Margaret Thatcher Quotes

[david hughes]

When Norman Fowler returned to government in 1992, as Tory Party chairman, it was said that his family were sick of him and ordered him to return to politics.

> Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:53:08 +0100
> From: djh514 at YORK.AC.UK
> Subject: Margaret Thatcher Quotes
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
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> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Damien Hall <djh514 at YORK.AC.UK>
> Subject: Margaret Thatcher Quotes
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>
> > 2. British politician Norman Fowler wrote in his resignation letter to
> > Thatcher, Jan. 4, 1990, that "I have a young family and for the next few
> > years I should like to devote more time to them." Thatcher responded, "I
> > am naturally very sorry to see you go, but understand ... your wish to be
> > able to spend more time with your family." Was this really the first
> > instance of a resigning politician referring to spending more time with
> > his or her family as an excuse for resigning?
>
> That was certainly about when it became a cliché in UK politics. Granted, I
> was only 15 at the time, so Thatcher's resignation and the events leading
> up to it are my first major 'where were you when' time - I wouldn't
> necessarily remember any previous occurrences. Since then, however, that
> phrase has certainly been one of the choice ways of referring to a
> recently-former Government official being out of office, or of hinting that
> such a person might soon have to consider resigning: commentators say
> things like 'She might find herself spending more time with her family'.
>
> Damien
>
> --
> Damien Hall
>
> University of York
> Department of Language and Linguistic Science
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