Former British PM Thatcher leaves hospital
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-09 11:45

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" who dominated British politics for more than a decade, left hospital on Thursday after being admitted a day earlier for feeling faint.

Thatcher, 80, smiled and waved as she walked from the hospital and was driven away. She was kept in overnight as a precautionary measure after falling ill at her hairdresser's.

"She had a peaceful night, very rested, in her room," said a spokesman for the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.

Thatcher's spokesman Mark Worthington said she had been admitted after feeling "unwell, rather faint and not herself" but appeared to have recovered in hospital by Wednesday night.

"She was certainly chatting to people in her room, she was quite perky," he said.

Thatcher held office from 1979 to 1990 as Britain's first female prime minister. In 2002 she ended a gruelling round of public speaking engagements on doctors' orders after suffering a series of small strokes.

She has appeared frail at recent public engagements. In June 2004, she attended the state funeral in Washington of her friend and ally, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

"We are going to review what she's going to be doing for the next few days and just take it quietly," Worthington said. "We'll cancel a few things but hopefully she'll be back on track next week."