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Historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

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Sir Winston Churchill is a stalwart favourite of scholars and the British public alike for his leadership during the Second World War.

Various polls and surveys of experts and the British public have attempted to rank prime ministers of the United Kingdom on a historical basis. Most have included only a subset of prime ministers, typically those of the 20th century or after the Second World War.

Winston Churchill generally rates highly, except when his wartime leadership is excluded. Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher are also often at the top of rankings.

Academic opinion

1999 BBC Radio 4 poll

In December 1999 a BBC Radio 4 poll of 20 prominent historians, politicians and commentators for The Westminster Hour produced the verdict that Churchill was the best British prime minister of the 20th century, with Lloyd George in second place and Clement Attlee in third place. As Blair was still in office he was not ranked. The worst prime minister in that survey was judged to be Anthony Eden.[1]

  1. Winston Churchill (Con)
  2. David Lloyd George (Lib)
  3. Clement Attlee (Lab)
  4. H. H. Asquith (Lib)
  5. Margaret Thatcher (Con)
  6. Harold Macmillan (Con)
  7. Marquess of Salisbury (Con)
  8. Stanley Baldwin (Con)
  9. Henry Campbell-Bannerman (Lib)
  10. Harold Wilson (Lab)
  11. Edward Heath (Con)
  12. James Callaghan (Lab)
  13. Bonar Law (Con)
  14. Ramsay MacDonald (Lab)
  15. Alec Douglas-Home (Con)
  16. Arthur Balfour (Con)
  17. John Major (Con)
  18. Neville Chamberlain (Con)
  19. Anthony Eden (Con)

2006 Francis Beckett

Margaret Thatcher has fared well in popular opinion polls despite being a divisive figure.
Anthony Eden has not fared well in popular opinion polls and historical rankings of 20th-century prime ministers.

In a 2006 issue of BBC History, historian Francis Beckett ranked the 20th-century prime ministers with points out of five in 2006, based on how well the leaders implemented their policies – not on the policies themselves. Margaret Thatcher and Clement Attlee shared the highest ranking.[2]

2004 Mori / University of Leeds survey

In 2004, the University of Leeds and Ipsos Mori conducted an online survey of 258 academics who specialised in 20th-century British history and/or politics. There were 139 replies to the survey, a return rate of 54% – by far the most extensive survey done so far. The respondents were asked, among other historical questions, to rate all the 20th-century prime ministers (PM) in terms of their success and asking them to assess the key characteristics of successful PMs.

Respondents were asked to indicate on a scale of 0 to 10 how successful or unsuccessful they considered each PM to have been in office (with 0 being highly unsuccessful and 10 highly successful). A mean of the scores could then be calculated and a league table based on the mean scores.[3]

The five Labour prime ministers were, on average, judged to have been the most successful, with a mean of 6.0 (median of 5.9). The three Liberal PMs averaged 5.8 (median of 6.2) and the twelve Conservative PMs 4.8 (median of 4.1).

20th-century prime ministers by average scholar rank
# Prime Minister Years in office Party Mean score
1 Clement Attlee 1945–1951 Labour 8.3
2 Sir Winston Churchill 1940–1945, 1951–1955 Conservative 7.9
3 David Lloyd George 1916–1922 Liberal 7.3
4 Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990 Conservative 7.1
5 Harold Macmillan 1957–1963 Conservative 6.5
6 Tony Blair 1997–2007[a] Labour 6.3
7 H. H. Asquith 1908–1916 Liberal 6.2
8 Stanley Baldwin 1923–1924, 1924–1929, 1935–1937 Conservative 6.2
9 Harold Wilson 1964–1970, 1974–1976 Labour 5.9
10 Lord Salisbury 1895–1902 Conservative 5.8
11 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1905–1908 Liberal 5.0
12 James Callaghan 1976–1979 Labour 4.8
13 Edward Heath 1970–1974 Conservative 4.4
14 Ramsay MacDonald 1924, 1929–1935 Labour 3.7
15 John Major 1990–1997 Conservative 3.7
16 Bonar Law 1922–1923 Conservative 3.5
17 Neville Chamberlain 1937–1940 Conservative 3.4
18 Arthur Balfour 1902–1905 Conservative 3.4
19 Alec Douglas-Home 1963–1964 Conservative 3.3
20 Anthony Eden 1955–1957 Conservative 2.5
  1. ^ Poll taken in 2004, while Blair was still in office.

