Historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
File:Sir Winston Churchill - 19086236948.jpg is generally considered one of the greatest prime ministers for his leadership during the Second World War.]]
File:Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Robert Banks Jenkinson (1770-1828), 2nd Earl of Liverpool - RCIN 404930 - Royal Collection.jpg, a Tory prime minister from 1812 to 1827, is ranked highly despite being called "the Arch-mediocrity" by later Conservative prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.]]
File:Person attlee2.jpg, who served as Labour Leader for over 20 years, is very highly rated among prime ministers.]]
File:Margaret Thatcher stock portrait (cropped).jpg and first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher is rated highly by many.]]
Academics, members of Parliament, the general public and journalists alike have attempted to rank prime ministers of the United Kingdom. Those included below generally consist of only a subset of prime ministers, typically those of the 20th century or those who served after the Second World War.
Academic opinion
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.{{citation|title=Churchill, 'Greatest' PM of 20th Century|date=4 January 2000|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/575219.stm|work=BBC Politics|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029081102/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/575219.stm|access-date=23 May 2007|archive-date=29 October 2005|url-status=live}}
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.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} The respondents were asked, among other historical questions, to rate all the 20th-century prime ministers in terms of their success and asking them to assess the key characteristics of successful ones. Respondents were asked to indicate on a scale of 0 to 10 how successful or unsuccessful they considered each prime minister to have been in office (with 0 being highly unsuccessful and 10 highly successful). A mean of the scores was calculated and a league table based on the mean scores.{{citation|title=Rating British Prime Ministers|url=https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/661/Rating-British-Prime-Ministers.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125140553/https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/661/Rating-British-Prime-Ministers.aspx|publisher=Ipsos MORI|access-date=24 November 2015|archive-date=25 November 2015|url-status=live}} 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 Liberals averaged 5.8 (median of 6.2) and the twelve Conservatives 4.8 (median of 4.1).
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.{{citation|title=Thatcher and Attlee top PM list|date=29 August 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5294024.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714201050/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5294024.stm|publisher=BBC News|access-date=24 September 2007|archive-date=14 July 2007|url-status=live}}
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.{{citation|title=Academics rate Brown one of the worst post 1945 PMs|url=http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/867/academics_rate_brown_one_of_the_worst_post_1945_pms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104123616/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/867/academics_rate_brown_one_of_the_worst_post_1945_pms|publisher=University of Leeds|access-date=9 January 2011|archive-date=4 November 2010|url-status=live}}{{citation|title=Gordon Brown 'third worst PM since 1945', poll of historians finds|date=3 August 2010|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7923790/Gordon-Brown-third-worst-PM-since-1945-poll-of-historians-finds.html|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806030353/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7923790/Gordon-Brown-third-worst-PM-since-1945-poll-of-historians-finds.html|access-date=9 January 2011|archive-date=6 August 2010|url-status=dead}}
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. Due to the date range, Churchill's oft-lauded war ministry and caretaker ministry were not in contention and he was judged solely on his second premiership.{{citation|title=David Cameron rated third worst Prime Minister since end of World War Two|date=12 October 2016|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-worst-prime-minister-ranking-third-since-ww2-a7358171.html|website=The Independent|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220214353/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-worst-prime-minister-ranking-third-since-ww2-a7358171.html|access-date=18 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}
In June 2021, the University of Leeds, again with Woodnewton Associates, surveyed 93 academics specialising in British politics and modern British history to rank the performance of post-war prime ministers from Churchill to Theresa May.{{Cite web |date=7 July 2021 |title=Professor Kevin Theakston co-authors article ranking post-war Prime Ministers |url=https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/news/article/1443/professor-kevin-theakston-co-authors-article-ranking-post-war-prime-ministers |access-date=11 August 2023 |website=University of Leeds}}{{citation|title=Theresa May joint worst post-war prime minister, say historians and politics professors in new survey|date=6 July 2021|url=https://theconversation.com/theresa-may-joint-worst-post-war-prime-minister-say-historians-and-politics-professors-in-new-survey-163912|website=The Conversation}}
The following table collects these surveys, although they are not all comparable.
