(2 of 6)
Meeting with her Cabinet ministers on the eve of her announcement, Thatcher found that 12 out of the total of 21 members of her government felt she had no chance of winning the second round against Heseltine. Even M.P.s who had voted for her the first time wanted to abandon her cause. To test the waters herself, Thatcher ventured into the Commons tearoom, a cavernous oak-paneled chamber. Settling comfortably into an armchair, she exhorted the Tory M.P.s who gathered around her to keep her in office. It was an extraordinary moment: rarely do Cabinet ministers, let alone Prime Ministers, mingle in the tearoom.
Two of her ministers actually threatened to resign unless Thatcher stepped down. Only three swore total loyalty. David Howell, Tory chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee and a key Heseltine supporter, talked of an "avalanche sliding away from the fantastic Thatcher achievements of the '80s and on to a new presentation and a new assertion of the direction we already are going in. You can't stop an avalanche halfway."
The Prime Minister came to the same conclusion by relying on one of her favorite axioms: "You act on what your mind tells you, not what your heart tells you." Late Wednesday night Thatcher discussed her plight with Denis, her husband of 39 years, in their second-floor apartment at 10 Downing Street. His succinct advice: "Margaret, it is time to go."
At 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Thatcher broke the news to Energy Minister John Wakeham, who had served exactly one day as her campaign manager. (Thatcher had angrily dismissed his predecessor, who had assured her she would prevail handily in the first round.) At 8:45 she notified the Queen of her decision by telephone. Then, 15 minutes later, she entered the Cabinet room and informed the rest of her colleagues. In light of the back-room battles that shook the Conservative Party and the hypocritical talk about loyalty and harmony, Thatcher's written statement was a model of clarity: "Having consulted widely among colleagues, I have concluded that the unity of the party and the prospect of victory in a general election would be better served if I stood down to enable Cabinet colleagues to enter the ballot for leadership."
Though the Cabinet session was devoted almost entirely to testimonials to Thatcher, the group did conduct a piece of business: agreeing to double the British force in the gulf by sending 14,000 more troops there, including another armored brigade. In one of her last acts as Prime Minister, Thatcher showed Britain to be Washington's staunchest ally, with the second largest force deployed against Saddam Hussein.