2010 University of Leeds survey

Clement Attlee is highly rated for his post-war leadership and social reforms.

In 2010, the University of Leeds and Woodnewton Associates carried out a survey of 106 academics who specialised in British politics or British history, to rank the performance of all 12 prime ministers who served between 1945 and 2010. Churchill's ranking was thus determined from his second term only.[4][5]

# Prime Minister Years in office Party
1 Clement Attlee 1945–1951 Labour
2 Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990 Conservative
3 Tony Blair 1997–2007 Labour
4 Harold Macmillan 1957–1963 Conservative
5 Harold Wilson 1964–1970, 1974–1976 Labour
6 Sir Winston Churchill (1940–1945), 1951–1955 Conservative
7 James Callaghan 1976–1979 Labour
8 John Major 1990–1997 Conservative
9 Edward Heath 1970–1974 Conservative
10 Gordon Brown 2007–2010 Labour
11 Sir Alec Douglas-Home 1963–1964 Conservative
12 Sir Anthony Eden 1955–1957 Conservative

2016 University of Leeds survey

In October 2016 the University of Leeds, in conjunction with Woodnewton Associates, surveyed 82 academics specialising in post-1945 British history and politics, following the Brexit referendum. This means that David Cameron is possibly lower than if it was made earlier or later. Due to the date range, Churchill's oft-lauded war and caretaker ministries were not in contention and he was judged solely on his second premiership.[6]

# Prime Minister Years in office Party
1 Clement Attlee 1945–1951 Labour
2 Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990 Conservative
3 Tony Blair 1997–2007 Labour
4 Harold Macmillan 1957–1963 Conservative
5 Harold Wilson 1964–1970, 1974–1976 Labour
6 Sir John Major 1990–1997 Conservative
7 Sir Winston Churchill (1940–1945), 1951–1955 Conservative
8 James Callaghan 1976–1979 Labour
9 Sir Edward Heath 1970–1974 Conservative
10 Gordon Brown 2007–2010 Labour
11 David Cameron 2010–2016 Conservative
12 Sir Alec Douglas-Home 1963–1964 Conservative
13 Sir Anthony Eden 1955–1957 Conservative

Opinion of Members of Parliament

In 2013, a group of academic staff and students at Royal Holloway, University of London, conducted a postal survey of British Members of Parliament, asking them to evaluate the success of post-war British prime ministers. Some 158 MPs replied to the survey, a response rate of 24%. The respondents were 69 Conservatives, 67 Labour MPs, 14 Liberal Democrats and 8 MPs from other parties.[7]

The survey used the same question employed in the 2004 and 2010 University of Leeds studies: MPs were asked how successful or unsuccessful they considered each Prime Minister to have been using a 0 to 10 scale, where 0 meant highly unsuccessful and 10 meant highly successful.

Overall, MPs rated Margaret Thatcher as the most successful post-war Prime Minister, just ahead of Clement Attlee. With the exception of Edward Heath, who was judged more favourably by Labour MPs than by Conservatives, evaluations were split along party lines: Tory MPs tended to consider Conservative prime ministers to be more successful than did Labour MPs, and Labour MPs generally gave Labour prime ministers higher scores than did Conservative MPs.

