Best British Prime minister

[Arumdaum]

Thatcher + Reagan, leaders of the free world.

But she stole milk from schoolchildren! Somebody please think of the children!!!

Thatcher and Reagan are made of pure, concentrated evil juice. I guess Margaret wanted to give some of that instead.

[Nadkor]

Wilson? You've gotta be kidding me. Admirable for the general liberalisation of criminal law, I suppose (even though these were primarily the achievements of Roy Jenkins). Did a decent job in holding everything together, but seriously screwed with the economy by, essentially, ignoring the problem until it went away (it didn't). He brought in the comprehensive school system, for god's sake. Although I suppose he did try to take us into the EC.

For all those saying Attlee, he wouldn't get on the list, for me; sure, you've got to respect his achievements vis a vis the welfare state, and his general handing of a difficult post-war economic situation, but he totally fucked up decolonisation in the Indian subcontinent. OK, so he's generally respected for his management skills and for running an effective administration, but people forget that he got kicked out in 1951 because he couldn't keep his party together, let alone the country. Arguably Herbert Morrison was (as with Roy Jenkins with Wilson, and Brown with Blair) more influential in the grand scheme of things than Attlee.

Macmillan equally fucked with the economy, "a little local difficulty" my arse. He did handle decolonisation of Africa well, though, for the most part.

Churchill did a good job as a wartime leader, but as a Prime Minister he was woeful. That, and his politics were truly repulsive at times.

Thatcher...fucking hell. Don't get me started on that.

[Takaram]

Odd, I always got the impression that Pitt was pretty popular, but haven't really looked into the subject that much.

[Novalands]

I thought Tony Blair was a magician ...

Churchill by the way.

[Barzan]

Churchill, hands down.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Clement Attlee.

Hey, if you're going to put Blair on there, why not Neville Chamberlain?

[Urzamalandi]

I've not been around long enough to experience most of them so it would only be on the basis of what ive been told/taught, so that would go to Churchill, purely because the others are forgotten and seldom mentioned, except Thatcher obviously.

in the uk it would appear we're not so fixated with the corrupt leaders of the past, we have enough trouble dealing the the corrupt leaders of the present.

[Barzan]

Clement Attlee.

Hey, if you're going to put Blair on there, why not Neville Chamberlain?

Attlee did good things, but he was so divisive and his economic policies were unsustainable.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Clement Attlee.

Hey, if you're going to put Blair on there, why not Neville Chamberlain?

Attlee did good things, but he was so divisive and his economic policies were unsustainable.

I think pretty much everyone's economic policies are unsustainable...

[Allrule]

Clement Atlee.
'Nuff said.

[Barzan]

Clement Atlee.
'Nuff said.

More so than Churchill?

[Waterlow]

Archregimancy's arguments for Gladstone are very persuasive.

Churchill was a remarkable war leader; I'd honour him for that only, however.

Atlee - where is he?

Major?

Pitt the Younger's been mentioned but we were pretty much bankrupted on his watch! Unless I'm misremembering my history...

[Nadkor]

Major?

I'm not arguing in favour of Major being regarded as one of the best PMs ever, although he did a quite admirable job in somehow maintaining what he could of his majority post-1992, but answer me this without looking it up: which PM (and in this ignore the constituency system and take it as meaning an aggregate of all votes in all constituencies in a particular election) got the greatest number of votes in one election?

[Dyakovo]

Neville Chamberlain
No, I am not serious

[Pope Joan]

Disraeli.

I like Disraeli too.

He could be a bold innovator, ("success is the child of audacity") and yet tactful.

He handled the economic dislocations of the Industrial Age as well as any world leader.

And he frequently had tea with the dear old Queen!

Well, she wasn't that old at first.

[You-Gi-Owe]

Neville Chamberlain. This is controversial, but he was smart enough to sacrifice his image to try to save Britain. He may not have succeded, but it was what he thought was right at the time. The British Military was in no position to fight a war at the time. If he hadn't made tried to make peace with Germany, then who knows whether or not the Brits would have survived.In a worst case scenario, the Nazis could potentally have taken out all of Europe. Also, before he was PM, he passed laws that would reform the British factories. Because of these laws, the British army HAD gotten to the point where they could wage war when the time came.

