Reports: Margaret Thatcher Leaves Hospital British media are reporting that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has left the hospital after an operation to remove a bladder growth. The 87-year-old former Conservative leader was admitted to the hospital last week to have the operation. The BBC and Sky News said Thatcher was doing well and left the hospital on Saturday to "convalesce privately." Her spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking confirmation. She served as prime minister from May 1979 until her resignation in November 1990.