UK ex-PM, Margaret Thatcher dies of stroke aged 87

Baroness Thatcher, Britain's greatest post-war prime minister, has died at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her family has announced.

Her son, Sir Mark, and daughter Carol confirmed that she died this morning. Lord Bell, her ex-spokesman, said: "It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.A further statement will be made later."

Britain's only woman prime minister, the tough, outspoken Thatcher, led the Conservatives to three election victories,
governing from 1979 to 1990, the longest continuous period in office by a British prime minister since the early 19th century.

During 11 years as prime minister, Thatcher found a fellow believer in Ronald Reagan, the former US president, transformed her country by a ruthless dedication to free markets and infuriated European allies.

Thatcher retired from public engagements in 2002 following a series of small strokes, and was only occasionally seen in public since then.

Lady Thatcher was the only British prime minister to leave behind a set of ideas about the role of the state which other leaders and nations strove to copy and apply.