Great Britain is heading toward new general election and it seems that both main parties, the Labor and the Conservative will use as their main "cheval de guerre" the legacy of the former PM Margaret Thatcher. Interestingly enough they both will try to convince the citizens that they represent better this legacy, although it seems they are trying to take a distance from it. The baroness Thatcher, that has already received an honorable place in the British history as the first female prime minister and as the first British prime minister to serve three consecutive terms, can look at the political debate without major concerns. Her legacy must be strong if even her former opponents cannot find anything better than to emulate it.

After 2 terms of Labor party in power that followed 4 terms of Conservative party in power the citizens of UK are called for new general election scheduled for May 5, 2005. The polls give the Labor party a slight lead, but until the Election Day there may be surprises because the margins are still too small. What is more certain is that neither the New Left nor the more traditional Right offer substantial alternatives to the economic and social policies that were first laid down by Thatcher 26 years ago. Strong emphasis on the private ownership and responsibility; fight against inflation and higher interests; some distances from the European Union Euro zone; following the United States in many areas of the world. In all major domestic and foreign political agendas both major parties compete for similar-minded electors.

There are of course differences that make the headlines. The Conservative party promises to restrict the legal immigration, to put more policepersons on the streets, to lower the taxes and to reintroduce more discipline in the schools. The Labor party will increase the tax credits for the low-income families with more children and will pour more money into education. The both parties accuse each other of financial mismanagements, of stinginess toward the poorest nations in the world, of lack of vision and abandonment of the arm forces. Such differences, it should be made clear, don't represent major political departures from the current economic and foreign policy. The core principles remain unchanged. It's the market system where the competition is extended wherever it's possible and the social welfare is reduced to its necessary but auxiliary position. It's the interest of the business that takes precedence over the social issues and not the other way around. The differences are in the ways and the means not in the goals.

Baroness Thatcher can be really delighted to see this political show. When she began talking about the major reforms needed to save the capitalism almost nobody outside her country seemed to understand the importance of her massage. The world seemed to move in a quite opposite direction, toward more regulations, more bureaucracy, less private initiative and less individual responsibilities. Thatcher was alone, at least alone in Europe. 10 years later there were many more that followed her steps. When in 1989 the communism collapsed in Eastern Europe the newly liberated countries found more affordable to follow her model instead of experimenting with highly complicated versions of democratic socialisms like in Sweden or France. In Britain Thatcher's legacy is already firmly consolidated. On May 5 the election will reveal the name of the new prime minister. No matter what his name will be and the names of his successors they'll follow the same path until the next major social crisis compels the country to look for alternative models and solutions.

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