| Last 10 Prime Ministers - 08:11 - Apr 9 with 5389 views | Keno |
anyone care to rank them??
1. 🇬🇧 Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990)
2. 🇬🇧 John Major (1990–1997)
3. 🇬🇧 Tony Blair (1997–2007)
4. 🇬🇧 Gordon Brown (2007–2010)
5. 🇬🇧 David Cameron (2010–2016)
6. 🇬🇧 Theresa May (2016–2019)
7. 🇬🇧 Boris Johnson (2019–2022)
8. 🇬🇧 Liz Truss (2022)
9. 🇬🇧 Rishi Sunak (2022–2024)
10. 🇬🇧 Keir Starmer (2024–Present) |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 12:58 - Apr 9 with 825 views | gainsboroughblue |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 11:44 - Apr 9 by Churchman |
It depends on what criteria you look at so it’s not easy. I’ll go by instinct. The bottom six are any order really, bar Truss who is at the bottom of any list. Dreadful creature.
1. Thatcher
2. Major
3. Blair
4. Brown
5. May
6. Cameron
7. Sunak
8. Starmer
9. Johnson
10. Truss
Thatcher was a very strong leader. The best in my lifetime. Very principled. Shame they were all the wrong principles and is a cause of much of the problems in society to this day. I voted for her in 79 and 83. Aaaargh!
Major - better than was given credit for. Fiscally sound too.
Blair - good leader, great with media. No principles whatsoever and dropped us into a war with no evidence.
Brown - poor leader and a difficult man. Indecisive, oversaw the destruction of pension provision in this country, the Brown bottom (gold reserves flogged off for zippo), partly responsible for the financial crisis (FSA/poor regulation) and party to the policy with Blair of unlimited open door immigration that was never part of any manifesto. On the upside, he loathed Prince Charles, as he was then.
Cameron - projected leadership, but omg, he wouldn’t know a right decision if it hit him on the greasy head. Awful.
May - difficult person. Relied on a few trusted people, micro managed
The last four? In a big sack with an anvil and dropped in the river. Actually, bung in May and Cameron too.
What a sorry collection of specimens overall. No wonder the country is in ruins. |
Also not helped by what alternatives were out there. Thatcher was re-elected in 83 on the basis of the Falklands and a split anti-conservative vote with the creation of the SDP and Michael Foot's 'longest ever suicide note' |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:01 - Apr 9 with 829 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
1) Thatcher
2) Thatcher
3) Thatcher |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:13 - Apr 9 with 791 views | iamatractorboy |
No surprise to see Thatcher is the most divisive, but can her supporters articulate why they think she was so great? Honest question, she was a bit before my time, but the views on this thread seem to encapsulate what I have heard over the years, I.e. either a great leader, or the devil incarnate. |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:56 - Apr 9 with 750 views | LeoMuff |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 09:15 - Apr 9 by Benters |
Doubt that.
It’s not our war yet where is he today … |
Bizarre logic, this Trump cluster fck effects us hugely, why wouldn’t we be there now it appears to be getting sorted. |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:07 - Apr 9 with 720 views | Herbivore |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:13 - Apr 9 by iamatractorboy |
No surprise to see Thatcher is the most divisive, but can her supporters articulate why they think she was so great? Honest question, she was a bit before my time, but the views on this thread seem to encapsulate what I have heard over the years, I.e. either a great leader, or the devil incarnate. |
I don't want to speak for the Thatcherites but in my experience those who think she was a great leader benefited personally from her premiership. Either they or their family were able to buy a home for the first time, or were able to start a business. That's all well and good but in some ways it embodies the "I'm alright Jack" spirit that Thatcher encouraged and that has been embodied by both the Tories and many versions of Labour since those days.
If you think about things on an individual level, plenty of individuals did well from Thatcher's policies. Society as a whole, however, didn't. Right to buy meant people who could afford it bought properties at discounted rates but it has meant huge shortfalls in the amount of social housing available ever since. That means generations now condemned to paying extortionate private sector rents, house prices have rocketed partly due to private landlords buying up housing stock, and ironically a decent number of properties in that sector were once social housing. I know two people who were in social housing as young adults who now own two properties, one of which was the council flat they were allocated that they subsequently bought under right to buy. That's not how a fair and effective housing system should work.
