Britain’s last great government/PM?

[bristolbaron]

There’s a common running theme of ‘well the other option would be worse’ on here, but how far back do we need to go to pinpoint when our government, both at the time and retrospectively, generally had it right?

[Randy Winkman]

I'd say never. One PHer might say this and another will say that. It's all opinion. My view is that the last 5 years have been a low-point though.

[ZedLeg]

History is a rough judge for politicians. Someone like David Lloyd George is probably thought of as a good PM but would he last long in the job today?

[satfinal]

I suspect Churchill will be a common answer, but a pretty wrong one (imo), but there never really has been one.

There is always some policy move which spoils a good run in the eyes of the public, even if it ends up relatively minor.

[Murph7355]

satfinal said:

I suspect Churchill will be a common answer, but a pretty wrong one (imo), but there never really has been one.

There is always some policy move which spoils a good run in the eyes of the public, even if it ends up relatively minor.

It's all about "right time, right place" IMO.

Churchill worked out very well for the war period. Before and after it? Not so much.

Thatcher was the right person at the time she entered govt. Later in her tenure? Not so much.

Not really sure on the rest. I suspect it's probably too soon to judge ultimately.

One big thing, for me, is that the whole political establishment has let the country down from 2016 onwards. The two big parties needed to accept that they weren't (and aren't) really single parties, but hugely split entities (across a number of dimensions) clinging onto the past. We're at a point where we need them to split. And we need a big change in the way we are governed. Otherwise we are just going to get dross for the foreseeable.

[Monkeylegend]

Maggie in my life time.

[crankedup5]

Boris, he had one promise to the electorate and he kept that promise
More seriously, back in the day PMs did not have the glare of media as focused as today, what with social media and all. How many got away with stuff that would not be tolerated today by the public?

[oyster]

OP I don't think you can put PM/Government together (though with the current ensemble they seem very much jointly awful).

John Major was a good PM running a terrible Government (and party). Thatcher had a great cabinet - this was her strength.


The best person to have been able to answer this question would never have given the answer and sadly she passed recently.

[Byker28i]

Working backwards, Cameron as the last competent - up until his gamble on the brexit vote?

[Monkeylegend]

oyster said:

Thatcher had a great cabinet - this was her strength.

Picked by her, which was another strength.

[Countdown]

I do wonder how much of Thatcher's success was due to the bonanza of North Sea Oil.

Much as I loathe Blair for his invasion of Iraq I think he has been the only PM to really occupy the centre ground.

[Randy Winkman]

Countdown said:

I do wonder how much of Thatcher's success was due to the bonanza of North Sea Oil.

Much as I loathe Blair for his invasion of Iraq I think he has been the only PM to really occupy the centre ground.

NSO represented 3.4% of GDP at one point. A sharp peak though.

https://ifs.org.uk/taxlab/taxlab-data-item/revenue...

[anonymous-user]

Murph7355 said:

It's all about "right time, right place" IMO.

Churchill worked out very well for the war period. Before and after it? Not so much.

Thatcher was the right person at the time she entered govt. Later in her tenure? Not so much.

Not really sure on the rest. I suspect it's probably too soon to judge ultimately.

One big thing, for me, is that the whole political establishment has let the country down from 2016 onwards. The two big parties needed to accept that they weren't (and aren't) really single parties, but hugely split entities (across a number of dimensions) clinging onto the past. We're at a point where we need them to split. And we need a big change in the way we are governed. Otherwise we are just going to get dross for the foreseeable.

Totally agree. It has been a complete stshow since 2016 and I cannot see a successful way forwards for politics and governance unless there are some major changes. The public are split, divided, and everyone seems to want different things.

You could ask 10 Conservative voters what they want the party to deliver, and how centre-left, centrist, or right-leaning they want them to be, and you would get different answers. Each party contains factions within factions.

It just doesn't work anymore.

Byker28i said:

Working backwards, Cameron as the last competent - up until his gamble on the brexit vote?

For me, the Coalition and the Cameron era, 2010-2015 were 'Peak Britain'.

I felt like we were riding high and things were going really well. We even made a massive success of the Olympics, much to our surprise. We were coming out of the 2007-2008 issues and life seemed good. Cameron facilitated the Scottish referendum and persuaded the Scots to stay. He also legalised gay marriage, amongst numerous other progressive policies. Business was going great, unemployment fell rapidly. It seemed like there was a lot of unity in the country and we weren't all at each others throats.

But that was my view and my experience, and clearly others didn't feel like it was a good time because they voted to upend absolutely everything in 2016. Now everyone seems to want very different things, and sadly, I don't think we will be back to national unity anytime soon.

[ChevronB19]

I know it’s o/t, but John Smith could’ve been a great Prime Minister.

Tory wise, I thought John Major was pretty decent.

And someone who never stood a chance really - Rory Stewart.

[ChevronB19]

oyster said:

OP I don't think you can put PM/Government together (though with the current ensemble they seem very much jointly awful).

John Major was a good PM running a terrible Government (and party). Thatcher had a great cabinet - this was her strength.


The best person to have been able to answer this question would never have given the answer and sadly she passed recently.

Thatcher and her cabinet were subject of what was possibly the greatest spitting image sketch ever…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjE080TGEEk

[Gecko1978]

Cameron and Clegg a mix of ideas which balanced each other out

[essayer]

first Blair term got st done

haters gonna hate, but it's true..

Human Rights Act, Good Friday Agreement, minimum wage, age of consent equalised, Scottish/Welsh devolution, hereditary peers, Mayor of London, sure start/nursery places for 3 year olds, significant improvements to employment rights, BoE independence..

[Fundoreen]

Gordon brown/labour till he met that old lady and let his ego take the blame for events cooked up elsewhere.

[anonymous-user]

essayer said:

first Blair term got st done

haters gonna hate, but it's true..

Human Rights Act, Good Friday Agreement, minimum wage, age of consent equalised, Scottish/Welsh devolution, hereditary peers, Mayor of London, sure start/nursery places for 3 year olds, significant improvements to employment rights, BoE independence..

Most people will never, ever, forgive Tony Blair for Iraq, and I completely get that. I also think he's a very arrogant wker who genuinely believes he hasn't done a single thing wrong. Every interview you hear with him now is basically him refusing to accept he ever made a mistake of any kind.

I can't stand him, but credit where credit is due, he did do a lot of good things and actually get the job of government done.

[TheJimi]

essayer said:

first Blair term got st done

haters gonna hate, but it's true..

Human Rights Act, Good Friday Agreement, minimum wage, age of consent equalised, Scottish/Welsh devolution, hereditary peers, Mayor of London, sure start/nursery places for 3 year olds, significant improvements to employment rights, BoE independence..

Mentioning Blair in anything that resembles a positive comment on here is the equivalent of doing the same about Thatcher on r/Scotland on Reddit, but my instinct on reading the OPs question was indeed the Blair government, prior to Iraq.

Edited by TheJimi on Tuesday 4th October 11:47