Name: Balasubramanya P. S.
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume-16, Issue-1, (January-June)
Page Number: 104-108
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18885146

ABSTRACT:
This paper mainly explains Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair‟s governments' policies
towards the European Union. When the Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher came to power in Britain after 1979, she wanted to have good, friendly relations with European Union countries. In the early years of her rule, she did not face any major obstacles from the European Union countries. In the latter part of her rule, Thatcher took a more aggressive policy towards the European Union. On the other hand, the Labour Party under the leadership of Tony Blair came to power in the UK after the 1997 UK General election. Before the election, the Labour Party introduced the pro-European policy strategy goals in its 1997 UK general election manifesto. This was wholeheartedly supported by the UK people in the 1997 general election, and the Labour Party won the election by a huge majority of votes in its Labour Party history. This election gave a new direction to the UK‟s EU policy. In this cont