Thatcher's Hometown Prefers to Forget Its Famous Daughter

from Der Spiegel:




Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was born and raised in the English town of Grantham. The local council does little to remember its famous daughter, even though it's been offered a statue of the Iron Lady currently gathering dust in a London cellar.

"The photographer is waiting," says Ray Wootten, as he opens the door to his car. "Photographer?" I ask, bewildered. I'm in Grantham, Lincolnshire, to explore the hometown of Britain's first -- and only -- female prime minister. But before I can get started, I've been roped into a local campaign led by Ray Wootten, Grantham's erstwhile mayor. He wants to erect a statue of Thatcher in the center of town and is taking every opportunity to promote his cause. "The local paper wants to write an article about your visit," he tells me.

A few minutes later, we're in the mayor's parlor in the Victorian, Neo-Gothic town hall. The photographer asks us to shake hands for a picture. Behind us is a wall hung with portraits of Grantham's mayors, as well as one of the town's famous daughter, Margaret Thatcher. A reporter with the Grantham Journal is waiting next door in the Grantham Museum. He wants to know how Thatcher is seen in Germany.

The way she is viewed locally is perhaps more to the point. Few traces remain of the famous politician here in Grantham, home to a population of 35,000. Thatcher might have shaped modern Britain, but "the Grantham people were never proud of her," says her former classmate, Christine Mary Cooper, now 90. "They look for all the mistakes she has made. I always have to defend her." ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/hometown-of-thatcher-has-mixed-feelings-about-its-famous-daughter-a-880790.html