的，有時甚至帶有攻擊性的“鐵娘子”擔任了長達11年之久的英國首相。
Her term in office saw thousands of ordinary voters gaining a stake in society, buying their council houses and eagerly snapping up shares in the newly privatised industries such as British Gas and BT.
她在任職期間推動社會改革，成千上萬的英國普通選民購買了政府公屋，搶購了諸如英國天然氣和英國電信等新近私有化行業的股份。
But her rejection of consensus politics made her a divisive figure and opposition to her policies and her style of government led eventually to rebellion inside her party and unrest on the streets.
但她對輿論政治的排斥使她備受爭議，同時她的政策也招致反對。最終她所領導的政黨內部反聲一片，社會也混亂不堪。
