9. “The most audacious attack on a British government since the Gunpowder Plot”, the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton narrowly missed killing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984
Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925) served as the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, holding said position between 1979 and 1990, and was the longest-serving British head of government in the 20th century. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady” by the Soviet press for her leadership style and rigid devotion to her political beliefs, Thatcher implemented widespread economic and social reforms that remain intensely divisive to this day. Governing during “The Troubles” – a guerilla conflict in Northern Ireland between nationalists and unionists – Thatcher was the target of an assassination attempt in Brighton in the early hours of October 12, 1984.
At 0254, the Provisional Irish Republic Army detonated a bomb at the Grand Brighton Hotel, where leading members of the Conservative Party were staying in preparation for the party’s autumn conference. Killing five people, including a sitting Conservative Member of Parliament, the attack also injured at least thirty-one. However, the explosion failed to collapse the building, only damaging Thatcher’s bathroom and not her bedroom or sitting room. Despite the bombing, Thatcher insisted the party conference open the following day as planned, delivering her speech to widespread praise for her steadfastness and strength under pressure.