Key:
- {{legend|#77aadd|blue background indicates a rank within the first quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#44bb99|green background indicates a rank within the second quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#eedd88|yellow background indicates a rank within the third quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#ee8866|orange background indicates a rank within the fourth quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#99CC00|yellow-green background indicates a median which does not fall into any quartile, used when the total number of figures ranked is not a multiple of four}}
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|+Rankings of prime ministers by academics | ||
| Prime Minister
! Party ! Tenure !{{vert header|stp=1|1=BBC Radio 4 1999}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=University of Leeds/Ipsos Mori 2004}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=Beckett 2006}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=University of Leeds 2010}} | ||
|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Salisbury, Marquess of" |The Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | 1885–1886 1886–1892 1895–1902 | style="background:#44bb99;" |07Ranking might only cover the Marquess of Salisbury's premiership after 1900 or between 1895 and 1902, not between 1885 and 1886 or 1886 and 1892. | style="background:#44bb99;" |10 | style="background:#44bb99;" |03 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Balfour, Arthur" |Arthur Balfour | Conservative | 1902–1905
| style="background:#ee8866;" |16 | style="background:#ee8866;" |18 | style="background:#eedd88;" |04 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Campbell-Bannerman, Henry" |Henry Campbell-Bannerman | Liberal | 1905–1908
| style="background:#44bb99;" |09 | style="background:#eedd88;" |11 | style="background:#99CC00;" |02 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Asquith, HH" |H. H. Asquith | Liberal | 1908–1916
| style="background:#77aadd;" |04 | style="background:#44bb99;" |07 | style="background:#44bb99;" |03 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Lloyd George, David" |David Lloyd George | Liberal | 1916–1922
| style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#44bb99;" |03 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Law, Bonar" |Bonar Law | Conservative | 1922–1923
| style="background:#eedd88;" |13 | style="background:#ee8866;" |16 | style="background:#99CC00;" |05 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Baldwin, Stanley" |Stanley Baldwin | Conservative | 1923–1924 1924–1929 1935–1937 | style="background:#44bb99;" |08 | style="background:#44bb99;" |08 | style="background:#44bb99;" |03 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="MacDonald, Ramsay" |Ramsay MacDonald | Labour National Labour | 1924 1929–1935 | style="background:#eedd88;" |14 | style="background:#eedd88;" |14 | style="background:#99CC00;" |05 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Chamberlain, Neville" |Neville Chamberlain | Conservative | 1937–1940
| style="background:#ee8866;" |18 | style="background:#ee8866;" |17 | style="background:#ee8866;" |06 |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |
| data-sort-value="Churchill, Winston" |Winston Churchill | Conservative | 1940–1945 1951–1955 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#99CC00;" |02 | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 |
| data-sort-value="Attlee, Clement" |Clement Attlee | Labour | 1945–1951
| style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 |
| data-sort-value="Eden, Anthony" |Anthony Eden | Conservative | 1955–1957
| style="background:#ee8866;" |19 | style="background:#ee8866;" |20 | style="background:#ee8866;" |06 | style="background:#ee8866;" |12 | style="background:#ee8866;" |13 | style="background:#ee8866;" |13= |
| data-sort-value="Macmillan, Harold" |Harold Macmillan | Conservative | 1957–1963
| style="background:#44bb99;" |06 | style="background:#77aadd;" |05 | style="background:#99CC00;" |02 | style="background:#44bb99;" |04 | style="background:#44bb99;" |04 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 |
| data-sort-value="Douglas-Home, Alec" |Alec Douglas-Home | Conservative | 1963–1964
| style="background:#99CC00;" |15 | style="background:#ee8866;" |19 | style="background:#99CC00;" |05 | style="background:#ee8866;" |11 | style="background:#ee8866;" |12 | style="background:#ee8866;" |12 |
| data-sort-value="Wilson, Harold" |Harold Wilson | Labour | 1964–1970 1974–1976 | style="background:#99CC00;" |10 | style="background:#44bb99;" |09 | style="background:#44bb99;" |03 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 | style="background:#44bb99;" |04 |
| data-sort-value="Heath, Edward" |Edward Heath | Conservative | 1970–1974
