Two Female Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Julia Gillard

陳侯垚

1. Introduction

As we all know， men are dominant in the political field throughout the world. However， there are two excellent women who have made a big difference to this field. They are Margaret Thatcher and Julia Gillard， former Prime Ministers respectively in the UK and in Australia. Some people hold that Gillard is “Mrs Thatcher” in Australia. Actually， there are similarities and differences between them.

2. Their Early Years

To begin with， both Mrs Thatcher and Gillard had good education in their respective countries. When they were students， they not only did well in studying， but also played key roles in the associations they took part in. After Mrs Thatcher finished her study in Kesteven and Grantham Girls School， she got an opportunity to study at Somerville College， Oxford and majored in chemistry. In 1946， she became President of Oxford University Conservative Association. Gillards performance was also great. She graduated with flying colors from Unley High School and attended University of Adelaide for Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees. When she was a sophomore， she joined the Labor Party. Whats more， because of her excellent grades and eloquence， she was elected as President of the Australian Union of Students.

Quite coincidently， they were interested in law. Gillard worked in a law firm named Slater and Gordon after she graduated from the University of Melbourne with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees. She mainly took charge of cases about industrial law， and she did a good job in the law firm. What about Mrs. Thatcher？ Due to her marriage to a rich businessman， she can study for the Bar， which was financed by her husband. In 1953， she qualified as a barrister. Differently， Mrs. Thatcher specialized in taxation.

3. The Way to Becoming Prime Minister

It is very difficult for women to enter the political field.Thus， we cant imagine how brave Mrs. Thatcher and Gillard should be to enter it step by step. Needless to say， the way to becoming Prime Minister is much harder.

At first， Mrs. Thatcher didnt succeed in becoming an MP until she fought for 9 years. In 1961， she became Parliamentary Undersecretary at the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. Because she stood by Edward Heath to lead the Conservative party， after he won the position， she was promoted and could take charge of many posts to serve the party. When the Conservative party succeeded in the General Election in 1970， she could enter the Heaths Cabinet and be Secretary of State for Education and Science. However， the party failed in the General Election later. In order to change the situation， Mrs. Thatcher was elected as the leader of the party largely because of her prominent performance in dealing with national affairs. During her tenure， she tried her best to balance the relations within the party. In 1979， the party took Winter of Discontent as an excuse， and won the “vote of no confidence”. Finally， a General Election began and the Conservative party succeeded. Therefore， Mrs. Thatcher became Prime Minister in the UK.

Gillard also experienced many things before she became Prime Minister. First， she suffered 3 consecutive failures of applying for a seat in Australian Labor Party. However， she persevered in fighting for her goal. Through her hard work， she became an MP and entered the political field. Like Mrs. Thatcher， she held many posts to serve the party. Differently， after she helped the leader of the party， Kevin Rudd， win in the General Election， she was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister. Later， for the governments sake， Gillard took place of Kevin Rudd and became Prime Minister.

4. Conclusion

All in all， Margaret Thatcher and Julia Gillard are two prominent women in the world. They are the first female Prime Ministers in their respective countries， which has shocked the political field. Whats more， they have set great examples to us. Women can also be leaders in the political field. Mrs Thatcher and Gillard are admirable.

References：

[1]方中霞.撒切爾夫人及其內(nèi)外政策[J].現(xiàn)代國際系，1985，01： 30-36+64-65.

[2]郭春梅.澳大利亞總理朱莉婭·吉拉德[J].國際資料息， 2011，01：28-30+34.

[3]雷建鋒.撒切爾夫人執(zhí)政時期的英美特殊關(guān)系[D].河北師范大學(xué)，2003.

[4]李捷.吉拉德：澳大利亞的“撒切爾夫人”[J].決策，2010，08： 70-71.

[5]劉建飛.英國保守主義的主要特性[J].國外社會科學(xué)，1997， 06：19-24.

[6]秦德占.澳大利亞工黨政策實踐背后的政治哲學(xué)及其變遷[J].新視野，2011，04：86-89.

[7]秦德占.澳大利亞工黨多元文化政策及其意義[J].新視野， 2010，05：90-93.

[8]楊玉新，楊玥.論撒切爾夫人領(lǐng)袖魅力的建構(gòu)[J].長春工業(yè)大學(xué)學(xué)報（社會科學(xué)版），2003，03：13-16.

[9]http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher.

[10]http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Gillard.