Job plea jolt for Premier

A young woman who asked for a job stopped Margaret Thatcher in her tracks, during a visit to the Tory party faithful in Finchley.

The Prime Minister, who had shown all her “Iron Lady” resolves with a rousing speech, had her armour momentarily dented in her own backyard.

But she recovered her poise to give the young woman some advice and urged her to “try the job centre.”

And the woman, 23-year-old Rebecca Rosen, said afterwards: “It was nice of her to take the time.”

Miss Rosen, who until three weeks ago worked in advertising and marketing, decided on the spur of the moment to ask Mrs Thatcher for a job.

“I said to her ‘I've got a problem. I have just been made redundant.’ She replied that she could not pull any jobs out of the air and that I should try the job centre,” said Miss Rosen

Andrew Thomson, Mrs Thatcher's constituency agent, said there was no cause for concern that the Prime Minister had been stopped in between the security cordon, on Friday.

He added: “The young lady was impressed that Mrs Thatcher was prepared to talk to her. It was a useful exercise for both sides.”

Earlier in the evening the Prime Minister, accompanied by husband Denis, gave a rousing call to the members of the Finchley and Friern Barnet Conservative Association at their annual meeting.

Speaking at Woodhouse Sixth-Form College in Woodhouse Road, North Finchley, she said: “I know we lost some seats in the local elections but we are still the majority party.”

“We rely on you to take our message across the borough and help build a future of which our ancestors would have been proud.”

“And the fightback starts right here in this room.”

Mrs Thatcher, who was clapped at every opportunity, pointed out the successes of the government.

“No other party have such a good record on pensioners and health as we have, and who would have tackled the trade unions and picket lines?”

The Prime Minister stressed that the achievements so far should not be taken for granted as they could easily be lost.

“It is our policy commitment to back and encourage moderate people who believe in the future of our country and reject everything the extremists stand for.” she added. [end p1]

(2) Finchley Times, 29 May 1986:

Plain talk cheers Tories

Plain speaking from Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the MP, for Finchley, as she pointed the way to Tory victory in the next General Election, delighted 300 supporters last week.

They were attending Finchley and Friern Barnet constituency's annual cocktail party in Woodhouse School, North Finchley and gave Mrs Thatcher and Mr Denis Thatcher a rapturous welcome.

The Prime Minister said the Conservative cause was ‘worth believing’.

“It's the right cause,” she said. “We are hailed as the country which leads in courage, conviction and success.”

Referring to American relationships she said everyone agreed in defending freedom but there were “little niggles about small things—just like in a family” .

She used the recent elections in Holland where the centre right coasted to victory to hammer home her view on mid-term elections.

“I was anxious about the result. The centre right won—they went on doing the right things. You have to live with certain restraints, set a financial budget and live within your means.

“It's no good to spend, spend, spend. You need sound financial policies and priorities—we have all of these things.

“We uphold law and support the police, support and encourage people who believe in hard work,” she said.

“We have created wealth and seen that the health service and pensioners are looked after … no other party has as good a record as we have. Only the Tories tackled pickets …”

Referring to her trip to Israel, Mrs Thatcher said it was up to politicians to mobilise policies and defeat extremists.

Looking at recent election results, the Prime Minister cheered up heavyhearted supporters, “Hang it all we may have lost one or two seats, but we are still in the majority on Barnet Council.”