chemistry

Margaret Hilda Roberts was born on the 13 October 1925[2] to Alfred Roberts, originally from Northamptonshire, and Beatrice Stephenson Roberts from Lincolnshire. Thatcher spent her childhood in the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, where her father owned two grocery shops.[3] She and her older sister Muriel (1921–2004) were raised in the flat above the larger of the two located near the railway line.
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Her father was active in local politics and religion, serving as an Alderman and Methodist lay preacher. He came from a Liberal family but stood—as was then customary in local government—as an Independent. He lost his post as Alderman in 1952 after the Labour Party won its first majority on Grantham Council in 1950.[5]

Thatcher was brought up a devout Methodist and has remained a Christian throughout her life.[6] After attending Huntingtower Road Primary School, she received a scholarship and attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School.[7] Her school reports show hard work and commitment, but not brilliance. Outside the classroom she played hockey and also enjoyed swimming and walking.[8] Finishing school during the Second World War, she subsequently applied for a scholarship to attend Somerville College, Oxford and was only successful when the winning candidate dropped out.
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She went to Oxford in 1944 and studied Chemistry, specifically crystallography.[3] She became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association in 1946, the third woman to hold the post. Thatcher graduated from Oxford in 1947 with a Second Class Honours B.Sc. in Natural Sciences. She received her MA from Oxford in 1950.[3]

Following graduation, Margaret Roberts moved to Colchester and worked as a research chemist for BX Plastics.[10] During this time she joined the local Conservative Association and attended the party conference at Llandudno in 1948, as a representative of the University Graduate Conservative Association.[11] She was also a member of the Association of Scientific Workers. In January 1949, a friend from Oxford, who was working for the Dartford Conservative Association, told her that they were looking for candidates.[11] After a brief period, she was selected as the Conservative candidate, and she subsequently moved to Dartford to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. To support herself during this period, she went to work for J. Lyons and Co., where she helped develop methods for preserving ice cream and was paid £500 per year.[11]