| style="background:#eedd88;" |11 | style="background:#eedd88;" |13 | style="background:#99CC00;" |02 | style="background:#eedd88;" |09 | style="background:#eedd88;" |09 | style="background:#eedd88;" |10 |
| data-sort-value="Callaghan, James" |James Callaghan | Labour | 1976–1979
| style="background:#eedd88;" |12 | style="background:#eedd88;" |12 | style="background:#eedd88;" |04 | style="background:#eedd88;" |07 | style="background:#eedd88;" |08 | style="background:#99CC00;" |07= |
| data-sort-value="Thatcher, Margaret" |Margaret Thatcher | Conservative | 1979–1990
| style="background:#99CC00;" |05 | style="background:#77aadd;" |04 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 |
| data-sort-value="Major, John" |John Major | Conservative | 1990–1997
| style="background:#ee8866;" |17 | style="background:#eedd88;" |15 | style="background:#99CC00;" |05 | style="background:#eedd88;" |08 | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 | style="background:#99CC00;" |07= |
| data-sort-value="Blair, Tony" |Tony Blair | Labour | 1997–2007
|{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 | style="background:#44bb99;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 |
| data-sort-value="Brown, Gordon" |Gordon Brown | Labour | 2007–2010
|{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |10 | style="background:#eedd88;" |10 | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 |
| data-sort-value="Cameron, David" |David Cameron | Conservative | 2010–2016
|{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |11 | style="background:#ee8866;" |11 |
| data-sort-value="May, Theresa" |Theresa May | Conservative | 2016–2019
|{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |13= |
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.{{citation|title=The prime ministerial ratings game: a parliamentary perspective|date=5 May 2015|url=http://politicsblog.ac.uk/2015/05/05/the-prime-ministerial-ratings-game-a-parliamentary-perspective|website=Politics Blog|access-date=27 September 2016|archive-date=6 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006181512/http://politicsblog.ac.uk/2015/05/05/the-prime-ministerial-ratings-game-a-parliamentary-perspective/|url-status=live}}
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: Conservative 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.
In 2023, the survey was redone with 65 correspondences.
Key:
- {{legend|#77aadd|blue background indicates a rank within the first quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#44bb99|green background indicates a rank within the second quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#eedd88|yellow background indicates a rank within the third quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#ee8866|orange background indicates a rank within the fourth quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#99CC00|yellow-green background indicates a median which does not fall into any quartile, used when the total number of figures ranked is not a multiple of four}}
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|+Rankings of prime ministers by members of Parliament |
| Prime Minister
! Party ! Tenure |
|---|
| Winston Churchill
|Conservative |(1940–1945) | style="background:#44bb99;" |04Ranking only covers Winston Churchill's premiership between 1951 and 1955, not between 1940 and 1945. |
| Clement Attlee
|Labour |1945–1951 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 |
| Anthony Eden
|Conservative |1955–1957 | style="background:#ee8866;" |11 | style="background:#ee8866;" |15 |
| Harold Macmillan
|Conservative |1957–1963 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 |
| Alec Douglas-Home
|Conservative |1963–1964 | style="background:#ee8866;" |10 | style="background:#ee8866;" |14 |
| Harold Wilson
|Labour |1964–1970 | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 |
| Edward Heath
|Conservative |1970–1974 | style="background:#eedd88;" |09 | style="background:#eedd88;" |12 |
| James Callaghan
|Labour |1976–1979 | style="background:#eedd88;" |08 | style="background:#eedd88;" |10 |
| Margaret Thatcher
|Conservative |1979–1990 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 |
| John Major
|Conservative |1990–1997 | style="background:#eedd88;" |07 | style="background:#44bb99;" |08 |
| Tony Blair
|Labour |1997–2007 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 |
| Gordon Brown
|Labour |2007–2010 | style="background:#ee8866;" |12 | style="background:#eedd88;" |09 |
| David Cameron
|Conservative |2010–2016 |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#44bb99;" |07 |
| Theresa May
|Conservative |2016–2019 |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |13 |
| Boris Johnson
|Conservative |2019–2022 |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#eedd88;" |11 |
