but Michael How many people voted for her party in each election after as you put it "she got the better of him", and how many voted for the other 2 parties, was her election due to her overall popularity, or was it the nature of the electoral system, example in the 1983 election, Popular vote conservatives         13,012,316 labour        8,456,934 sdp alliance liberals        7,780,949 more people voted for the other two main parties than the conservatives.
same thing in 1987 election here
conservatives
13,760,935         – 0.2
        Labour         633         229         26         6         + 20         35.2         10,029,270         + 3.2
        SDP–Liberal Alliance         633         22         5         6         –           7,341,65
one can conclude from that that more people voted for the other 2 parties than her party,that is how the electoral system divides and rules, it shows that more people did not want her as prime minister that actually wanted her.