That's before getting on to deindustrialization and destroying large swathes of the north and the countries outside England. The fights with the unions have impacted on workers' rights ever since. Privatisation that has brought huge profits to companies and the wealthy individuals who own or have invested in them but has done very little to improve key public services. We have incredibly expensive rail travel and utilities while still having Victorian infrastructure for the most part and really poor levels of service compared to our European neighbours.
So some people clearly benefited from her neo-liberal politics but as is always the case with neo-liberalism, a small number benefit and flourish while many, many more don't. It's hard to see how the UK will ever fully recover from the politics of the 80s. |  |
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| Remarkable ranking their Keno! It’s very hard to do… on 14:08 - Apr 9 with 713 views | unstableblue |
Firstly, you have to have Liz Truss at the bottom with Boris just above. Utter madness to suggest otherwise. Boris Brexit and immigration flood gates feck up alone
Truss is a joke.
Thatcher did as much harm as good
Blair did lots of really good things, our schools and hospitals had an essential refresh. But his Iraq folly taints him.
Starmer is abused as always, yes he’s had a mare, but he’s also done some good. He’s also been great on foreign policy. He’s derided because he has 80% of the press against him. But yeah he’s low. [Post edited 9 Apr 14:23]
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:09 - Apr 9 with 711 views | Churchman |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:13 - Apr 9 by iamatractorboy |
No surprise to see Thatcher is the most divisive, but can her supporters articulate why they think she was so great? Honest question, she was a bit before my time, but the views on this thread seem to encapsulate what I have heard over the years, I.e. either a great leader, or the devil incarnate. |
Immensely powerful leader. Charismatic too. An odd word to use but I saw her a few times in the HoC before and after she became PM and it was definitely there.
I agree with the post that but for the Falklands war and Foot’s lack of leadership skills (despite being one of the cleverest people in the HoC) meant that she served more than one term and grew in stature - until she went barmy.
Strange as it sounds to the 2026 mind, she did what she believed in. Doesn’t happen now. Shame what she believed in was largely tripe. |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:19 - Apr 9 with 671 views | Mullet |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:01 - Apr 9 by Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
1) Thatcher
2) Thatcher
3) Thatcher |
So good she created the conditions that meant you moved abroad! |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:29 - Apr 9 with 639 views | vapour_trail |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:13 - Apr 9 by iamatractorboy |
No surprise to see Thatcher is the most divisive, but can her supporters articulate why they think she was so great? Honest question, she was a bit before my time, but the views on this thread seem to encapsulate what I have heard over the years, I.e. either a great leader, or the devil incarnate. |
The fact that you have such a substantial portion of the population that now feels forgotten, ignored and marginalised, can be traced in one dead straight line back to Thatcher.
And just to add one point, she fostered and enabled the growth of eurosceptism amongst her followers that led to brexit and will ultimately lead to the break up of the Union and a united Ireland. Whilst there will be positives in some of that, as a legacy, it’s not what any of the ten on the OPs list were aiming for. |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:29 - Apr 9 with 638 views | The_Major |
Interestingly, if we're talking about popularity, just seen this in the Grauniad.
Ipsos has released polling today suggesting that over the past month public support for the way Keir Starmer has responded to the Iran war has gone up. Overall, his rating on this measure is still negative (40% think he has done a bad job, while 30% think he has done a good job).
Would be interesting to see what has happened over the same period of time for the rankings of Badenoch and Farage. Should think that if Starmer took the same approach as Sanchez in Spain and basically told Trump "We're done with your crap", it'd improve his standing further. |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:33 - Apr 9 with 624 views | Mullet |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 11:23 - Apr 9 by Herbivore |
I think I'm inclined to agree. Truss was objectively completely hopeless and managed to be outlasted by a lettuce. She also managed to inflict a pretty substantial amount of damage in a short amount of time. However, she didn't last long enough to irreparably damage the fabric of the country in the way Thatcher did. Thatcher was also competent and ruthless enough to actually get shit done and a competent ideologue is far more dangerous than an incompetent one. Johnson and Thatcher bottom two with Truss just ahead. Brown top I'd say with Blair and Major rounding off the top three. In between that they're all much of a muchness. |
It’s very simple. Much like her fans. | |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:37 - Apr 9 with 617 views | positivity |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:29 - Apr 9 by vapour_trail |
The fact that you have such a substantial portion of the population that now feels forgotten, ignored and marginalised, can be traced in one dead straight line back to Thatcher.