| Liz Truss
|Conservative |2022 |{{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |16 |
Popular opinion
=BBC polls 2007 and 2008=
The BBC television programme The Daily Politics asked viewers in 2007 to select their favourite prime minister out of a list of ten who served between 1945 and 2007 (excluding Churchill).{{citation|title=Your Favourite Prime Minister|date=13 June 2007|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/6242715.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911034524/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/6242715.stm|access-date=8 August 2021|archive-date=11 September 2007|url-status=live}} In 2008, BBC Newsnight held a poll of 27,000 people, to decide the UK's greatest and worst post-war prime minister.{{citation|title=BBC Newsnight poll|date=1 October 2008|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7647383.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004185813/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7647383.stm|publisher=BBC News|access-date=8 August 2021|archive-date=4 October 2008|url-status=live}}
Key:
- {{legend|#77aadd|blue background indicates a rank within the first quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#44bb99|green background indicates a rank within the second quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#eedd88|yellow background indicates a rank within the third quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#ee8866|orange background indicates a rank within the fourth quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#99CC00|yellow-green background indicates a median which does not fall into any quartile, used when the total number of figures ranked is not a multiple of four}}
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|+Rankings of prime ministers by the general public |
| Prime Minister
! Party ! Tenure |
|---|
| Winston Churchill
|Conservative |(1940–1945) |{{hs|99}} – |
| Clement Attlee
|Labour |1945–1951 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 |
| Anthony Eden
|Conservative |1955–1957 | style="background:#ee8866;" |09 | style="background:#ee8866;" |11 |
| Harold Macmillan
|Conservative |1957–1963 | style="background:#eedd88;" |06 | style="background:#44bb99;" |04 |
| Alec Douglas-Home
|Conservative |1963–1964 | style="background:#99CC00;" |08 | style="background:#ee8866;" |10 |
| Harold Wilson
|Labour |1964–1970 | style="background:#44bb99;" |04 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 |
| Edward Heath
|Conservative |1970–1974 | style="background:#eedd88;" |07 | style="background:#eedd88;" |07 |
| James Callaghan
|Labour |1976–1979 | style="background:#ee8866;" |10 | style="background:#eedd88;" |09 |
| Margaret Thatcher
|Conservative |1979–1990 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 |
| John Major
|Conservative |1990–1997 | style="background:#44bb99;" |05 | style="background:#eedd88;" |08 |
| Tony Blair
|Labour |1997–2007 | style="background:#99CC00;" |03Ranking completed while the prime minister was in office. | style="background:#44bb99;" |06 |
| Gordon Brown
|Labour |2007–2010 |{{hs|99}} – |
While the poll indicated that respondents should only consider the period from 1945 onwards, whether or not respondents opted to separate Churchill's first term (1940–45) from his second in their evaluation should be weighed in this evaluation versus other polls (e.g. of academics), who generally rate Churchill's second term as being substantially worse than his first by comparison. Additionally, 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, Margaret Thatcher was in 16th place, Tony Blair was 67th and David Lloyd George was 79th.{{citation|title=100 Great Britons|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons.shtml|work=BBC History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514084331/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons.shtml|access-date=23 May 2007|archive-date=14 May 2006}}
Journalistic opinion
Both The Times{{citation |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7116855.ece |title=The Times's Top 50 Prime Ministers |website=The Times |access-date=23 July 2016 |url-access=subscription }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and Iain Dale{{cite web |url=https://www.iaindale.com/articles/ranking-our-55-prime-ministers-an-impossible-task-but-a-fascinating-one |title=Ranking 55 Prime Ministers |date=12 November 2020 |accessdate=9 June 2021 |last=Dale |first=Iain |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012636/https://www.iaindale.com/articles/ranking-our-55-prime-ministers-an-impossible-task-but-a-fascinating-one |url-status=live }} have specifically ranked all (or almost all) prime ministers of the United Kingdom and prime ministers of Great Britain.
