FORMER Salisbury MP Robert Key was among the first to pay tribute to Baroness Thatcher following her death.

Mr Key, who was Salisbury MP from 1983 to 2010, served in government under Baroness Thatcher, including as Local Government Finance Minister in 1990 during the Poll Tax controversy.

He said: “Margaret always put her family at the heart of her life, and the United Kingdom at the heart of her politics.

“She brought the future leader of the old enemy the Soviet Union to Westminster where she invited me to meet him at a private meeting in the House of Commons. This led to her brokering business with President Regan and the collapse of the Soviet Union.”

Baroness Thatcher came to Salisbury in 1983 to support Mr Key’s campaign on the eve of the general election.

They stood together in the Guildhall Square and addressed a crowd of 10,000 people.

“Margaret was always controversial because of her clear political vision and agenda,” said Mr Key.

Shortly after Mr Key was elected, came the miners’ strike when the National Union of Miners led by Arthur Scargill were pitted against Thatcher’s government over plans to reform the coal mining industry and shut down many pits.

“During those troubled weeks I reported to Salisbury Police HQ in Wilton Road at dawn to explain to Salisbury police officers in their buses why they were being asked to go to the Midlands to uphold the rule of law and frustrate the illegal strikes by many (but not all) miners that threatened to bring the country to its knees,” recalls Mr Key.

“I was proud to support Margaret Thatcher and proud to serve her as a minister in her government. She was without doubt Britain’s greatest peace-time prime minister of the 20th century.”

Adding to his predecessor’s tribute, current Salisbury MP John Glen said: “To me she was the strong leader of my youth who inspired me to seek to serve in politics. She had convictions that are sadly too often absent today and I agree with those who say she saved our country.”

Timeline of a rise to power

* 1925: Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in a flat
above her father’s grocery shop in Grantham

* 1950: Stands for Parliament in Dartford – it
is a safe Labour seat and she is unsuccessful

* 1951: Marries businessman Denis Thatcher

* 1953: Gives birth to twins Carol and Mark

* 1959: Elected as Conservative MP for
Finchley with a majority of 16,260

* 1970: Appointed Education Secretary by
Prime Minster Sir Edward Heath

* 1975: Defeats Heath in a leadership contest

* 1979: Becomes Britain’s first - and so far
only - female prime minister

* 1982: Sent a taskforce to regain control of
the Falkland Islands

* 1984: Survives the IRA bombing of a
Brighton hotel during the Conservative conference

* 1984-5: Fights a battle with the mining
unions

* 1987: Wins a third general election victory

* 1990: Thousands take part in the poll tax
riots

* 1990: Resigns after facing a leadership
challenge

* 1992: Stands down as an MP and accepts
a peerage.