Who has been the UK's worst PM?

GagaJo

I'd agree with the placement of Thatcher. Having worked with children in some of the mining villages she decimated, I can say the effect on the lives in those areas continues to this day.

I was living in NE England the day the pits closed. The DHSS (or DSS or whatever they were called then) had to hire sports halls to process all of these made redundant. I suppose if it happened now now some Tory spin doctor would call them 'Nightingale Job Centres'.

Johnson.
He has no respect for anything and made a mockery of the role, the government and the nation. Never for one moment did he give the impression that his position was a huge privilege and his task to serve the country and its people.

Petera, my work informer mining communities was very hard. The level of distress and hopelessness that replaced pride stays with me

There are many PMs whose legacy is still affecting people today, Thatcher being the obvious one. But the problem with Johnson is that he has now established a new set of 'standards' for behaviour that might affect every other prime minister for generations.

MaizieD

volver

Lord North.

He lost North America.

I suspect you of not taking this topic very seriously, volver

No, I am.

Just that I think we all think that the current times are exceptional so the suggestions for "worst PM" are all recent. But in terms of the impact a PM has had on society, losing the greater part of a continent and all the revenue that come with it, is probably much worse than a few years of austerity.

20th Century or later though - definitely Thatcher or Johnson.

I've wavered between Blair and Thatcher but I'm settling on Thatcher, although Blair took us into a hopeless war he had before that done many good things.
I can't think of one good thing for Thatcher.
The devastation she caused in the coalfields lingers to this day, its legacy being the drug problems in ex-mining villages. She created today's housing crisis and destroyed any feeling of society.

Blair was lied to about weapons of mass destruction, as I understand.

Thatcher's legagy, especially in the North, is just dreadful- but at least she actually believed in what she was doing.

Johnson has no real beliefs or principles, apart from fame and fortune, for himself and anyone who is prepared to seel their soul for power and money.

Cameron for being weak and wishy washy and setting off the downward slope to now

Johnson by a mile. Whatever I think of Thatcher her behaviour wasnt the same as Johnson. I am not sure that it is clear yet how much damage he has done to the Tory party, and to concepts of decency in public life.

Tony Blair.
Hope he has nightmares about the impact of that dreadful War.

Glorianny

I've wavered between Blair and Thatcher but I'm settling on Thatcher, although Blair took us into a hopeless war he had before that done many good things.
I can't think of one good thing for Thatcher.
The devastation she caused in the coalfields lingers to this day, its legacy being the drug problems in ex-mining villages. She created today's housing crisis and destroyed any feeling of society.

Glorianny, thanks for acknowledging the good things Blair did before Iraq. It’s clear from our posts that we share anger at the damage Thatcher caused in what are now called former mining communities
The legacy of the Iraq war won’t leave Blair. It’s mentioned alongside his name, whereas the good things his government did are not. The legacy of Thatcher doesn’t seem to carry the same visceral hatred towards her.. She destroyed lives because of ideology. She knew what she was doing, cold hearted woman

Thatcher first and Blair.

Blair there is no lasting legacy.

He did good but also had to please Murdock more PFI into hospitals which have been saddled with debt.

And the war.

Thatcher, Blair for all the reasons stated above & Callaghan because he was just utterly useless and ineffectual.

Blair's administration ended badly because of the war. I was very against it but had voted for him until then. I still can't decide whether I think he knew about the WMDs or not, or whether I think he does sleep at night. I know that politics is a ruthless business, but I always got the impression that Blair was basically a caring person, even if he was prepared to trample on others (Brown, largely) to further his career. Thatcher, on the other hand, seemed not to care one bit.

He was told about WMD and given lots of 'evidence'. What if it had been true- and he had ignored the information given.

Yes, that's what we don't know, isn't it? Did he go to war believing he had no choice, or was it to appease the Americans?

We'll never know, I don't suppose.

Blair.Should be locked up for his War Crimes.

It's interesting though, I remember a thread on MN where they were asked which previous government they would like to live under, Blairs government was pretty much every answer.

Tony Blair. Should have been prosecuted as a war criminal. Opened up the borders under the guise of ‘multiculturalism’, opened the doors for the privatisation of the NHS, and hired ATOS - a company with a proven dreadful track record, to carry out medical assessments on behalf of the DWP. He laid the foundations for the subsequent Coalition and Tory governments to impose ever more draconian measures on the British public. He announced his intention to resign well in advance and left Gordon Brown to pick up the pieces - for which he was castigated. Gordon Brown is the only one, as far as I can see, with any genuine concern for what’s happening to ordinary people in the present economic climate.

Without a doubt Johnson closely followed by Thatcher. Johnson lying every time he opened his mouth - what did he achieve? Please don’t say the disaster called Brexit. Thatcher for ruining livelihoods, Argentine war and selling off majority of council houses which has only benefitted one generation and b****r those families which followed. Both an utter disgrace.

In some ways, I wish he would be prosecuted, so that we would find out the truth, but I assume that can't happen yet as information will be classified.

I have no issue with multiculturalism, and don't know enough about the running of the NHS to know whether his measures were wilfully terrible or a necessary evil. I say that with no disrespect to you, as I realise that his policies will have impacted on you in ways I don't understand, and my lack of understanding doesn't make your point invalid.

He did a lot for education and families, sorted out the Good Friday Agreement and life under his administration seemed so much more hopeful than now (unless that's rose coloured glasses, as they were the baby years for me). The jury's out where Blair is concerned, for me at least.

I despise Blair, and that’s without the benefit of hindsight - I left the Labour party the day he became leader.

However, his government oversaw: the minimum wage; shortest hospital waiting lists in 40 years; actual new hospitals; Sure Start, significant investment in education and smaller class sizes; 11 years of uninterrupted economic growth used to underpin a massive reduction in child (and all) domestic poverty; peace in Northern Ireland, devolution and a constructive relationship with the EU.

I don’t deny the failures including the botched welfare reform, which the Tories have capitalised on ever since, increasing PPI (a Major policy initially), and failing to remove the Right to Buy, but there is a lot of good to offset against those.

Doodledog summarises the positives from the Blair government well. I remember the feeling of hope in 1997. The Blair/brown years were so much better for the country than the austerity, then shameless shoddy ‘leadership’ by Johnson.

Like everyone I know, I opposed the war in Iraq. I don’t know if Blair deliberately lied or how heavily it weighs on his mind. I struggle to believe he despises the people in this country, whereas I do believe Johnson does

Thatcher - she was a heartless b***h and cared not one whit for those who were felled by her policies - nor what the legacy of her policies would be: fragmented privatised "services" and declining communities. She also perpetuated the myth of the national budget being like a domestic budget, which has been used as an excuse to pursue financial policies that keep the poor in their place.

Johnson was just a continuation of the rot coupled with a complete disregard for the truth, integrity and our democratic processes.

But Thatcher started it all.

Tony Blair initiated Sure Start, so I commend him for that, but not for much else he did.

Thatcher. Allowing the sale of council houses was criminal.