The former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, had been frail for some while and today's very sad news that she has died marks the end of an era.

Leaders of her quality and courage only emerge once in a generation. She completed the task that was started by Winston Churchill in the aftermath of the Second World War securing the fall of the old Soviet empire with her alliance with the then American President, Ronald Regan, and through her friendship with the emerging Soviet President Gorbachev whom she described as "a man we could do business with".

She transformed the economy of this country by giving the people a stake in their own council house and a share in the nation's former nationalised industries.

She restored Britain who had previously been described as "the sick man of Europe" into the strongest democracy in Europe, and restored the British people's belief in themselves, heralding the longest period of economic growth seen for a century.

The recapturing of the Falkland Islands earned Britain lasting respect around the world.

Despite her tragic passing away today, Thatcherism will live on through a transformed nation that she led with courage and conviction for 11 years.