30 December
Documents made public today by The National Archives provide a remarkable insight into the workings of Mrs Thatcher's government during its first full year in power. The Prime Minister's personality and engagement with the affairs of state are evident from her many hand-written annotations on the files from 1980.
Events on the world stage that year included the fall-out from the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, which led to a rise in Cold War tensions. Many of the newly-released files document the government's struggle to formulate a response and how the government grappled with the dilemma of whether to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest.
Mark Dunton, Contemporary Records Specialist at The National Archives, said: 'These records enable us to understand, with greater clarity than ever before, the strength of Margaret Thatcher's convictions, as shown in her numerous handwritten comments, made at a very testing time.'
Foreign affairs were to occupy more of Mrs Thatcher's time than she anticipated with Iraq, Iran and Israel also featuring heavily in the files. Another focus is the newly-independent Zimbabwe led by Robert Mugabe and the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Mrs Thatcher's views on domestic issues such as trade unionism, government spending and Europe are also discussed at length and anticipate many of the battles she was to face during her time in office.
View a selection of the newly-released files, the key events of 1980 and the British Cabinet in 1980.
Listen to our podcast on the new files from 1980, presented by Mark Dunton.