# Prime Minister Years in office Party Mean score
1 Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990 Conservative 7.4
2 Clement Attlee 1945–1951 Labour 7.3
3 Tony Blair 1997–2007 Labour 6.8
4 Sir Winston Churchill 1940-1945 & 1951–1955 Conservative 6.5
5 Harold Macmillan 1957–1963 Conservative 6.1
6 Harold Wilson 1964–1970, 1974–1976 Labour 5.8
7 John Major 1990–1997 Conservative 5.3
8 James Callaghan 1976–1979 Labour 4.4
9 Edward Heath 1970–1974 Conservative 4.4
10 Sir Alec Douglas-Home 1963–1964 Conservative 4.0
11 Sir Anthony Eden 1955–1957 Conservative 3.7
12 Gordon Brown 2007–2010 Labour 3.3

2008 Newsnight poll

In September 2008 the BBC Newsnight programme conducted an online poll. Asking voters to decide who they thought was the greatest and worst of post-war prime ministers. 27,000 people responded, and decided that Winston Churchill was the greatest, with Attlee second.[8]

The full results were:

  1. Winston Churchill
  2. Clement Attlee
  3. Margaret Thatcher
  4. Harold Macmillan
  5. Harold Wilson
  6. Tony Blair
  7. Edward Heath
  8. John Major
  9. James Callaghan
  10. Alec Douglas-Home
  11. Anthony Eden

2010 Times poll

The Times constructed a poll for the first time of all British prime ministers in the lead-up to the 2010 general election.

Prime ministers ranked by The Times and its correspondents
Order Name Party Tenure
The Times
overall
[9] 		Parris
[10] 		Riddell
[11] 		MacIntyre
[12]
1 1 Robert Walpole Whig 1721–1742 09 14 16 07
2 2 Earl of Wilmington Whig 1742–1743 50 51 42
3 3 Henry Pelham Whig 1743–1754 29 19 34 20
4 4
6		 Duke of Newcastle Whig 1754–1756
1757–1762		 41 40 32 41
5 5 Duke of Devonshire Whig 1756–1757 44 35 44 47
6 7 Earl of Bute Tory 1762–1763 46 44 49 40
7 8 George Grenville Whig 1763–1765 48 51 48 39
8 9
13		 Marquess of Rockingham Whig 1765–1766
1782		 32 30 42 38
9 10 William Pitt the Elder Whig 1766–1768 16 25 14 18
10 11 Duke of Grafton Whig 1768–1770 49 42 50 49
11 12 Lord North Tory 1770–1782 50 49 37 44
12 14 Earl of Shelburne Whig 1782–1783 26 29 41 05
13 15
20		 Duke of Portland Whig
Tory		 1783
1807–1809		 39 27 43 37
14 16
18		 William Pitt the Younger Tory 1783–1801
1804–1806		 04 12 05 03
15 17 Henry Addington Tory 1801–1804 39 36 39 36
16 19 Baron Grenville Whig 1806–1807 43 39 40 35
17 21 Spencer Perceval Tory 1809–1812 36 38 47 33
18 22 Earl of Liverpool Tory 1812–1827 19 22 22 15
19 23 George Canning Tory 1827 31 08 36 23
20 24 Viscount Goderich Tory 1827–1828 37 52 51
21 25
28		 Duke of Wellington Tory 1828–1830
1834		 24 18 30 17
22 26 Earl Grey Whig 1830–1834 08 09 10 06
23 27
30		 Viscount Melbourne Whig 1834
1835–1841		 25 26 21 32
24 29
31		 Robert Peel Conservative 1834–1835
1841–1846		 06 06 08 08
25 32
38		 Lord John Russell Whig
Liberal		 1846–1852
1865–1866		 21 15 29 14
26 33
36
39		 Earl of Derby Conservative 1852
1858–1859
1866–1868		 18 23 19 16
27 34 Earl of Aberdeen Peelite 1852–1855 42 41 31 43
28 35
37		 Viscount Palmerston Whig
Liberal		 1855–1858
1859–1865		 13 11 20 11
29 40
42		 Benjamin Disraeli Conservative 1868
1874–1880		 10 07 06 09
30 41
43
45
47		 William Ewart Gladstone Liberal 1868–1874
1880–1885
1886
1892–1894		 03 04 02 04
31 44
46
49		 Marquess of Salisbury Conservative 1885–1886
1886–1892
1895–1902		 11 10 12 25
32 48 Earl of Rosebery Liberal 1894–1895 45 46 46 50
33 50 Arthur Balfour Conservative 1902–1905 30 28 38 31
34 51 Henry Campbell-Bannerman Liberal 1905–1908 22 24 26 30
35 52 H. H. Asquith Liberal 1908–1916 11 21 09 26
36 53 David Lloyd George Liberal 1916–1922 02 02 03 02
37 54 Bonar Law Conservative 1922–1923 34 47 35 24
38 55
57
59		 Stanley Baldwin Conservative 1923–1924
1924–1929
1935–1937		 14 20 11 13
39 56
58		 Ramsay MacDonald Labour
National Labour		 1924
1929–1935		 33 48 33 29
40 60 Neville Chamberlain Conservative 1937–1940 35 45 28 52
41 61
63		 Winston Churchill Conservative 1940–1945
1951–1955		 01 01 01 01
42 62 Clement Attlee Labour 1945–1951 07 05 07 22
43 64 Anthony Eden Conservative 1955–1957 47 43 45 48
44 65 Harold Macmillan Conservative 1957–1963 15 17 13 21
45 66 Alec Douglas-Home Conservative 1963–1964 36 32 27 34
46 67
69		 Harold Wilson Labour 1964–1970
1974–1976		 20 33 17 19
47 68 Edward Heath Conservative 1970–1974 23 13 18 46
48 70 James Callaghan Labour 1976–1979 27 31 24 27
49 71 Margaret Thatcher Conservative 1979–1990 05 03 04 10
50 72 John Major Conservative 1990–1997 28 16 23 28
51 73 Tony Blair Labour 1997–2007 16 34 15 12
52 74 Gordon Brown Labour 2007–2010 36 52 25 45

