Margaret Thatcher had had twins before starting her political career. She found it very difficult to be able to work and look after her children - she described how she had to be very strongly motivated to do so.

"Children alter your life completely, you never know how much until you have one. I had twins, they were prematurely born and so in the early days it really required a great deal of attention, and they tug away at your heart strings, and I remember thinking if I don't make arrangements, I will never do it. It was hard and you must be strongly motivated to do it."

Involvement in politics requires financial backing, and Thatcher also needed to fund childcare so that she could work as an MP. Haleh Afshar believes that the support available to Thatcher contributed to her success.

"In terms of success, Margaret Thatcher had the backup, in the sense that she had a man who was willing to pay for her very expensive campaigns but also pay for the childcare that was needed, so she could enter politics as a man and that was very important."