Gordon Reece

Sir James Gordon Reece (28 September 1929 – 22 September 2001) was a British journalist and television producer who worked as a political strategist for Margaret Thatcher during the 1979 general election, which led to her victory over then prime minister James Callaghan. Reece was credited with softening the tone of Thatcher's voice and improving her stuffy dress sense, to broaden her public appeal, and he also encouraged her to adopt and embrace the title of "The Iron Lady" (coined by the USSR) to convey the strength of her unwavering political resolve and unbending character.

Reece's father was able to send the young Gordon to Ratcliffe College, a Roman Catholic boarding school in Leicestershire; a contemporary was Norman St John-Stevas, later Lord St John of Fawsley, who reported Reece to the school authorities for atheism. He read history at Downing College, Cambridge, and decided on a career in journalism. According to the Fleming archive, Thatcher then went on to have lessons from her for the best part of four years, from 1972 to 1976; Fleming died in 1978.

Reece then taught Thatcher to lower and deepen her voice, advised on clothing, accompanied her to her television and radio interviews, and made sure that she avoided combative interviewers who would make her appear strident.

Reece opposed a proposed television debate between Thatcher and Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan in 1979. Callaghan dismissed politicians' interests in television programmes, saying "You have to appeal to ordinary voters, who are not very interested in politics." Thatcher won the 1979 general election.

In 1980 Reece left for Los Angeles, to join Armand Hammer's Occidental Petroleum Corporation as a vice-president. For five years, he did his best to improve Hammer's public image. The couple had six children. He died at The London Clinic on 22 September 2001, at the age of 71, six days shy of his birthday.

A depiction of Reece in his role in Thatcher's campaign for Conservative Party leadership and her subsequent election as PM is made in the 2012 motion picture The Iron Lady, in which he is portrayed by Roger Allam.