MARGARET Thatcher was hardly blown away when she first met future husband Denis, according to her authorised biography.

The twice unsuccessful Conservative parliamentary candidate for Dartford shared her thoughts on her future spouse with sister Muriel in a letter.

The young Margaret Roberts wrote about "a Major Thatcher, who has a flat in London (age about 36, plenty of money)...not a very attractive creature - very reserved but quite nice".

In another letter, the future Prime Minister told Muriel she was stepping out at the North Kent Rotary Ball "with a chap called Denis Thatcher who is managing director of the Atlas paint works in Erith.

"He's all right, but is most unpopular with his men.

"He's far too belligerent in dealing with them and they naturally don't like it".

The future Baroness Thatcher failed in her attempts to win the safe Labour seat of Dartford from opponent Norman Dodds in 1950 and 1951.

She was elected MP for Finchley in 1959 and went on to lead the country for 11-and-a-half years from 1979 to 1990.

Her death from a stroke at the age of 87 on April 8 was followed by a high profile funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral on April 17.

Extracts from Baroness Thatcher’s biography by Charles Moore have been published in The Daily Telegraph.