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UK Prime Ministers of the 20th Century
Siege All 18 men and 1 woman who became Prime Minister of the UK during the 20th Century ranked in order of 'greatness'.
- 1Up 15Down 3
1874“ #4 on original list - For his wartime role would be number one, but his peacetime period in office was very undistinguished. „ - 2Up 10Down 3
1883“ #1 on original list - PM in the difficult years after World War Two when there was genuine austerity as the UK struggled with war debts. Despite this his government managed to create the Welfare State, the NHS and give India independence. He was a quiet, unassuming and modest man but one who oversaw perhaps the biggest seismic shift in UK politics of the 20th Century „ - 3Up 8Down 5
1925“ #5 on original list - Perhaps the most divisive Prime Minister in modern British history she is ranked either top or bottom of most people's lists. The truth is she may well have made a number of mistakes and certainly hurt some people along the way, but she changed the country massively and gave it a new sense of direction after 20 years of stagnation and decline. „ - 4Up 8Down 5
1953“ #9 on original list - The most charismatic politician of modern times, but will always be tarnished by his affiliation with George W Bush and the Iraq war which resulted. „ - 5Up 7Down 5
1852“ #2 on my original list „ - 6Up 6Down 4
1863“ #3 on original list - Fiery and unpredictable with occasional flashes of brilliance. „ - 7Up 3Down 2 1867“ #7 on original list - pretty much your archetypal 'safe pair of hands'. PM three times during the twenties and thirties without really doing much to either commend or condemn him. „
- 8Up 3Down 2 1912“ #8 on original list - Had probably the hardest job of any of the Prime Ministers on this list in that he came to office during an economic crisis when the Government's majority had already disappeared. His ability to hold things together for three years was quite remarkable in the circumstances. „
- 9Up 2Down 1
Ramsay MacDonald
1866“ #14 on original list „ - 10Up 4Down 4 1897“ #15 on original list One of the greatest of all British Foreign Secretaries and a leading light in the advent of 'One-Nation' Conservatism, his legacy was tarnished by the Suez crisis which led to his swift demise. „
- 11Up 4Down 4 1903“ #17 on original list - Only had a year in the job and so there is little on which to judge him as a leader. „
- 12Up 3Down 3 1894“ #6 on original list „
- 13Up 3Down 3 1916“ #12 on original list „
- 14Up 3Down 3
Andrew Bonar Law
1858“ #19 on original list - Had little time in office before his death so served more as a punctuation mark to Liberal Governments than as a leader in his own right. „ - 15Up 3Down 3 1836“ #13 on original list - Oversaw some major changes, but much was down to his heir apparent, Chancellor Herbert Asquith, as Campbell-Bannerman himself was very ill and died after a couple of years as PM. „
- 16Up 2Down 2 1916“ #11 on original list - Came in with great promise, but was somewhat paranoid and left as something of a disappointment „
- 17Up 2Down 2 1848“ #18 on original list „
- 18Up 4Down 6
John Major
1943“ #10 on original list „ - 19Up 3Down 6 1869“ #16 on original list - Another whose previous service was overshadowed by one political stance, namely that of his attempted appeasement of the Nazis prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. „
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