And just to add one point, she fostered and enabled the growth of eurosceptism amongst her followers that led to brexit and will ultimately lead to the break up of the Union and a united Ireland. Whilst there will be positives in some of that, as a legacy, it’s not what any of the ten on the OPs list were aiming for. |
nationalisation was another big thatcher disaster.
i think only chile and the uk have wholly privatised water, and look at the state of it.
a national embarassment | |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:39 - Apr 9 with 610 views | MattinLondon |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 12:52 - Apr 9 by gainsboroughblue |
1-10 with a plus + point and a negative -
1. Blair
+ Good friday agreement - Iraq war
2. Brown
+Post financial crisis - Didn't actually win an election
3. Major
+ Work towards NI peace - Black Wednesday
4. Starmer
Jury out
5. Cameron
+Same sex marriage - Brexit referendum
6. May
Sympathy ranking post brexit vote
7. Thatcher
+Falkands, kept Reagan in line -Poll tax, social division, deindustrialisation
8. Sunak
+ Stability - Out of touch
9. Truss
Ineffectual but not around long enough to do severe damage
10. Johnson |
To be fair to Johnson, he did provide Ukraine with a lot of help and support.
May deserves absolutely no sympathy at all. |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 14:40 - Apr 9 with 609 views | cressi |
Only one good thing about Thatcher is she passed would have done at Brighton if the rumours are true and she was Tebbit and his wife died. | | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 15:01 - Apr 9 with 573 views | Axeldalai_lama |
Anyone who doesn't have Johnson and Truss as 9 and 10 isn't taking this seriously! |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 15:40 - Apr 9 with 516 views | reusersfreekicks |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 08:56 - Apr 9 by baxterbasics |
Thatcher
Major
Cameron
May
Sunak
Johnson
Brown
Truss
Starmer
Blair |
Loltastic |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 16:12 - Apr 9 with 493 views | baxterbasics |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 13:13 - Apr 9 by iamatractorboy |
No surprise to see Thatcher is the most divisive, but can her supporters articulate why they think she was so great? Honest question, she was a bit before my time, but the views on this thread seem to encapsulate what I have heard over the years, I.e. either a great leader, or the devil incarnate. |
As much vitriol as you will hear from some, how many of her key reforms have been reversed or undone since? Practically none. Which is why she would claim later she had won the argument. The Labour party couldn't beat her so they became her.
She lifted a whole generation of working class into a property owning middle class by making it possible for millions to buy their home, who otherwise would never had a shot. My father once asked the lady herself what she felt was her greatest achievement, and this was it. You will of course hear the complaint that little of that housing stock has been replaced meaning a shortage of social housing today. But that's on her successors too.
The transition from an industrial to a financial services economy was painful for some but also inevitable. Our old industries were only surviving by heavy subsidy, losing a ton of money, unable to cope with globalisation and the growth of India, China, so on. She recognised this and sped it up. It might have been easier if the unions hadn't been determined to bring her down. They started a fight, she won. But the fallout in certain parts of the country is the main reason she is loathed in some places.
She made Britain overall richer and it's people freer. But at the cost greater wealth inequality.
Internationally: Falklands & Cold War, she was spot on with both. In fact her, Reagan, Gorbachev, were all a case of the right people at the right time.
I was glad to honour her at the funeral procession, 13 years ago. |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 16:22 - Apr 9 with 477 views | TheBlueGnu |
I would rather rate the last 10 p1sses that I've had this week. A much more worthwhile activity. | |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 16:59 - Apr 9 with 444 views | reusersfreekicks |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 16:12 - Apr 9 by baxterbasics |
As much vitriol as you will hear from some, how many of her key reforms have been reversed or undone since? Practically none. Which is why she would claim later she had won the argument. The Labour party couldn't beat her so they became her.
She lifted a whole generation of working class into a property owning middle class by making it possible for millions to buy their home, who otherwise would never had a shot. My father once asked the lady herself what she felt was her greatest achievement, and this was it. You will of course hear the complaint that little of that housing stock has been replaced meaning a shortage of social housing today. But that's on her successors too.
The transition from an industrial to a financial services economy was painful for some but also inevitable. Our old industries were only surviving by heavy subsidy, losing a ton of money, unable to cope with globalisation and the growth of India, China, so on. She recognised this and sped it up. It might have been easier if the unions hadn't been determined to bring her down. They started a fight, she won. But the fallout in certain parts of the country is the main reason she is loathed in some places.
