London/New Delhi : Britain's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher may have divided opinion during her lifetime but her death here today has attracted a unanimous outpouring of tributes across party and political lines.
Prime Minister David Cameron led the tributes to his former Conservative party leader on what he described as a "sad day for our country" as news of the 87-year-old's death from a stroke broke.
"It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Lady Thatcher. We have lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton. She was the greatest British peacetime prime minister," said Cameron, who received the news while in Madrid for a meeting with Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy and has now cut short his visit to return to Downing Street.
Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader, added, "Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics. Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served.
"She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics".
Across the other end of the political spectrum, Labour leader Ed Miliband described her as a "unique figure".
"She reshaped the politics of a whole generation. She was Britain's first woman prime minister. She moved the centre ground of British politics and was a huge figure on the world stage.
"The Labour party disagreed with much of what she did and she will always remain a controversial figure. But we can disagree and also greatly respect her political achievements and her personal strength," he said.
Labour party also plans to suspend ongoing campaigning in the local elections scheduled for next month until further notice as a mark of respect following Thatcher's death.
The union jack has been lowered at the Houses of Parliament and floral tributes are collecting outside her home in Belgravia in central London.
Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair echoed his party leader's views on Thatcher as "a towering political figure".
"Very few leaders get to change not only the political landscape of their country but of the world. Margaret was such a leader. Her global impact was vast. And some of the changes she made in Britain were, in certain respects at least, retained by the 1997 Labour government, and came to be implemented by governments around the world," he said.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond described the former Conservative party leader who led Britain between 1979 and 1990 as a "truly formidable prime minister whose policies defined a political generation".
"No doubt there will now be a renewed debate about the impact of that legacy. Today, however, the proper reaction should be respect and condolences to her family," he added.
Well-known author and Tory party deputy chairman in the 1980s Jeffrey Archer said Thatcher's greatest strength was that when she believed in something for the good of the country she did not take any notice of opinion polls or focus groups.
"She had a strength of character I have never seen equal in my life," he said.
From around the world, the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, recalled Thatcher as a great politician, who will go down in history.
Thatcher, who was famously labelled an "Iron Lady" during the Soviet era reflecting her strong anti-Communist views, had referred to Gorbachev a leader the West "could do business with", as he laid the foundations for an end to the Soviet era.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed "deepest sadness" over the demise of Thatcher and said, "people of India join me in sending our sincerest condolences to the Thatcher family, the government and people of the United Kingdom."
Singh said Thatcher was "a transformative figure under whom the United Kingdom registered important progress" in the national and international arenas.
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