Key:
- {{legend|#77aadd|blue background indicates a rank within the first quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#44bb99|green background indicates a rank within the second quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#eedd88|yellow background indicates a rank within the third quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#ee8866|orange background indicates a rank within the fourth quartile of its respective ranking}}
- {{legend|#99CC00|yellow-green background indicates a median which does not fall into any quartile, used when the total number of figures ranked is not a multiple of four}}
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|+Rankings of prime ministers by journalists | |||||||
| Prime Minister
! Party ! Tenure !{{vert header|stp=1|1=The Times 2010}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=Parris 2010{{citation |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7117486.ece |title=Matthew Parris: my top 50 Prime Ministers |website=The Times |access-date=23 July 2016 |url-access=subscription }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=Riddell 2010{{citation |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7117490.ece |title=Peter Riddell: my top 50 Prime Ministers |website=The Times |access-date=23 July 2016 |url-access=subscription }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=MacIntyre 2010{{citation |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/election_2010/article7117478.ece |title=Ben Macintyre: My top 50 Prime Ministers |website=The Times |access-date=23 July 2016 |url-access=subscription }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}}} !{{vert header|stp=1|1=Dale 2020}} | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| data-sort-value="Walpole, Robert" |Robert Walpole | Whig | 1721–1742 | style="background:#77aadd;" |09 | style="background:#44bb99;" |14 | style="background:#44bb99;" |16 | style="background:#77aadd;" |07 | style="background:#77aadd;" |10 |
| data-sort-value="Wilmington, Earl of" |Earl of Wilmington | Whig | 1742–1743 | {{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |50 | style="background:#ee8866;" |51 | style="background:#ee8866;" |42 | style="background:#ee8866;" |52 |
| data-sort-value="Pelham, Henry" |Henry Pelham | Whig | 1743–1754 | style="background:#eedd88;" |29 | style="background:#44bb99;" |19 | style="background:#eedd88;" |34 | style="background:#44bb99;" |20 | style="background:#44bb99;" |19 |
| data-sort-value="Newcastle, Duke of" |Duke of Newcastle | Whig | 1754–1756 1757–1762 | style="background:#ee8866;" |41 | style="background:#ee8866;" |40 | style="background:#eedd88;" |32 | style="background:#ee8866;" |41 | style="background:#44bb99;" |22 |
| data-sort-value="Devonshire, Duke of" |Duke of Devonshire | Whig | 1756–1757 | style="background:#ee8866;" |44 | style="background:#eedd88;" |35 | style="background:#ee8866;" |44 | style="background:#ee8866;" |47 | style="background:#ee8866;" |53 |
| data-sort-value="Bute, Earl of" |Earl of Bute | Tory | 1762–1763 | style="background:#ee8866;" |46 | style="background:#ee8866;" |44 | style="background:#ee8866;" |49 | style="background:#ee8866;" |40 | style="background:#99CC00;" |42 |
| data-sort-value="Grenville, George" |George Grenville | Whig | 1763–1765 | style="background:#ee8866;" |48 | style="background:#ee8866;" |51 | style="background:#ee8866;" |48 | style="background:#eedd88;" |39 | style="background:#ee8866;" |44 |
| data-sort-value="Rockingham, Marquess of" |Marquess of Rockingham | Whig | 1765–1766 1782 | style="background:#eedd88;" |32 | style="background:#eedd88;" |30 | style="background:#ee8866;" |42 | style="background:#eedd88;" |38 | style="background:#44bb99;" |27 |
| data-sort-value="Pitt, Elder" |William Pitt the Elder | Whig | 1766–1768 | style="background:#44bb99;" |16 | style="background:#44bb99;" |25 | style="background:#44bb99;" |14 | style="background:#44bb99;" |18 | style="background:#44bb99;" |25 |
| data-sort-value="Grafton, Duke of" |Duke of Grafton | Whig | 1768–1770 | style="background:#ee8866;" |49 | style="background:#ee8866;" |42 | style="background:#ee8866;" |50 | style="background:#ee8866;" |49 | style="background:#eedd88;" |38 |
| data-sort-value="North, Lord" |Lord North | Tory | 1770–1782 | style="background:#ee8866;" |50 | style="background:#ee8866;" |49 | style="background:#eedd88;" |37 | style="background:#ee8866;" |44 | style="background:#eedd88;" |40 |
