Introduction

Abstract

The opening chapter explains the rationale for examining the rhetoric and oratory of Margaret Thatcher. It identifies the impact of Thatcher and Thatcherism and the debates surrounding her shift from consensus to conviction politics. This provides the rationale for an overview of the academic literature on Thatcherism. Through this the relative neglect attached to her style of communication will become apparent. Having established this, the introduction then provides a structural outline of how to assess the following: first, her political rhetoric and oratory via her communication in Parliament, in conference and set-piece speeches, and through interviews and press conferences; and second, the rhetorical and oratorical techniques that she used across these different environments to justify Thatcherism.