I was a mere twinkle in my father's eye when Thatcher was elected but I've come to view her as something necessary, who's time came, and went, to suit the country's needs at the time. Just like Churchill, Attlee, Blair and just as will be so for Johnson. That's not to say get policies didn't cause hardship for many, because they did.

Personally I neither admire nor hate her.

My understanding is there is good reason she was elected in 1979, and the country faced enormous problems at that time.

What's more, most, ' Thatcherite' changes were global structural shifts. Didn't all countries weaken union rights at this time? Didn't all western countries see industrialisation? Didnt all countries liberalise the economies? Didn't the EEC before the EU require it? They did, of all members.

Of course, how you do it is what counts, and the accusation is she left communities to rot. This happened across the UK though and yet it is our mining communities in South Wales that suffered the worst legacies.

Why is that? Geography? Governance?

We can't keep blaming a woman elected 42 years ago, that's a disservice to our kids IMO. Need to look to the future and I think the Valleys is a beautiful place, and those with good transport links can be powerhouses again. Those without can become more rural.