| data-sort-value="Shelburne, Earl of" |Earl of Shelburne | Whig | 1782–1783 | style="background:#eedd88;" |26 | style="background:#eedd88;" |29 | style="background:#ee8866;" |41 | style="background:#77aadd;" |05 | style="background:#eedd88;" |41 |
| data-sort-value="Portland, Duke of" |Duke of Portland | Whig Tory | 1783 1807–1809 | style="background:#ee8866;" |39 | style="background:#eedd88;" |27 | style="background:#ee8866;" |43 | style="background:#eedd88;" |37 | style="background:#ee8866;" |43 |
| data-sort-value="Pitt, Younger" |William Pitt the Younger | Tory | 1783–1801 1804–1806 | style="background:#77aadd;" |04 | style="background:#77aadd;" |12 | style="background:#77aadd;" |05 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 |
| data-sort-value="Addington, Henry" |Henry Addington | Tory | 1801–1804 | style="background:#ee8866;" |39 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36 | style="background:#eedd88;" |39 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36 | style="background:#44bb99;" |26 |
| data-sort-value="Grenville, Baron" |Baron Grenville | Whig | 1806–1807 | style="background:#ee8866;" |43 | style="background:#eedd88;" |39 | style="background:#ee8866;" |40 | style="background:#eedd88;" |35 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36 |
| data-sort-value="Perceval, Spencer" |Spencer Perceval | Tory | 1809–1812 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36 | style="background:#eedd88;" |38 | style="background:#ee8866;" |47 | style="background:#eedd88;" |33 | style="background:#eedd88;" |37 |
| data-sort-value="Liverpool, Earl of" |Earl of Liverpool | Tory | 1812–1827 | style="background:#44bb99;" |19 | style="background:#44bb99;" |22 | style="background:#44bb99;" |22 | style="background:#44bb99;" |15 | style="background:#44bb99;" |20 |
| data-sort-value="Canning, George" |George Canning | Tory | 1827 | style="background:#eedd88;" |31 | style="background:#77aadd;" |08 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36 | style="background:#44bb99;" |23 | style="background:#ee8866;" |54 |
| data-sort-value="Goderich, Viscount" |Viscount Goderich | Tory | 1827–1828 | {{hs|99}} – | style="background:#eedd88;" |37 | style="background:#ee8866;" |52 | style="background:#ee8866;" |51 | style="background:#ee8866;" |55 |
| data-sort-value="Wellington, Duke of" |Duke of Wellington | Tory | 1828–1830 1834 | style="background:#44bb99;" |24 | style="background:#44bb99;" |18 | style="background:#eedd88;" |30 | style="background:#44bb99;" |17 | style="background:#eedd88;" |33 |
| data-sort-value="Grey, Earl" |Earl Grey | Whig | 1830–1834 | style="background:#77aadd;" |08 | style="background:#77aadd;" |09 | style="background:#77aadd;" |10 | style="background:#77aadd;" |06 | style="background:#77aadd;" |13 |
| data-sort-value="Melbourne, Viscount" |Viscount Melbourne | Whig | 1834 1835–1841 | style="background:#44bb99;" |25 | style="background:#44bb99;" |26 | style="background:#44bb99;" |21 | style="background:#eedd88;" |32 | style="background:#44bb99;" |24 |
| data-sort-value="Peel, Robert" |Robert Peel | Conservative | 1834–1835 1841–1846 | style="background:#77aadd;" |06 | style="background:#77aadd;" |06 | style="background:#77aadd;" |08 | style="background:#77aadd;" |08 | style="background:#77aadd;" |12 |
| data-sort-value="Russell, Lord John" |Lord John Russell | Whig Liberal | 1846–1852 1865–1866 | style="background:#44bb99;" |21 | style="background:#44bb99;" |15 | style="background:#eedd88;" |29 | style="background:#44bb99;" |14 | style="background:#44bb99;" |18 |
| data-sort-value="Derby, Earl of" |Earl of Derby | Conservative | 1852 1858–1859 1866–1868 | style="background:#44bb99;" |18 | style="background:#44bb99;" |23 | style="background:#44bb99;" |19 | style="background:#44bb99;" |16 | style="background:#44bb99;" |16 |
| data-sort-value="Aberdeen, Earl of" |Earl of Aberdeen | Peelite | 1852–1855 | style="background:#ee8866;" |42 | style="background:#ee8866;" |41 | style="background:#eedd88;" |31 | style="background:#ee8866;" |43 | style="background:#eedd88;" |39 |
| data-sort-value="Palmerston, Viscount" |Viscount Palmerston | Whig Liberal | 1855–1858 1859–1865 | style="background:#99CC00;" |13 | style="background:#77aadd;" |11 | style="background:#44bb99;" |20 | style="background:#77aadd;" |11 | style="background:#44bb99;" |17 |
