Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died at 87 following a stroke. Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

She was the first woman to hold the post. Her family is expected to make a further statement. Mrs Thatcher, became the Conservative MP for Finchley, north London in 1959, retiring from the Commons in 1992.

Having been education secretary, she successfully challenged former prime minister Edward Heath for her party's leadership in 1975. She won general elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987.

Thatcher's government privatised several state-owned industries. She was also in power when the UK went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has expressed deepest condolence on the passing away of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In his condolence message, Dr. Singh said that Thatcher was a transformative figure under whom the United Kingdom registered i progress in the national and international