Margaret Thatcher's legacy

London Mayor Boris Johnson has supported calls for a Margaret Thatcher statue to be erected in central London, according to The Telegraph.

A spokesman for the GLA said: “The Mayor believes Baroness Thatcher deserves a prominent statue in a central London location and his team will assist with exploring suitable options.”

The idea has been put forward by former servicemen and has been echoed by Lord Tebbit and UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Baroness Thatcher is Britain's most popular prime minister since the Second World War, eclipsing even Sir Winston Churchill, according to a YouGov/Sun poll.

The survey of 1,893 adults revealed:

• 28% of people named Thatcher as the best of the 13 prime ministers since 1945.
• Sir Winston was in second place with 24% of the vote, and Tony Blair in third with 10%.
• Nearly half of those polled (48%) felt she left Britain economically better off, 60% felt she left it more respected in the world.

• 51% believed she created more opportunities for women, 36% declared she left society more free, and 49% said she left a less equal society.
• 50% of people back her being given a full ceremonial funeral at St Paul's Cathedral next week - the rest disagree or simply do not know what to think.

Perhaps she always will divide opinion, but certainly the debate about what Lady Thatcher did for feminism has gathered pace.

On last night's ITV News at Ten her close political ally Lord Tebbit put it like this: "She did more for feminism than any feminist ever has done."

Plenty of women have not agreed with that.

So ITV News Business Editor, Laura Kuenssberg, to found out more from women whose lives she changed for better, or worse:

Read: Laura Kuenssberg's blog: Margaret Thatcher - a woman in a man's world

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch claimed Britain is "far more successful" because of Baroness Thatcher's "brave leadership".

Mr Murdoch praised the former Prime Minister's role in facing down the trade unions in the 1980s and said the Government made it possible for News International to survive a year of industrial action fighting against a move of operations to Wapping, East London.

The tycoon wrote in The Times (£): "Mrs Thatcher understood that risk was a vital ingredient in a free enterprise society. She understood that such a society had to be led by a government with backbone.

"After the Second World War, in which the country lost a second generation of its finest men, Britain had created a dependency state. It killed off aspiration.

"In 1979 Margaret Thatcher set about its rehabilitation. She put the economy on a sound footing, she ended a culture of crippling strikes, she encouraged entrepreneurs to come here and set up their businesses.

"Thanks to her I have experienced in Britain many of my defining moments as a businessman, a Britain that is far more successful as a result of her brave leadership."