| data-sort-value="Disraeli, Benjamin" |Benjamin Disraeli | Conservative | 1868 1874–1880 | style="background:#77aadd;" |10 | style="background:#77aadd;" |07 | style="background:#77aadd;" |06 | style="background:#77aadd;" |09 | style="background:#77aadd;" |08 |
| data-sort-value="Gladstone, William Ewart" |William Ewart Gladstone | Liberal | 1868–1874 1880–1885 1886 1892–1894 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |04 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |04 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 |
| data-sort-value="Salisbury, Marquess of" |Marquess of Salisbury | Conservative | 1885–1886 1886–1892 1895–1902 | style="background:#77aadd;" |11 | style="background:#77aadd;" |10 | style="background:#77aadd;" |12 | style="background:#44bb99;" |25 | style="background:#77aadd;" |09 |
| data-sort-value="Rosebery, Earl of" |Earl of Rosebery | Liberal | 1894–1895 | style="background:#ee8866;" |45 | style="background:#ee8866;" |46 | style="background:#ee8866;" |46 | style="background:#ee8866;" |50 | style="background:#ee8866;" |46 |
| data-sort-value="Balfour, Arthur" |Arthur Balfour | Conservative | 1902–1905 | style="background:#eedd88;" |30 | style="background:#eedd88;" |28 | style="background:#eedd88;" |38 | style="background:#eedd88;" |31 | style="background:#eedd88;" |31 |
| data-sort-value="Campbell-Bannerman, Henry" |Henry Campbell-Bannerman | Liberal | 1905–1908 | style="background:#44bb99;" |22 | style="background:#44bb99;" |24 | style="background:#44bb99;" |26 | style="background:#eedd88;" |30 | style="background:#44bb99;" |23 |
| data-sort-value="Asquith, HH" |H. H. Asquith | Liberal | 1908–1916 | style="background:#77aadd;" |11 | style="background:#44bb99;" |21 | style="background:#77aadd;" |09 | style="background:#44bb99;" |26 | style="background:#77aadd;" |07 |
| data-sort-value="Lloyd George, David" |David Lloyd George | Liberal | 1916–1922 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |02 | style="background:#77aadd;" |06 |
| data-sort-value="Law, Bonar" |Bonar Law | Conservative | 1922–1923 | style="background:#eedd88;" |34 | style="background:#ee8866;" |47 | style="background:#eedd88;" |35 | style="background:#44bb99;" |24 | style="background:#ee8866;" |49 |
| data-sort-value="Baldwin, Stanley" |Stanley Baldwin | Conservative | 1923–1924 1924–1929 1935–1937 | style="background:#44bb99;" |14 | style="background:#44bb99;" |20 | style="background:#77aadd;" |11 | style="background:#77aadd;" |13 | style="background:#77aadd;" |11 |
| data-sort-value="MacDonald, Ramsay" |Ramsay MacDonald | Labour National Labour | 1924 1929–1935 | style="background:#eedd88;" |33 | style="background:#ee8866;" |48 | style="background:#eedd88;" |33 | style="background:#eedd88;" |29 | style="background:#eedd88;" |30 |
| data-sort-value="Chamberlain, Neville" |Neville Chamberlain | Conservative | 1937–1940 | style="background:#eedd88;" |35 | style="background:#ee8866;" |45 | style="background:#eedd88;" |28 | style="background:#ee8866;" |52 | style="background:#ee8866;" |47 |
| data-sort-value="Churchill, Winston" |Winston Churchill | Conservative | 1940–1945 1951–1955 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 | style="background:#77aadd;" |01 |
| data-sort-value="Attlee, Clement" |Clement Attlee | Labour | 1945–1951 | style="background:#77aadd;" |07 | style="background:#77aadd;" |05 | style="background:#77aadd;" |07 | style="background:#44bb99;" |22 | style="background:#77aadd;" |05 |
| data-sort-value="Eden, Anthony" |Anthony Eden | Conservative | 1955–1957 | style="background:#ee8866;" |47 | style="background:#ee8866;" |43 | style="background:#ee8866;" |45 | style="background:#ee8866;" |48 | style="background:#ee8866;" |51 |
| data-sort-value="Macmillan, Harold" |Harold Macmillan | Conservative | 1957–1963 | style="background:#44bb99;" |15 | style="background:#44bb99;" |17 | style="background:#77aadd;" |13 | style="background:#44bb99;" |21 | style="background:#44bb99;" |21 |
| data-sort-value="Douglas-Home, Alec" |Alec Douglas-Home | Conservative | 1963–1964 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36 | style="background:#eedd88;" |32 | style="background:#eedd88;" |27 | style="background:#eedd88;" |34 | style="background:#ee8866;" |48 |
| data-sort-value="Wilson, Harold" |Harold Wilson | Labour | 1964–1970 1974–1976 | style="background:#44bb99;" |20 | style="background:#eedd88;" |33 | style="background:#44bb99;" |17 | style="background:#44bb99;" |19 | style="background:#44bb99;" |15 |
