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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)
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:06 - Apr 9 by 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]
“Dragged the country out of an economic abyss” but the way she did it was a disaster? This is why the cult of Maggie is so baffling.
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:26 - Apr 9 by GlasgowBlue
Ming Campbell gives an unbiased and fair assessment.
I can’t square the circle with apparently her policies being right, yet she wasn’t honest that they would screw over large parts of the country. I would argue that if her policies were right, they wouldn’t screw over a lot of the country to the point that some areas still haven’t recovered decades after. It’s the equivalent of Blair’s foreign war with no thought to what comes next.
I don’t think she should get a free pass because things were crap and something had to be done. You could justify a Farage-led government under those conditions. And obviously no sane person would make that case.
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:39 - Apr 9 by Swansea_Blue
I can’t square the circle with apparently her policies being right, yet she wasn’t honest that they would screw over large parts of the country. I would argue that if her policies were right, they wouldn’t screw over a lot of the country to the point that some areas still haven’t recovered decades after. It’s the equivalent of Blair’s foreign war with no thought to what comes next.
I don’t think she should get a free pass because things were crap and something had to be done. You could justify a Farage-led government under those conditions. And obviously no sane person would make that case.
I guess you had to be there.
“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it........."
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:51 - Apr 9 by GlasgowBlue
As a working adult?
No, I was a child then. But my dad and the men on his side of the family were miners, so I grew up with the consequences.
Edit. We couldn’t afford a packet of biscuits when I was young. Certainly no chance of a TV. I was 8/9 before we had our first family holiday (a week in Wales). Such great times.
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 08:55 - Apr 9 by Pinewoodblue
Not Sure about Cameron though, ineffectual and, to my mind, responsible for the Brexit vote, a vote which shouldn’t have happened.
The vote had to happen under Cameron. He basically got the Tory leadership because of a fistful of euro sceptics that whipped up the party Poor Pm imho Austerity Screwed students on student fees And then limply backed remain and got done over by the likes of Faridge
1. Major 2. Blair 3. Brown 4. Starmer 5. Sunak - Right man wrong time 6. May 7. Thatcher
Not worthy as we are where we are today because of these people
8. Cameron
9. Johnson
10 Truss
[Post edited 9 Apr 20:39]
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Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 21:06 - Apr 9 with 724 views
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 20:31 - Apr 9 by peterleeblue
The vote had to happen under Cameron. He basically got the Tory leadership because of a fistful of euro sceptics that whipped up the party Poor Pm imho Austerity Screwed students on student fees And then limply backed remain and got done over by the likes of Faridge
1. Major 2. Blair 3. Brown 4. Starmer 5. Sunak - Right man wrong time 6. May 7. Thatcher
Not worthy as we are where we are today because of these people
8. Cameron
9. Johnson
10 Truss
[Post edited 9 Apr 20:39]
Cameron didn't get the Tory leadership because of the euro sceptics. David Davis was their man. Cameron was the modernisers choice.
“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it........."
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:06 - Apr 9 by 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]
There have been some excellent reflections on the Johnson premiership on this thread and this is right up there.
Only two people have him above ninth.
Baxters has him sixth but he is usually reasonable so perhaps it was the sun.
Anyone below Truss who thinks the world is run by lizards, and has the financial acumen of a drunken sailor - v bold.
I think you might have recency bias.
Thatcher. Ideologically destroying entire regions, just because she could - not sure importing all our energy entirely aged well, or selling off our housing (not entirely her fault I know). But still, and then there’s poll tax, essentially a tax on existing, not very well thought through.
BUT .., she did help at company that invented that REALLY bad cheap ice cream full of crap, that was all we could afford in the grim north, if it wasn’t for her we’d have only had sucking each others shoe leather for nourishment.
I do miss interest rates and inflation counted in so many digits you needed a super computer to keep up - it was like Argentina, which is an interesting paradox - wars for elections, and collapsed currencies .., TWTD’s.
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Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 05:16 - Apr 10 with 607 views
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 19:54 - Apr 9 by Swansea_Blue
No, I was a child then. But my dad and the men on his side of the family were miners, so I grew up with the consequences.
Edit. We couldn’t afford a packet of biscuits when I was young. Certainly no chance of a TV. I was 8/9 before we had our first family holiday (a week in Wales). Such great times.
[Post edited 9 Apr 20:14]
Think yourself lucky I never once had a holiday with my folks.
We just had days out,which was better than some had I guess.
This thread is interesting in that different people view the last 10 Prime Ministers in different ways. Personal experience, impact, legacy, projected image, how poor successors predecessors were. The Centre for Creative Leadership identifies 10 leadership traits. For a bit of fun, I’ll subjectively and almost certainly wrongly rank Thatcher (T) and Starmer (S) out of 10.
