50 national treasures

1 Margaret Thatcher. For all her faults (FAHF), she smashed the consensus of the 1970s, that low, dishonest decade. The administrative class had settled on a job description "to manage the process of decline". She allowed those with talent to rise faster than their years. Her principle was "the many not the few". And for those who hate her – she shut more grammar schools than Tony Crosland.