She made Britain overall richer and it's people freer. But at the cost greater wealth inequality.
Internationally: Falklands & Cold War, she was spot on with both. In fact her, Reagan, Gorbachev, were all a case of the right people at the right time.
I was glad to honour her at the funeral procession, 13 years ago. |
So much to discuss here...
Spot on with the Falklands is an interesting take
It's people being freer is another one
Not sure the unions started the fight wholesale | | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 17:29 - Apr 9 with 416 views | Clapham_Junction |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 16:12 - Apr 9 by baxterbasics |
As much vitriol as you will hear from some, how many of her key reforms have been reversed or undone since? Practically none. Which is why she would claim later she had won the argument. The Labour party couldn't beat her so they became her.
She lifted a whole generation of working class into a property owning middle class by making it possible for millions to buy their home, who otherwise would never had a shot. My father once asked the lady herself what she felt was her greatest achievement, and this was it. You will of course hear the complaint that little of that housing stock has been replaced meaning a shortage of social housing today. But that's on her successors too.
The transition from an industrial to a financial services economy was painful for some but also inevitable. Our old industries were only surviving by heavy subsidy, losing a ton of money, unable to cope with globalisation and the growth of India, China, so on. She recognised this and sped it up. It might have been easier if the unions hadn't been determined to bring her down. They started a fight, she won. But the fallout in certain parts of the country is the main reason she is loathed in some places.
She made Britain overall richer and it's people freer. But at the cost greater wealth inequality.
Internationally: Falklands & Cold War, she was spot on with both. In fact her, Reagan, Gorbachev, were all a case of the right people at the right time.
I was glad to honour her at the funeral procession, 13 years ago. |
The Falklands War was a success, but was likely avoidable. Cutting the defence budget the year before and withdrawing HMS Endurance from the islands is widely thought to have contributed to their decision to invade.
Having recently read a book about the downfall of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev was likely the right man; Reagan was not, and his refusal to support Gorbachev in delivering his reforms is probably one of the root causes of Russia reverting to dictatorship under Putin.
Reagan's long-term negative impact on the US is nearly as bad as Thatcher's on the UK. |  | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 17:30 - Apr 9 with 414 views | iamatractorboy |
Thanks all for the responses on Thatcher. Appreciate the time taken to respond! | | | |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:24 - Apr 9 with 374 views | Sarge |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 12:55 - Apr 9 by JeanManuelThetis |
We may as well void Liz Truss.
But then anyone who wouldn't put Margaret Thatcher bottom needs to do some serious reading.
They also can't complain when they're struggling to afford a house (Housing Act 1980), that nothing is made in the UK and is too expensive (Deindustrialisation), their wages have stagnated (weakening of trade unions), trains are a mess (privatisation of rail), our rivers are polluted (prioritisation of WATER) etc. etc.
This is not to mention the ethos of deregulation and cost-cutting (picked up again by Cameron) brought in, that you could quite tangibly draw a link to scandals like the NHS Infected Blood Scandal and Grenfell.
Thatcher's legacy is a woeful stain on the UK, defined by a permanent shift toward economic inequality, a chronic lack of affordable housing and social scarring of the UK's industrial regions that will never be fully healed. [Post edited 9 Apr 12:55]
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I wasn’t born during her reign so I don’t really know
all that much but I’d be interested to know from the couple of posters that have put her top why that is. Everything I read about her makes her seem absolutely awful and the architect of much of why our country is in a mess.
I don’t expect to hear anything from one of the posters but for the others that know how to read it would be interesting.
Edit: already asked and answered [Post edited 9 Apr 18:29]
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:26 - Apr 9 with 372 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 08:55 - Apr 9 by Guthrum |
I have ranked them based on how good/effective they were as PM, thinking as a historian, rather than how much I like them or supported them at the time.
1. 🇬🇧 Tony Blair (1997–2007) Started well, got too tied up in foreign affairs, his legacy tainted by Iraq.
2. 🇬🇧 Gordon Brown (2007–2010) Decent man, too authoritarian, was left holding the baby after Blair bailed.
3. 🇬🇧 Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) Fundamentally changed the country, not always for the better, strong but authoritarian, terrible legacy (including things done later invoking her name).
