‘I must brief you on the mistakes’: When Ronald Reagan met Margaret Thatcher, 25-28 February 1981

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan gained power after promising similar solutions to the economic decline of the 1970s and are commonly viewed in the same ‘New Right’ context. Having met twice before in 1975 and 1978, the first meeting in February 1981, following their respective ascents to power, was popularly viewed as a diplomatic ‘love-in’ and a reaffirmation of the Anglo-American ‘special relationship’ in the context of an emerging New Right hegemony. However, this article demonstrates that even at this early stage, it was clear that the Reagan-Thatcher dynamic would be as much ‘political’ as would be ‘special’. While Thatcher used her visit to the United States to establish herself as Reagan’s principle ally and to endorse his economic programme, she had also hoped that it would offer some political cover from Britain’s troubled economy. However, Thatcher was undermined by the same administration that she was determined to support. Thus, this article offers fresh and renewed insight about the emergence of New Right policies in the 1980s and revisits the Reagan-Thatcher relationship, highlighting its contradictions and complexities