| data-sort-value="Heath, Edward" |Edward Heath | Conservative | 1970–1974 | style="background:#44bb99;" |23 | style="background:#77aadd;" |13 | style="background:#44bb99;" |18 | style="background:#ee8866;" |46 | style="background:#eedd88;" |35 |
| data-sort-value="Callaghan, James" |James Callaghan | Labour | 1976–1979 | style="background:#eedd88;" |27 | style="background:#eedd88;" |31 | style="background:#44bb99;" |24 | style="background:#eedd88;" |27 | style="background:#eedd88;" |34 |
| data-sort-value="Thatcher, Margaret" |Margaret Thatcher | Conservative | 1979–1990 | style="background:#77aadd;" |05 | style="background:#77aadd;" |03 | style="background:#77aadd;" |04 | style="background:#77aadd;" |10 | style="background:#77aadd;" |04 |
| data-sort-value="Major, John" |John Major | Conservative | 1990–1997 | style="background:#eedd88;" |28 | style="background:#44bb99;" |16 | style="background:#44bb99;" |23 | style="background:#eedd88;" |28 | style="background:#99CC00;" |28 |
| data-sort-value="Blair, Tony" |Tony Blair | Labour | 1997–2007 | style="background:#44bb99;" |16 | style="background:#eedd88;" |34 | style="background:#44bb99;" |15 | style="background:#77aadd;" |12 | style="background:#99CC00;" |14 |
| data-sort-value="Brown, Gordon" |Gordon Brown | Labour | 2007–2010 | style="background:#eedd88;" |36Ranking may have been completed while the prime minister was in office. | style="background:#ee8866;" |52 | style="background:#44bb99;" |25 | style="background:#ee8866;" |45 | style="background:#eedd88;" |32 |
| data-sort-value="Cameron, David" |David Cameron | Conservative | 2010–2016 | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | style="background:#eedd88;" |29 |
| data-sort-value="May, Theresa" |Theresa May | Conservative | 2016–2019 | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |50 |
| data-sort-value="Johnson, Boris" |Boris Johnson | Conservative | 2019–2022 | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | {{hs|99}} – | style="background:#ee8866;" |45 |
See also
;Other countries
Notes
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha|refs=}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- {{citation |last1=Buller |first1=Jim |first2=Toby S. |last2=James |title=Statecraft and the Assessment of National Political Leaders: The Case of New Labour and Tony Blair |journal=British Journal of Politics & International Relations |year=2012 |volume=14 |number=4 |pages=534–555 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-856x.2011.00471.x|s2cid=145373340 |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/65896/1/bjpi_471.pdf }}
- {{citation |last1=Kaarbo |first1=Juliet|author-link2=Margaret Hermann |first2=Margaret G. |last2=Hermann |title=Leadership styles of prime ministers: How individual differences affect the foreign policymaking process |journal=The Leadership Quarterly |year=1998 |volume=9 |number=3 |pages=243–263|doi=10.1016/s1048-9843(98)90029-7}}
- {{citation |author=Royal Holloway Group |id=PR3710 |title=British MPs on British PMs: Parliamentary Evaluations of Prime Ministerial Success |journal=Politics |year=2015 |volume=35 |number=2 |pages=111–127|doi=10.1111/1467-9256.12074 |s2cid=219971622 }}
- {{citation |last=Strangio |first=Paul|title=Understanding Prime-Ministerial Performance: Comparative Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMu2nAZmMbEC&pg=PA224|year=2013|publisher=Oxford UP|isbn=978-0-19-966642-3|pages=224, 226|display-authors=etal}}
- {{citation |last1=Theakston |first1=Kevin |first2=Mark |last2=Gill |title=Rating 20th‐Century British Prime Ministers |journal=British Journal of Politics & International Relations |year=2006 |volume=8 |number=2 |pages=193–213 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-856x.2006.00220.x|s2cid=145216328 }}
- {{citation |last1=Theakston |first1=Kevin |first2=Mark |last2=Gill |title=The postwar premiership league |journal=Political Quarterly |year=2011 |volume=82 |number=1 |pages=67–80 |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/78536/3/The_postwar_premiership_league_with_coversheet.pdf |doi=10.1111/j.1467-923x.2011.02170.x}}
External links
- {{citation |url=http://www.uc.edu/bpg/ |title=The British Politics Group |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816181513/http://www.uc.edu/bpg/ |archive-date=16 August 2000 |date=7 July 2000 |access-date=23 May 2007 |url-status=live }}
{{List of UK Prime Ministers}}{{Historiography}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Historical Rankings Of prime ministers Of The United Kingdom}}