14. Thatcher Suffered Just One Parliamentary Defeat During 11-And-A-Half Years In Office... On Sunday Trading Laws
Thatcher was remarkably successful during her 11-and-a-half years in office, suffering just one defeat in parliament - and that was over the Shops Bill 1986. This bill would have ended government regulation of Sunday shopping in England and Wales, repealing the Shops Act 1950, but it was defeated on its second reading. The Prime Minister's government introduced the bill and, although Thatcher anticipated that Labour would oppose the motion, she did not expect 72 Conservative backbenchers to defy her three-line whip, leading to the proposed changes being defeated by 14 votes in the House of Commons. This proved to be Thatcher's only defeat in the House of Commons - and Sunday trading laws were not relaxed until the Sunday Trading Act 1994, at the 27th attempt to do so, although some restrictions do still remain in place to this day.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
