UK's landmark postwar elections: When Thatcher became 1st female PM in 1979

Britain's upcoming general election is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. Many analysts believe it will be one of the country's most consequential elections since the end of World War II.

Ahead of the July 4 vote, The Associated Press takes a look back at other landmark UK elections since the war.

Britain's general election in 1979 is without doubt the most significant since 1945, with Margaret Thatcher becoming the country's first female prime minister on a radical Conservative economic agenda.

At its heart, Thatcherism represented a total rethink over the role of the state.

Since Labour's big victory in 1945, a so-called postwar consensus on the economy existed between the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives. Despite the changes in power, their economic approaches aligned. Governments targeted full employment and would intervene in the economy to pursue that goal through tax and spending policies.

That consensus was getti