The worst 3 British politicians in the last 50 years

varian ^If only Margaret Thatcher had been as stupid and as grossly incompetent as Boris Johnson. She could never had done so much damage to our country^-Love it! .

Margaret Thatcher who laid the foundations for the mess we're in today

David Cameron who was mind blowingly oblivious to what the electorate thought of him and his austerity

Boris Johnson ( who is head and shoulders above the other two..) hell bent on totally destroying the Union and all our democratic processes..

I agree with your choice of the worst three Maizie but it is hard to put them in order as they have all inflicted different kinds of damage on our country.

Gordon Brown saved the UK from financial catastrophe in 2008.
He also played a statesman-like role in the Scottish Independence referendum.
History will be kinder to him than people were at the time he was in office.

Maizie Margaret Thatcher who laid the foundations for the mess we're in today
The mess we’re in today is at least partly the result of the EU referendum which she would never have contemplated.
I doubt if she would have sanctioned austerity either.

janeainsworth

Maizie Margaret Thatcher who laid the foundations for the mess we're in today
The mess we’re in today is at least partly the result of the EU referendum which she would never have contemplated.
I doubt if she would have sanctioned austerity either.

She destroyed our manufacturing base and heavy industry, leaving great swathes of England and Wales bereft of employment, and did very little to compensate. Why do you think areas such as the North East felt 'left behind? She also did her best too cut public spending, which is just 'austerity' under a different disguise. It has just the same effect on jobs and the economy.

I think this laid excellent foundations for the Brexit vote..

Thatcher for so many things, selling off council housing for one
Johnson for leading the worst government I can remember
Cameron for the referendum

Realise I instantly came up with three Conservatives- Don't suppose I can have three more but I'll try for
-Corbyn for being such an ineffectual grumpy party leader
- Blair's government did so much good but the invasion of Iraq dominates

Corbyn for being so inflexible and arrogant.
Johnson for being an arrogant toff.
Gove for being manipulative and sneaky and being bessy mate with Dominic Cummings and being behind some of the string pulling.

Tony Blair for selling the Labour Party down the river
Boris Johnson for his lies
Neil Kinnock for chasing rich pickings in the EU

Maizie Margaret Thatcher left office nearly 30 years ago. So although you can blame her for many things, I don’t think you can hold her directly responsible for the state of affairs today. It would be like blaming Anthony Eden for the Miners’ Strike of 1984.
Labour had 13 years in power to reverse what she had set in motion, had they wanted to.

janeainsworth

Maizie Margaret Thatcher left office nearly 30 years ago. So although you can blame her for many things, I don’t think you can hold her directly responsible for the state of affairs today. It would be like blaming Anthony Eden for the Miners’ Strike of 1984.
Labour had 13 years in power to reverse what she had set in motion, had they wanted to.

Sorry Jane, but I have lived in the North (Yorkshire and Durham) for 40 years and it has never been the same since Thatcher did all the things I detailed in my last post. I really don't understand why you can't see that some actions have very lasting effects.

As for Labour having 13 years in power, that's just whataboutery. It doesn't detract from what Thatcher did.

Margaret Thatcher changed the mindset of the people in this country which, IMO has led to the selfishness that I see everywhere now.

My God, there are so many to choose from that it’s difficult to come down to three.

Neville Chamberlain (appeasing the Nazis)
Tony Blair (illegal war)
Neil Kinnock (became a millionaire off the back of the EU)

I’m not sure they’re the worst, there are so many more I could have named from all sides of the house.

You know what has been refreshing about this thread ? The number of posters who chose politicians from different parties and gave reasons !

Thank heaven Jo Swinson lost her seat. If she had become Prime Minister, she would have overturned the result of the referendum....democracy didn't mean much to her!

This is difficult, as ‘worst’ in what way would be my question,
In their personal life? Political gaffes or choices? Just for being themselves??
Most have automatically picked three politicians from a party they don’t support ( not all).
On poor political choices only in the last 50 years,
In no particular order
Theresa May
Jeremy Corbyn
Jo Swinson

Maizie I’ve lived in the North for most of my life & Northumberland for the last 33 years. Yes bitterness about the Thatcher years remains, but the fact is that Newcastle and Northumberland are much more prosperous and vibrant places now than they were 30 years ago, in spite of the loss of mining & heavy industry.
We will have to agree to differ. I just don’t believe a single politician has the power to change things so drastically and so permanently as you imply. MT wasn’t a dictator, even if she appeared to behave like one. She was elected by the people of this country 3 times to lead a government with Cabinet responsibility for policies. She didn’t do it all single-handedly, even though she got most of the blame.
Maybee Margaret Thatcher changed the mindset of the people in this country which, IMO has led to the selfishness that I see everywhere now
I think you ascribe far too much influence to politicians. People’s values & beliefs are usually influenced by their early experience - their parents, teachers, religious influences (if any), and later on by what they read in the the various media & see on television.
In a western democracy, politicians in office reflect people’s values rather than mould them.

Thatcher - for the destruction caused monetarism.
Cameron - for austerity and the EU referendum.
Johnson - where to start ...

Lemongrove * Most have automatically picked three politicians from a party they don’t support ( not all)*
I don’t agree! I just said I thought it was refreshing to see Many people picking someone from three different parties.

I think you are right Lucca I just skim read the thread at first, but looking back there are about eight who have picked all from one party.

Only 3??!!

Margaret Thatcher did not threaten democracy as such - but she presided over a change of values which had repercussions throughout our society and fostered a loss of community cohesion, and the death of the concept of "service." Profit was god. I remember my DD at secondary school having cookery lessons which were nothing to do with nutrition or lovingly feeding a family, but had them making variations of the same item ( a bought pizza with different toppings) and creating a "marketing" plan for them and attractive packaging. We have not shaken this off yet, in spite of an intervening Labour government, which leads me on to.............

Tony Blair took us into an illegal war. It makes me shudder.

David Cameron was a coward - he could not face standing up to his party over the EU so copped out and put it to a referendum with no plans as to how he might deal with a leave vote. Second cop out: buggered off over the horizon and left others to pick up his mess.

Boris Johnson is of course the prime threat to democracy; government by unelected "advisors" (aka mates); attempting to manipulate the parliamentary timetable to his benefit; bungling the coronavirus response with the loss of so many lives.

What do we do to deserve these dreadful people leading our nations?

What do we do? We vote for them (Gransnetters excepted, of course).

Ha ha, how ironic. It isn't any UK Prime Minister who has done the most to harm British democracy, it's those who voted Remain and the SNP, who won't accept the result of referendum. You obviously don't understand the meaning of democratic because you only think it applies if you get the result you want.

Also, check your facts. Harold Wilson closed more mines than Margaret Thatcher did.