“Iron Lady” remains stable

Lady Thatcher

LONDON, Saturday (Reuters) - Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher remains in a stable condition after she was admitted to hospital, a spokeswoman for London's St. Thomas's Hospital said today. The 82-year-old Thatcher was taken to the south London hospital on Friday for precautionary medical tests.

“She's had the tests but we won't be releasing any more information until we've spoken to her private secretary,” the hospital spokeswoman told Reuters Thatcher has appeared only rarely in public in recent years after suffering a series of small strokes in 2002 which forced her to cancel her busy public speaking schedule.

“We hope she will be home soon,” said a spokeswoman for Thatcher. “She is sitting up and talking and seems fine. It was mainly precautionary.” As Britain's first and so far only female prime minister, Thatcher was dubbed the “Iron Lady”, earning a reputation as one of the most formidable politicians of her era.

She came to power in 1979 and governed for more than 10 years before being ousted by members of her own party. She retired from the House of Commons (lower house) in 1992.