Who is your Favourite British Prime Minster.

I like John Major.

Whuuut? Why?

What did John Major accomplish?

I'll think I'd go for Attlee as well. I'm quite fond of Mac Millan and DLG though.

Edit: He was between two of the worst Prime Ministers ever and was reasonably innofensive. The worst thing a out his government is usually said to be "sleaze", there's a reasonably large amount of people who don't care about that sort of thing. He lacks actual acomplishments, but he's still probably the best PM in the past 30 years.

Also this. I think Blair steals credit for this.

edited 29th Oct '11 12:41:56 PM by C0mraid

"What did John Major accomplish?"

I think he was pretty important in settling things down in Northern Ireland.

Edit: From his Wikipedia article: "successes such as the revival of economic growth and the beginnings of the Northern Ireland Peace Process".

That's pretty important stuff.

edited 29th Oct '11 12:41:06 PM by ArlaGrey

Clement Attlee

and also kin.... oh wait.

edited 29th Oct '11 12:39:45 PM by Baff

Ah. I can see why Major could be Flame Bait/disputable/whatever.

Yes, that's a pretty important part of it. While Blair was ultimately responsible for the settlement in 1998, Major's contributions can't be underestimated. I believe that he should be appreciated for going to the table in 1993 and putting us on a course to a relatively peaceful arrangement where Thatcher would have sided with Paisley's mob.

I also appreciate his collegial approach to the Cabinet. Admittedly he didn't have the same force of personality as Thatcher or Blair, but he was a reasonably good strategist who was (for a while, anyway) able to bind his government to a unified course of action on contentious policy areas such as Britain's relationship with the European Union.

That being said, I suppose I quite like the Tony Blair of 1997-2001, who actually settled the Good Friday Agreement, initiated the reforms to the House of Lords and intervened successfully in the Balkans and Sri Lanka. After that I think he lost the plot a bit.

Churchill wasn't just dodgy on the domestic front - his attitude towards India verged on cartoon supervillainy at times. During the Bengal famine of 1943, which killed three million people, he refused to divert food lest it interfere with the war effort, and was recorded as asking why, if food was so scarce, Gandhi hadn't died yet.

Yeah, his actions towards India were atrocious, although dickishly-done or not, he did have justification for not wanting to divert food in the middle of the Second World War...

He isn't really controvertial. It's more like he's one of the more forgettable PM's, and most politicians are memorable for their faults.

I also don't think personality should be an issue with PM's, Attlee is an example of somone who probably couldn't become PM today because of this trend.

edited 29th Oct '11 1:04:16 PM by C0mraid

Random fact (I think); Atlee was first irreligious PM

Another reason that I like John Major is that I am also quite fond of peas.

Neville Chamberlain.

Yeah, really.

In hindsight, his policy towards Nazi Germany was not optimal; but frankly, I can understand a prime minister trying to avoid a war for which his country was not prepared.

And the more I learn about him, the more I find myself in agreement with the rest of his policies.

edited 29th Oct '11 1:08:54 PM by Carciofus

I agree with Jazz Queen!

People tend to judge Chamberlain using the knowledge we have today. With the information he had, an earlier war with Germany could have, as far as he knew, resulted in total defeat for Britain. All he knew was that Britain was not in great shape, so I think his decision to put it off a bit longer was wise.

People seem to think Chamberlain didn't realise that war was inevitable. He did, he was being tactical.

Basically; I agree.

edited 29th Oct '11 1:14:32 PM by ArlaGrey

Chamberlain doesn't deserve his reputation, regarding the Munich Pact and "peace in our time" and all that bullshit, but I can't say whether or not he's good besides...

I agree that Chamberlain shouldn't be judged harshly for appeasement, but his leadership once the war actually started wasn't great.

The reason Major was so instrumental in northern ireland is that you can't get mad at him. Essentially we sent a teddybear to negotiate between hostile factions.

Yeah: Send a dude that's too much of a non-entity to effectively antagonize you. He's not guaranteed to solve the negotiation, but you know he's not going to irritate the factions any further.

It's a boring choice, but it's a sound choice.

edited 29th Oct '11 1:30:48 PM by SavageHeathen

Well as others have stated, Atlee, for his brilliant social policy, and his role in Yalta(?).

My second would be Wilson, again, because of what everyone else said.

My third would be Chaimberlain, because he was a Brummie, and the period he navigated through was rather a difficult period. Appeasement, in context, seemed a rather sensible idea, considering the state of the nation.

Fourth? Brown. Because Minimum Wage.

Thatcher ranks at the bottom, because creating private monopolies from public monopolies is not great.

Blair? Eh, I have mixed opinions. Some of what he did was okay, some was bad. He did increase the size of the public sector, and public service spending, so employing half my family... meh. And free childcare during my babby years too... hmmm... a mixed bag.

Basically, all the Tory Prime Ministers are at the bottom of my list.

The impression I'm getting is that Blair was alright until 9/11, which is strangely familiar.

I want a teddy bear for a President! o_o

Blair was ok till the Iraq invasion then he became Bliar.

Now, one Prime Minister who divides my opinions is Pitt the Younger. I think he should be commended for attempting to pass measures to emancipate the Irish Catholics, but at the same time he was responsible for giving Lake free license to dragoon the dissenters in Ulster.

,Indeed. As I observed above (probably not noticed because it was at the very bottom):

edited 29th Oct '11 1:37:40 PM by TheGloomer

The Gloommer, Pitt the younger also abolished slavery in the United Kingdom right?