Bailey Schwab

• BA (Hons) Politics & History
• Thatcher’s Legacy in the North East: A Case Study of Three Initiatives

In the North East of England, there is a myth regarding Margaret Thatcher’s legacy. People assume that Thatcher’s governments were insensitive to the North East and vigorously pursued policies that went against the region’s interest such as closing-down mines which destroyed local communities. However, my investigation has led me to believe Thatcher played a first-hand role in attracting investment into the North East which has subsequently led to thousands of jobs being created and spurred on further development worth billions in total. I investigated the implementation and impacts of three projects (Nissan Car Factory, Metro Retail Centre, and Teesdale Business Park) developed in the North East under the Thatcher government to demonstrate that her government responded vigorously to the region’s decline through various initiatives. The methods of investigating I used were various ranging from data analysis to interviewing notable current and former politicians such as Lord Norman Tebbit and Chris Mullin.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Project supervisor: Dr Nick Randall