Other polls

In a BBC poll to find the 100 Greatest Britons in 2002, five prime ministers were ranked in the top 100. Winston Churchill was voted greatest Briton, the Duke of Wellington was in 15th place (though not featured in contemporary polls as he was a 19th-century politician), Margaret Thatcher was in 16th place, Tony Blair was 67th and David Lloyd George was 79th.[13]

The BBC television programme The Daily Politics asked viewers in 2007 to select their favourite Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher topped the list with 49% of the vote, with Clement Attlee coming second with 32%.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Churchill, 'Greatest' PM of 20th Century", BBC Politics, 4 January 2000
  2. ^ Thatcher and Attlee top PM list, BBC News, 29 August 2006
  3. ^ Rating British Prime Ministers, Ipsos MORI, retrieved 24 November 2015
  4. ^ Academics rate Brown one of the worst post 1945 PMs, University of Leeds, retrieved 9 January 2011
  5. ^ "Gordon Brown 'third worst PM since 1945', poll of historians finds", The Daily Telegraph, 3 August 2010, retrieved 9 January 2011
  6. ^ "David Cameron rated third worst Prime Minister since end of World War Two", The Independent, 12 October 2016, retrieved 18 December 2016
  7. ^ "The prime ministerial ratings game: a parliamentary perspective", Politics Blog, 5 May 2015, retrieved 27 September 2016
  8. ^ BBC Newsnight poll, BBC News, 1 October 2008, retrieved 23 July 2016
  9. ^ "The Times's Top 50 Prime Ministers", timesonline.co.uk, retrieved 23 July 2016[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Matthew Parris: my top 50 Prime Ministers", timesonline.co.uk, retrieved 23 July 2016[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Peter Riddell: my top 50 Prime Ministers", timesonline.co.uk, retrieved 23 July 2016[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Ben Macintyre: My top 50 Prime Ministers", timesonline.co.uk, retrieved 23 July 2016[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "100 Great Britons", BBC History, archived from the original on 14 May 2006, retrieved 23 May 2007
  14. ^ Your Favourite Prime Minister, 13 June 2007

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Historical_rankings_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=972896989"