4. 🇬🇧 Keir Starmer (2024–Present) Politically clumsy, too rigid, lacks clear direction, but not vastly incompetent.
5. 🇬🇧 John Major (1990–1997) Decent enough bloke, left presiding over a bit of a sh1tshow with ERM and the anti-Europeans taking over the Conservative Party, did pull off a shock General Election win in 1992.
6. 🇬🇧 David Cameron (2010–2016) Did some reasonable things, but gave Osborne too much leeway on ideological austerity and then allowed the UKIP tail to wag the Tory dog.
7. 🇬🇧 Rishi Sunak (2022–2024) Little more than a caretaker, allowed the socially conservative right to run riot.
8. 🇬🇧 Theresa May (2016–2019) Mostly harmless but weak and allowed Brexit negotiations to flounder.
9. 🇬🇧 Boris Johnson (2019–2022) Buffoon who messed up Brexit, nearly mishandled Covid and generally promoted bad policies.
10. 🇬🇧 Liz Truss (2022) The less said the better. |
Broadly agree but would move Cameron down two for bringing about the EU referendum to prevent the Conservative Party disintegrating (what has now happened anyway) and then refusing to front it up and negotiate a decent deal. He is worse and did far more damage than Sunak and May in my book. |  |
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:58 - Apr 9 with 340 views | MattinLondon |
| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:26 - Apr 9 by Nthsuffolkblue |
Broadly agree but would move Cameron down two for bringing about the EU referendum to prevent the Conservative Party disintegrating (what has now happened anyway) and then refusing to front it up and negotiate a decent deal. He is worse and did far more damage than Sunak and May in my book. |
I do have some sympathy with Cameron regarding the referendum. He obviously thought that the public wouldn’t be daft enough to vote leave - unfortunately he misjudged the levels of idiocy in the country.
He was responsible for an awful remain campaign. [Post edited 9 Apr 18:58]
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| Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:06 - Apr 9 with 324 views | carlo88 |
My opinion of Thatcher was coloured by my parents who both thought she was wonderful, and probably the reason why I voted Tory until 2015 when it was becoming obvious they were becoming clueless. It's difficult to rate them without political bias so I've rated them on how much good or important change they managed to bring about, along with how much personal integrity they had
1. Margaret Thatcher, for political courage, conviction and integrity. And dragging the country out of an economical abyss whilst having a very effective foreign policy. Major things wrong though like selling off too much social housing stock and rampant privatisation.
2. Tony Blair, for unmatched communication, openness and improvement of social services, and for lifting the country when it was drifting. If only he could have stood up to Bush more he would have been an all time great.
3. Keir Starmer, for bringing back integrity, pragmatic politics and a genuine desire to serve the country after a decade of disastrous decisions and decision makers. I don't know why he gets such a bad press and hopefully his sensible foreign policy will move him up in the polls. Against, some very avoidable U turns and reshuffles.
4. John Major. Fighting a losing battle after the ERM disaster and a mutinous right wing of the party, he nonetheless provided sensible government with an improving economy after the mid 90s. Very thin skinned though.
5. Gordon Brown, his personality made him completely unsuitable to be PM unfortunately but you cannot doubt his intellect or desire to do the right thing. Seems a political heavyweight compared to what came afterwards. Very lucky he was in charge during the 2008 financial crisis
6. David Cameron, again a very able and personable, if unserious, communicator not afraid to promote progressive policies, he appeared every inch a 'Prime Minister'. Too much austerity though and the biggest gamble of all with the Brexit referendum.
7. Rishi Sunak, could have been a better PM if he had followed Johnson and not Truss when everyone was fed up to the back teeth of the Tories. Started better relations with the EU and was sensible, but his heart never seemed in it.
8. Theresa May, had integrity and common sense aplenty, but was incapable of doing the one real thing she was put in place for, to sort out the Brexit mess. Which could have been done with a lot more bravery.
9. Liz Truss, at least she had the basic understanding to realise she was hopeless and scuttled off after a few weeks.
10. Boris Johnson, the most duplicitous, ridiculous and self-serving character this country has ever had the misfortune to be led by. Made Brexit worse, didn't have a clue over Covid and presided over so many scandals and lies we lost count in the end. An absolute joke but the joke was on us unfortunately. [Post edited 9 Apr 19:11]
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