[Politics] Who was the best British Prime Minister of the last 60 or so years?

[GT49er]

Politicians should deliver what people need rather than what they want, which could be very different.

When any major problems in our country ae being highlighted on the News, in our household we often say "It's all Thatcher's fault."......... and when we think about it , we usually decide that it actually was. The "Right to Buy" and the aim of a property owning democracy lead to the current housing crisis? Over-simplification, perhaps, but..........

..............and Thatcher had nothing to do with promoting and implementing the 'Right to Buy'? She held it up as the new father, son and holy ghost as I remember it.

 

[GT49er]

You carry so much hate and vindictiveness, it's not healthy.

I don't know him, so that may be the case - but not as far as his views on Thatcher are concerned.

My daughter's earliest memory is being carried on my shoulders in an anti-Thatcher march. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out! Out! Out! and all that.


We later agreed we would dance in the street to celebrate when she died (and that's a really big thing for me, 'cos I don't dance). We did.

 

[GT49er]

If the 80s ended up being no better than the 70s why did people keep electing Thatcher then Major to the point that Labour had to reform to get elected?

Are you really dumb enough (MA or not; wtf sort of crap do they teach at universities and jumped up technical colleges these days?) to realise that she bought votes by flogging off national assets to get-rich-quick voters at a knock down price? Council houses, BT, Gas, Electricity, water - anything she could flog off as a once off, never to benefit the country again.

Greed sells. Shirley as a Tory (which you appear to be from your post) you understand this most basic value of Tory values.........................

 

[Nixonator]

I don't know him, so that may be the case - but not as far as his views on Thatcher are concerned.

My daughter's earliest memory is being carried on my shoulders in an anti-Thatcher march. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out! Out! Out! and all that.


We later agreed we would dance in the street to celebrate when she died (and that's a really big thing for me, 'cos I don't dance). We did.

You danced in celebration to somebody's death?

Just typical hate-fueled nonsense. Even on NSC, a board rife with the overly outspoken left, Thatcher wins at a canter.

I've never been her greatest fan, but it is testament to how poorly lead we have been in my living memory that she comes out on top.

 

[symyjym]

Some of us think it is even more scary that 50% think that Thatcher was,

Not if she is sharing a list with Blair. If we had to elect one of Thatcher, Blair or May today, Thatcher would win hands down. I voted Major on the poll because of his pragmatism and honesty, and it would be a different world today if Blair hadn't beaten him.

 

[mikeyjh]

You danced in celebration to somebody's death?

Just typical hate-fueled nonsense. Even on NSC, a board rife with the overly outspoken left, Thatcher wins at a canter.

I've never been her greatest fan, but it is testament to how poorly lead we have been in my living memory that she comes out on top.

Maybe, dancing in celebration is a little too macabre for many people but I get it - You have to understand the misery, poverty, unemployment, despair and wrecked lives that Thatcher left in her wake. Sometimes, I don't think people quite realise the bitter, bitter hatred that many people have for her.

Many people profited from Thatcher's policies, (particularly in the south of England), that's without argument but I think those who benefited, and continue to do so are willingly blind to those who suffered.

 

[GT49er]

You danced in celebration to somebody's death?

Yep, and proud of it. Odious woman.

Shame she didn't go before she could do all the damage she wrought upon our wonderful country, really (although I wouldn't have had cause to dance in that case !)

 

[beorhthelm]

Many people profited from Thatcher's policies, (particularly in the south of England), that's without argument but I think those who benefited, and continue to do so are willingly blind to those who suffered.

trouble is people overlook all the endemic problems caused by policies under previous PMs, industry was in decline for various reasons for decades.

 

[nicko31]

Kinda feel a bit for TM with just one vote, the commander of her own party's civil war. She now has the thankless task of delivering the impossible.

 

[Hamilton]

Unpopular as he is, Blair. When you look at the changes he bought about.

Not everything was right domestically, but most was. I agree that Major did a lot to turn the country around from the awful Thatcher years, but he was stabbed in the back by the same zealotry that is driving us towards Brexit. Blair built on that and invested in schools, hospitals, introduced tax credits to get people working. Yes, some of this was abused, but they were the right ideas.

He made a grave error in Iraq, and now that is used by people on the left and right to belittle him and to avoid facing up to the issues he raises. History will treat him better than he is treated today I think.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blackadder]

The only answer to this question is Margaret Thatcher.

Britain recovered from a 70's Labour government and BOOMED....
Our borders were secure even if you lived in the Falklands.
She stood up to the EU big time.
She had vision... Wealth cascading down the generations...
She stood up to the miners, ok some would not be happy about this, but remember the Paris climate change agreement...
A woman in her own right with a handbag to match.....

Think this needs a bit of balance.

Yes the Labour govt of the late 70s was very poor. I even voted for Thatcher in the (first) election but you seem to forget that Ted Heath's govt was in power for the first half of the 70s. They were also truly dreadful (some would argue worse). I note that, to date, Ted is the only PM not to receive any votes.

I recall the 3 day week, skipping school to attend matches at the Goldstone, and the Govt going cap in hand to the IMF for a loan. We were the laughing stock of Europe.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

trouble is people overlook all the endemic problems caused by policies under previous PMs, industry was in decline for various reasons for decades.

