World Notes BRITAIN

Two days after the fizz had gone out of the New Year's champagne, corks were ready to pop again in London. The occasion this time was Margaret Thatcher's 3,164th day in office, making her Britain's longest continuously serving Prime Minister this century. The previous record holder was Herbert Asquith, who occupied 10 Downing Street from 1908 to 1916. The achievement so pleased Thatcher, 62, that she postponed a trip to Africa to toast the occasion with her husband Denis. The Prime Minister has often dropped hints that she is prepared to "go on and on," raising speculation that she aims to break the British record for all time. The competition: Sir Robert Walpole, whose 21 consecutive years of service (7,620 days, to be precise) starting in 1721 make him the man to beat.