One such member of the public was housewife and geography schoolteacher Diana Gould. Mrs Gould, of similar age to the Prime Minister, and somebody with a particular interest in the South Atlantic region, challenged Mrs Thatcher over her decision to sink the Argentine cruiser Belgrano during the Falklands conflict of the previous year, with the loss of 323 Argentinian personnel. With a knowledge of the region which the Prime Minister was unprepared for, Mrs Gould insisted that the sinking was unjustified since it was sailing away from the Falklands, and that the decision had to have been taken with knowledge of a peace plan put forward by Peru, which according to Mrs Gould the Prime Minister chose to ignore.
Mrs Thatcher used all of her forceful personality to try to insist that her decision was the correct one, and that the vessel did indeed still pose a threat to British vessels, but Mrs Gould stood firm, and was having none of it. She was particularly angered when told that the full facts would be revealed "in thirty years' time" (Cabinet papers are traditionally released to the public thirty years later). Telling the Prime Minister that was not good enough, she was interrupted to be told that the peace proposals to which she referred did not, in fact reach her until after the Belgrano was sunk. Sadly for Mrs Gould, it was not good enough for her to have to wait three decades; she died in 2011, only a year before she would have been able to see for herself the released Cabinet papers when they finally emerged.
The encounter was seen by millions of British viewers and created a sensation; nobody was accustomed to seeing 'The Iron Lady' rattled in a televised debate. It led to alleged accusations from Denis Thatcher, the Prime Minister's husband, that the BBC were "run by a load of pinkos" (left-wing apologists). The schoolteacher from Gloucestershire was feted by the media for her defiant and insistent stance against the formidable Margaret Thatcher.
Ultimately, the encounter did not damage the Prime Minister or her party. Mrs Thatcher's Conservative party was re-elected in a landslide victory, attributed in part to the Falklands victory of the year before. Mrs Gould went on to publish a book called 'On The Spot: The Sinking Of The Belgrano' (ISBN: 978-0900821714)
*2023 update: Margaret Thatcher herself died in April 2013, remaining a divisive figure even after her passing*
The televised confrontation between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Diana Gould can be seen here:
On the Spot: The Sinking of the Belgrano
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