Whatever had happened before, and whatever problems she had to deal with, it was the gladiatorial approach and total lack of sympathy and compassion that she exhibited in pursuit of what she was doing that got me and, quite possible many other people.

I felt angry from the day she was elected and she quoted Francis of Assisi on her way in to Downing Street:
"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.".

She failed miserably on the discord/harmony and despair/hope fronts by anyone's assessment, surely - and on the other two as well as far as I am concerned. Se was the worst Prime Minister of the 20th Century, let alone of those listed.

 

[looney]

If you consider the standard of opposition it was hardly surprising.

You are welcome to trash my list- remember to answer my previous question too.

Are you not also spending an unhealthy amount of time on political threads too ?

To paint the 80s as no better in economicl terms to the 70s is as dishonest as it gets.

so of the top of my head

Unemployment hit record levels and, even during periods of recovery, never kept in line with growth.

This is true, the point it didn't keep in line with Growth reflected the fact demand management was no longer effective in cutting unemployment, ie keynsian economics.

Interest rates reached record highs.

Im pretty certain this isn't true.

The gender pay gap actually widened.

This is disengenuos as the pay gap wasn't an issue then, ignoring the fact it doesn't exist. What was the focus was the participation rate which rocketed for women due to service sector employment.

Manufacturing declined (although it was already in decline, in fairness)

You mean manufacturing employment? This has been heading down since the mid 60s, Manufacturing OUtput increased over the 80s.

The number of strikes in 1987/88 almost reached the same amount as ten years previous.

Where you laughing when you typed this? After the early 80s the days lost through strikes began a longterm decline.

Poverty (those below 60% of median income) rose by nearly 10%

Id like to see a source for this, the poorest decile improved their position which led to the rowntree foundation rigging the figures

Inequality (best use the recognised GINI index for this) rose by about 30%.

Using the Gini coeficiant is a really crude measure, its greatest fall was in Russia during Stalins pogroms. No body cares about in equality, they care that the bottom of the social scale are improving their lot.


I think folk living in the south are in a Thatcherite bubble myself.
This "bubble" was a global event, with a the collapse of the USSR, the North, the BBC and Labour where in a bubble..

 

[looney]

Are you really dumb enough (MA or not; wtf sort of crap do they teach at universities and jumped up technical colleges these days?) to realise that she bought votes by flogging off national assets to get-rich-quick voters at a knock down price? Council houses, BT, Gas, Electricity, water - anything she could flog off as a once off, never to benefit the country again.

Greed sells. Shirley as a Tory (which you appear to be from your post) you understand this most basic value of Tory values.........................

Greed isn't a Tory value, its an ignorant projection. The State has no business owning companies and houses, the people buying and voting seemed to agree.

Oh not a tory.

 

[btnbelle]

Well, actually after the recession of 1980-1982 Britain only recovered to the position that it was in 1979 by the end of the Thatcher years.

Unemployment hit record levels and, even during periods of recovery, never kept in line with growth.

Interest rates reached record highs.

The gender pay gap actually widened.

Manufacturing declined (although it was already in decline, in fairness)

The number of strikes in 1987/88 almost reached the same amount as ten years previous.

Poverty (those below 60% of median income) rose by nearly 10%

Inequality (best use the recognised GINI index for this) rose by about 30%.

(You're talking to a former business and economics student BTW)

I think folk living in the south are in a Thatcherite bubble myself.

Margaret Thatcher gave people a chance to make something out of their lives.

Every Prime Minister will have faults but she did the country, the people and her party a massive amount of good.

She is the leader we need today instead of the two parties on either side of the house of commons.

 

[Weststander]

Margaret Thatcher gave people a chance to make something out of their lives.

Every Prime Minister will have faults but she did the country, the people and her party a massive amount of good.

She is the leader we need today instead of the two parties on either side of the house of commons.

Not realised by most, but she was a nemesis of the upper class and upper middle classes, breaking up closed shops with impossibly hard entry barriers. The senior people in banking, the professions, currency and stock markets were exclusively toffs until Thatcher's government. In addition, due to credit controls it was incredibly hard until 1979 for the hoi polloi to move up the property ladder or simply move at all.

 

[nicko31]

Margaret Thatcher gave people a chance to make something out of their lives.

Every Prime Minister will have faults but she did the country, the people and her party a massive amount of good.

She is the leader we need today instead of the two parties on either side of the house of commons.

The 80's was like a bankrupt sale, the government just sold everything, and cheap. Thatcher can thank the Argies, a good old fashioned war saved her

 

[Weststander]

The 80's was like a bankrupt sale, the government just sold everything, and cheap. Thatcher can thank the Argies, a good old fashioned war saved her

Michael Foot and Militant were a great help.

Five long years after the Falklands War in 1987 Neil Kinnock was equally great in boosting the Tory vote.

 

[Eeyore]

Margaret Thatcher gave people a chance to make something out of their lives.

Every Prime Minister will have faults but she did the country, the people and her party a massive amount of good.

She is the leader we need today instead of the two parties on either side of the house of commons.

How did she do that then ?

I think there may be a rather large number of folk in many areas of the country that might want to offer a contrary opinion on that one.

 

[Eeyore]

Michael Foot and Militant were a great help.

Five long years after the Falklands War in 1987 Neil Kinnock was equally great in boosting the Tory vote.

All that, although a right wing media managed to successfully undermine any of Labour's efforts.