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Society is changing so much, accelerated by social-media, & every Prime Minister in recent memory seems to be widely disrespected by the public at large, or perhaps more correctly, those that use social media. 

They can't ALL be awful though, can they? After all, generally speaking, we voted most of them in.

Hard to find a good word said in the media & social-media about any of these though.

In your opinion, which of these DID do a decent job, & why?

Macmillan

Alec Douglas-Home

Harold Wilson (twice)

Edward Heath

James Callaghan

Margaret Thatcher

John Major

Tony Blair

Gordon Brown

David Cameron

Theresa May

Boris Johnson. (To be fair, he's only had a few weeks, so hard to judge fairly).

MAGGIE by a country mile

+1 turned the country from a high tax socialist state full of wasters to a prosperous capitalist one that encouraged people to get off their arses.

Blair.  Did so much that has been forgotten due to the Iraq war. Think John Major should be remembered better. 

Tony Blair and NL was a good time to have a young family on low income. I had two kids born 2000/2005 and one and a half retail incomes coming in at the time. Plenty of tax relief, state funded child care, additional income boosting benefits, etc. Enabled us to get on the housing ladder and work hard to improve our situation.

Would hate to be in that situation a decade earlier or a decade later.

This.

Trouble is everyone is still paying for Blair and Brown's magic spending spree now.  Anyone in your position 2000-5 now its totally skint relative to you doing the same jobs in 2019

This

Also a decade earlier in 1995 you would have been buying a house at all time record low average house prices/average wages ratio of close to or under 3.  Whereas now i would imagine the typical ratio of people in your position would probably be 7 or 8 now.  The mid 90s was the nut best time in my lifetime to start a family/buy a house.   I doubt it will ever be that good ever again in my life time.   I started work in 1996 on £14k a year graduate scheme and could easily have bought a 3 bed new build house for £40k in my area and got a mortgage in my lunch hour for it at 21 with a month's salary as a deposit.   It was that easy back then.

New graduate doing the same job now in the same area is probably starting on £25k maybe £30k tops but the same house is over £200k and he needs a years salary after tax to even be considered for a mortgage.

I get that the Blair years were good for many people.  But the long term bill is still being paid and, without Blair we might not have had Cameron (the Tory version of Mr Sincerity). Both TB and DC were/are self-serving gits, and the country would be the better for having never elected either of them. IMO.

Thatcher’s legacy is tricky to judge because her obstinacy caused some significant social dislocation. But she had battles that had to be fought, and had to be won. Not least the battle with Arthur Scargill and the NUM. Which was never really about coal, and always about who was in charge. We might not still have a mining industry in the 21st century if Scargill had been less politically motivated, but without his influence it would almost certainly have lasted longer than it did.

Overall, Thatcher’s legacy will be seen in a more positive light when viewed from the future than any of the others.

Maggie at the top table with USA & Soviets was a big deal for me. Particularly at such a sensitive period in international politics.

Not a puppet like Blair but a tour de force on the international stage, highest level respect from global powers.

Could do with some of that now we’re small insignificant third country and general laughing stock.

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Oi, Oi, Oi.

Best part about Thatcher was her spitting image puppet.

Best thing about Major's puppet wasn't the puppet but the peas!

Such a great programme. It’s portrayal of Maggie as a strong, powerful woman in stark contrast to her cabinet and the opposition of the time probably did her a big favour. The representation of the two Davids, Steel and Owen can’t have done them much good.

Blair was undoubtedly the best one in my lifetime.

It's predictable, but totally depressing to see so many jump to name Thatcher, as my experience was the polar opposite to theirs.  The current incompetent might ultimately inflict more damage on the country as a whole, but even he would struggle to systematically dismantle local communities and families in the way that she did.  I'm not sure that any of Cameron, May or Johnson will achieve the 'street parties to celebrate your funeral' level of hatred that someone growing up in a coal-mining community in the mid 80s will feel about Thatcher.  She's the epitome of Tory politics - a select few will do well, but God help you if you're on the wrong side of the equation.

Tony Blair comes across very well here imo.



https://twitter.com/JordonLee/status/1168774236875493377

This ^^^

Yes, as usual.  It's very telling seeing him speak these days as it's such a stark contrast to the current crop of leaders.  He still carries a certain level of gravitas that they can't get near.  Obama is an even more stark example when compare to the ramblings of Trump.

John Major is similar, despite the fact he wasn't a natural public speaker in his prime.

It's a shame that Blair is basically ignored, tainted by Iraq

Listen to him on Brexit such as that speech yesterday and he is light years ahead of any current politician in his clarity of thinking

Blair & Thatcher for me.

I think they genuinely tried to do what was best for the country as a whole.

Agree , plus they could convey their vision in speeches with conviction.

I think this as well.

Thatcher probably pushed the country into becoming a truly modern country and economy - but some of her principles became dogma and applied without thought to 'why' they were meant to work (largely after her time though)
Blair had a great balance of left and right - but actually seemed to believe that they had genuinely got rid of economic cycles and set government policies and spending accordingly (just ignore Iraq obviously).

I think most MP's in most era's have done what they think is the best for the country as a whole but it takes proper leaders to set the direction.

I don’t think Tony Blair ever thought much about anything other than what was best for Tony Blair. Thatcher held strong convictions and followed policies that she believed were necessary, regardless of the public perception. Blair seemed to me to hold very few convictions and followed policies that he felt were popular.

did thatcher kill off the coal mining industry?

there's plenty of coal and thatcher's long dead. surely with  such a viable natural resource it would have been a matter of self interest for the country to get back down the mines. truth is the industry wasnt viable without heavy subsidy and she rightly allowed it to fail.

there's a horribly paternal view of the working class that invokes hatred of thatcher.

but thatcher had appeal amongst lots of working class folk that valued law and order, entrepreneurship and hard work.

like blair she rightly has an 'ism' attached to her name. she had clear principles and dragged our economy into the modern world. i have lots of admiration for her.

As a side note, does anyone think that May did anything worthwhile in her tenure?

the simpsons say

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoDKh1EAZjI

Told the wheat field story.

Accepted that cough sweet.

Busted some moves.

Probably brokered the best deal available under the circumstances.