Former Conservative British prime minister Margaret Thatcher has died.
Her spokesman Lord Bell said Baroness Thatcher had died this morning following a stroke.
The "Iron Lady" who dominated British politics for two decades was 87.
Britain's only woman prime minister, the tough, outspoken leader led the Conservatives to three election victories, governing from 1979 to 1990 - which was the longest continuous period in office on the part of a British prime minister since the early 19th century.
"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," Lord Bell stated.
A grocer's daughter with a steely resolve, she became loved and loathed in equal measure as she crushed the unions, adopted a hard line against republicanism in Northern Ireland and privatised vast swathes of British industry.
In a statement on the Downing Street Twitter feed, British prime minister David Cameron said: “It was with great sadness that I learned of Lady Thatcher’s death.
“We’ve lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton.”
Buckingham Palace released a statement that the queen was sad to hear the news of the death and would send a private message of sympathy to the family.
Ms Thatcher earned a place in history as the first female British prime minister when she entered Downing Street in 1979.
Over the next 11 years even her critics admitted that she changed the face of the country. In recent years her health deteriorated, and she stopped making public appearances.