Can't say I agree with your view of the effects of Chamberlain's actions, after muttering the most ill concieved five word phrase in the English language ("I have a cunning plan").

[Barzan]

Neville Chamberlain. This is controversial, but he was smart enough to sacrifice his image to try to save Britain. He may not have succeded, but it was what he thought was right at the time. The British Military was in no position to fight a war at the time. If he hadn't made tried to make peace with Germany, then who knows whether or not the Brits would have survived.In a worst case scenario, the Nazis could potentally have taken out all of Europe. Also, before he was PM, he passed laws that would reform the British factories. Because of these laws, the British army HAD gotten to the point where they could wage war when the time came.

Can't say I agree with your view of the effects of Chamberlain's actions, after muttering the most ill concieved five word phrase in the English language ("I have a cunning plan").

Chamberlain kind of fucked-over Europe by appeasing the Nazis, and I don't think it was because he was "cunning". Stupid was more like it. Or "fellow traveller".

[Post-Unity Terra]

Clement Atlee.
'Nuff said.

More so than Churchill?

Churchill wasn't a fantastic PM and Atlee got to clean up his mess.

[Sun Aut Ex]

Neville Chamberlain. This is controversial, but he was smart enough to sacrifice his image to try to save Britain. He may not have succeded, but it was what he thought was right at the time. The British Military was in no position to fight a war at the time. If he hadn't made tried to make peace with Germany, then who knows whether or not the Brits would have survived.In a worst case scenario, the Nazis could potentally have taken out all of Europe. Also, before he was PM, he passed laws that would reform the British factories. Because of these laws, the British army HAD gotten to the point where they could wage war when the time came.

Can't say I agree with your view of the effects of Chamberlain's actions, after muttering the most ill concieved five word phrase in the English language ("I have a cunning plan").

Chamberlain kind of fucked-over Europe by appeasing the Nazis, and I don't think it was because he was "cunning". Stupid was more like it. Or "fellow traveller".

Are you kidding? The vast majority of Britons approved of the deal Chamberlain made. Britain was in no condition to fight; had he taken the country to war, they would have lost.

The British people did not want another war.

[Peepelonia]

Why isn't Lloyd George on there?

Anyways, him.

Lloyd George? Umm it is told that he knew my father!


Bwhahahah.

[Nadkor]

The problem for Chamberlain is that the victors write the history, and the victor was Churchill. For Chamberlain to have acted in any other way would have been madness, and would most likely have led to the total destruction of the UK. By delaying a war which he must surely have known was inevitable until Britain was in some way equipped to fight it he ensured that we didn't get annihilated. If Britain had been occupied by Germany, there would have been no launch pad for a US invasion of Europe, and everything would look a little different.

Chamberlain acted as he did because he simply had to; to have acted any other way at the time would have been our downfall. Unfortunately history has not been kind to poor Neville. If any PM deserves our contempt for appeasement it's Baldwin.

[Yootopia]

The problem for Chamberlain is that the victors write the history, and the victor was Churchill. For Chamberlain to have acted in any other way would have been madness, and would most likely have led to the total destruction of the UK. By delaying a war which he must surely have known was inevitable until Britain was in some way equipped to fight it he ensured that we didn't get annihilated. If Britain had been occupied by Germany, there would have been no launch pad for a US invasion of Europe, and everything would look a little different.

Chamberlain acted as he did because he simply had to; to have acted any other way at the time would have been our downfall. Unfortunately history has not been kind to poor Neville. If any PM deserves our contempt for appeasement it's Baldwin.

Quite. Britain in 1938 had an even more rubbish military situation than its unimpressive capabilities in 1940 when we won the Battle of Britain (which was Quite An Effort).

[Goath]

Clement Atlee.

Here, here!