Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who passed away today, had a California connection which I was aware of beyond the obvious – her teaming on so many fronts with California’s former governor and U. S. President, Ronald Reagan.
Around the time Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979 she met in England with Howard Jarvis, co-author of California’s Proposition 13, to discuss taxation. Prop 13’s success at the polls made worldwide news, which prompted stories and even editorial cartoons as far away as England and Australia.
Thatcher was determined to reform and reduce taxation in England in her quest to get England out of its economic doldrums and she sought out Jarvis’s insight on the issue.
Despite her tremendous success as prime minister, based partly on her economic policies, ironically, one of the items that led to her downfall at the end of her 11 years in office was a tax law change that created a local community charge that added an extra burden on local taxpayers.
I met the former prime minister only once at an event in Los Angeles but spent no time discussing taxes or politics but rather briefly talked about one of my wife’s English relatives whom Thatcher knew.
RIP Margaret Thatcher.