Self-Awareness. T - 8/10, S - 6/10 Respect T - 9/10, S - 2/10 Compassion T - 0/10, S - 5/10 Vision T - 10/10, S - 2/10 Communication T - 6/10, S - 5/10 Learning Agility T - 0/10, S - 4/10 Collaboration T - 0/10, S - 5/10 Influence T - 10/10, S - 2/10 Integrity T - 10/10, S - 0/10 Courage T - 10/10, S - 2/10 Gratitude T - 0/10, S - 2/10 Resilience T - 10/10, S - 5/10
The final scores on leadership traits are Thatcher 73, Starmer 34. I have proven beyond doubt that Thatcher was a far better leader than Starmer. Actually I have proved nothing because it’s subjective nonsense. But the list of traits in what makes a leader is interesting.
If you wanted to rank them purely in terms of damage wrought, then my top five order would be Thatcher, Cameron, Johnson, Blair, May.
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Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 08:58 - Apr 10 with 510 views
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 08:11 - Apr 10 by Churchman
This thread is interesting in that different people view the last 10 Prime Ministers in different ways. Personal experience, impact, legacy, projected image, how poor successors predecessors were. The Centre for Creative Leadership identifies 10 leadership traits. For a bit of fun, I’ll subjectively and almost certainly wrongly rank Thatcher (T) and Starmer (S) out of 10.
Self-Awareness. T - 8/10, S - 6/10 Respect T - 9/10, S - 2/10 Compassion T - 0/10, S - 5/10 Vision T - 10/10, S - 2/10 Communication T - 6/10, S - 5/10 Learning Agility T - 0/10, S - 4/10 Collaboration T - 0/10, S - 5/10 Influence T - 10/10, S - 2/10 Integrity T - 10/10, S - 0/10 Courage T - 10/10, S - 2/10 Gratitude T - 0/10, S - 2/10 Resilience T - 10/10, S - 5/10
The final scores on leadership traits are Thatcher 73, Starmer 34. I have proven beyond doubt that Thatcher was a far better leader than Starmer. Actually I have proved nothing because it’s subjective nonsense. But the list of traits in what makes a leader is interesting.
If you wanted to rank them purely in terms of damage wrought, then my top five order would be Thatcher, Cameron, Johnson, Blair, May.
You clearly don't live up north do you?
Respect and Integrity are not 2 words you'd associate with Thatcher up here
In fact, it's probably hard to think of any two words to describe her that would get past the swear filter on here
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Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 09:18 - Apr 10 with 477 views
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 08:58 - Apr 10 by NedPlimpton
You clearly don't live up north do you?
Respect and Integrity are not 2 words you'd associate with Thatcher up here
In fact, it's probably hard to think of any two words to describe her that would get past the swear filter on here
Respect is what she gained from political opponents, rich people and foreign leaders. Integrity is defined on AI as being honest and having strong moral principles. I believe most people think she had those too - until she went off her trolley.
I have given my personal views on Thatcher in an earlier post and actually Herbivore expressed them far better than me. Put it this way, her funeral cortège went past my window on the ground floor of HMRC where I was on a dial in. Others could hear the band and asked if I wanted to pause it and go and pay my respects. I responded that the only way I’d go outside was to check the hag was in the box. Message received and we carried on.
The post this morning was very much an about leadership qualities and what makes a good leader. Somebody suggested Stalin. Well he is proof you can be a ‘good’ leader and a mass murderer in addition to a one man economic disaster.
An interesting discussion.
[Post edited 10 Apr 11:47]
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Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:12 - Apr 10 with 400 views
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:12 - Apr 10 by baxterbasics
What I find odd about a of these lists is how some rate Major highly whilst sticking Thatcher at or near the bottom.
In policy/ world view terms, there's not much between them. So is personality alone making all the difference here?
i think for me it's judging on what actually happened in office, major did far less harm to society, if there is still such a thing (you could argue that he was far less consequential too, but that wasn't the question)
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 05:16 - Apr 10 by Benters
Think yourself lucky I never once had a holiday with my folks.
We just had days out,which was better than some had I guess.
Yeah, I was lucky at that point. Very different times those. People weren’t jetting off all over the place for mini breaks. We had one holiday a year in the UK, but could only manage that once my mum started working.
I was 17 before I went overseas and that was thanks to connections I made while doing A levels. We had no family overseas holidays when I was growing up. Very different times indeed.
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 05:16 - Apr 10 by Benters
Think yourself lucky I never once had a holiday with my folks.
We just had days out,which was better than some had I guess.
Your empathy really knows no bounds.
A massive part of me really hopes you are just a troll but, even if J2 is correct and everything you say is simply to troll, there are a significant number of people and voters in this country who think like you do.
For what it is worth, Swanners, I am sorry that was your experience growing up.
Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 18:19 - Apr 10 by positivity
i think for me it's judging on what actually happened in office, major did far less harm to society, if there is still such a thing (you could argue that he was far less consequential too, but that wasn't the question)
I think his post-office behaviour - being a rare voice of sanity in the modern Tory party - has also made many view him more favourably.
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Last 10 Prime Ministers - on 23:54 - Apr 10 with 214 views
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