Nicholas Thatcher (3 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Fair. 2nd Edition. Moderate shelf wear. Plastic-y covering of cover is rippled and wrinkled in some areas. Back cover has vertical crease in middle. Number written in pencil on first page, otherwise pages are clean but age toned. Binding is tight. Pictures available upon request.…

Paperback (No Dust Wrapper.). Condition: Very Good. Condition Notes: Gently rubbed at the edges of the spine and wraps. A nice copy; First edition (first printing). Paperback; Measures C Format (8½" x 5¼") (0.6 kg); pp 193; Index; || The book is on the shelf, ready to be appropriately packed, and posted from the pastoral paradise of Peasedown St. John, Bath, by a real bookseller in a real book shop - with my personal guarantee and beady eye on the Consumer Contracts Regulations. REMEMBER! Buying my copy means the book shop Jack Russells get their supper! My Book #122340 ||.…

A watercolour of Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence, painted by Nicholas Ridley (1929-1993), one of Margaret Thatcher's staunchest Cabinet allies, and presented to her by the Cabinet to mark her tenth anniversary as prime minister in May 1989. The painting remained among her personal effects at her Chester Square home following her death and was subsequently acquired directly from her estate. Thatcher was deeply attached to Chequers, writing in her memoirs, "I do not think anyone has stayed long at Chequers without falling in love with it" (The Downing Street Years, p. 36). The painting was a companion to Ridley's watercolour of Downing Street, presented to her by the Cabinet in January 1988. A grandson of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, Ridley was an accomplished amateur painter. In her Nicholas Ridley Memorial Lecture of 22 November 1996, Thatcher praised his artistic gifts: "His cool, atmospheric watercolours conveyed his sense of wonder for the beauties of nature." Ridley was an early advocate of free-market Conservatism and helped found the Selsdon Group in 1973. In 1977 he chaired the Conservative policy group responsible for the Ridley Report, which recommended preparations for major industrial disputes, including stockpiling coal and strengthening police capacity. Its proposals helped shape the Thatcher government's strategy during the 1984-85 miners' strike, when Ridley was Secretary of State for Transport. He served as Secretary of State for the Environment from 1986 to 1989, championing the community charge, better known as the poll tax, before becoming Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He resigned in July 1990 following his inflammatory remarks about European integration and German influence. Thatcher herself resigned four months later. Recalling his political abilities in her 1996 memorial lecture, she declared that he "would have been a superb Chancellor". Watercolour (460 x 300 mm), initialled and dated at lower right by Nicholas Ridley. Mounted in a gilt frame (640 x 490 mm) with conservation acrylic glazing. Printed presentation message on the reverse, together with the stamp of the Cheltenham framer Geoffrey Viven Ltd. A few faint scratches to the paintwork.…