H.E Cayman Islands Governor Duncan Taylor remarks on passing of Mrs. Thatcher

The Governor (currently on vacation off island) has today, following their request, provided to Cayman 27 a message of condolence on the passing of Baroness Thatcher. It reads:

“I was saddened to hear of the passing of Baroness Thatcher earlier today.  She became Prime Minister when I was still at University and she was Prime Minister for the first ten years of my career in Government.  She was forceful leader who made a strong impression:   she had an extraordinary, strong personality and transformed the political landscape during her time as leader.  She leaves a significant legacy which is still clearly felt today and will be for a long time to come.”

ENDS

TRIBUTE IN HONOUR OF THE LATE LADY MARGARET HILDA THATCHER, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM (1979-1990) FROM THE PREMIER OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS HON. JULIANA  O’CONNOR-CONNOLLY ON THE OCCASION OF HER PASSING 8TH APRIL 2013

The people of the Cayman Islands I know will join with me in mourning the passing of the late Lady Thatcher, who passed from this life today, Monday 8th April 2013, in her 87th year. Lady Thatcher, the so-called “Iron Lady” was the first, and to date remains the only woman to have served as British Prime Minister; and has also thus far been the longest-serving post-war Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Here in Cayman, she is embedded in the collective memory for other qualities as well. To a community whose women have always ably ‘held up their half of the sky’, Mrs. Thatcher provided powerful affirmation, with her way of unpretentiously drawing on her roles as wife and mother, to inspire her comprehension of the subtle and far-reaching ramifications of public policy. Cayman’s women have long showed a similar capacity to combine professional and public leadership roles, while retaining their vital roles in the home.

Lady Thatcher’s sheer willpower and adherence to principle are legendary; and she showed great depths of courage, requiring exemplary personal and political strength, in dealing with huge challenges from the union strikes to the Falklands War, at times without even the support of her own party. Cayman joined the cause in support of the Falklands effort, with the sense at the time, that Mrs. Thatcher would have come marching out to stand with us, had we been in a similar situation.

Whatever one’s feelings about the politics of the often deeply controversial Iron Lady, I believe the people of the Cayman Islands were impressed that she had a resolute drive to pursue change for the common good – perhaps the characteristic most valued in leaders, in our understanding of how representative government ought to work. The people of the Cayman Islands accordingly mourn the passing of this great Lady with a genuine respect and affection, and on their behalf, as Premier I offer our public condolences to her family and others close to her.

May her soul rest in peace, and light perpetual shine upon her.

END

Below are tweets from this morning; plus further down is the transcript of a short interview PM David Cameron gave in Madrid earlier today.

Mark Simmonds MP @MarkJSimmonds<https://mobile.twitter.com/MarkJSimmonds?p=s>

Very sad to hear of Baroness Thatcher’s passing today. Privileged to have known Britain’s first female leader. A Great British PM.

William Hague @WilliamJHague<https://mobile.twitter.com/WilliamJHague?p=s>

She changed our country forever and all of us owe so much to her. A legacy few will ever equal. Rest in peace Margaret

UK Prime Minister @Number10gov<https://mobile.twitter.com/Number10gov?p=s>

“It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher’s death. We’ve lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton”

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“Today is a truly sad day for our country. We’ve lost a great Prime Minister, a great leader, a great Briton. As our first woman Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds, and the real thing about Margaret Thatcher is that she didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country. I believe she’ll go down as the greatest British peacetime Prime Minister.

“Today most of all we should think of her family. We’ve lost somebody great in our public life but they’ve lost a much loved mother and grandmother and we should think of them today. Her legacy will be the fact that she served her country so well and that she saved our country, and that she showed immense courage in doing so, and people will be learning about what she did and her achievements in decades, probably centuries to come. That’s her legacy, but today we must also think of her family.”