Former Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher dies - Sir Bernard Ingham calls her the “outstanding 20th century Prime Minister”

She was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990 and was the first woman to hold the office.

Sir Bernard Ingham, Baroness Thatcher’s former press secretary, said: “I think that the country has lost its outstanding Prime Minister of the 20th century.

“She was an outstanding woman and an outstanding Prime Minister.”

Baroness Thatcher made several trips to Calderdale including opening an an extension to the Courier offices in 1983.

During her election campaign of 1979 she visited Elland with former Calder Valley MP Sir Donald Thompson and in 1988 she took in the sights of the newly-developed Dean Clough.

Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker said: “It is a sad day for Britain. She was a character and one of Britain’s most famous Prime Ministers.”

Stephen Baines, Conservative Calderdale Councillor, said: “I think she was a tremendous leader of the Conservative Party and for the country.

“She turned the country round when she came to power in 1979. Really made the basis for the good, sound economy that came around in the 1990s.

“A great lady who wasn’t as hard as she came across in public performances - she was a very caring lady. She is a very great loss for the country as a whole.”

Baroness Thatcher became the Conservative MP for Finchley, north London in 1959. She retired from the Commons in 1992 after presiding over the introduction of the Poll Tax and the Falklands War.

She won general elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987.