The UK’s five greatest prime ministers

The anniversary of Labour’s first year in power since 2010 was predicted to be a “miserable, cakeless affair”, said The Economist.

Items embedded in the manifesto, such as reducing hospital waiting-lists, building more houses and stricter border controls were “off-track”.

However, in late September, Labour received its highest poll rating since May, rising three percentage points according to a More in Common poll, giving the PM “high marks” for his handling of the “Trump state visit”, said Sky News.

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Aside from the US president’s state visit, in recent weeks Starmer has recognised the state of Palestine, removed Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US over Epstein emails, and accepted the resignation of his Deputy Leader Angela Rayner over her stamp duty scandal.

As the polls fluctuate, charting the rise and fall of Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, we look back at Britain’s most popular prime ministers, and how their popularity has waxed and waned during, and since, they were in power.

Winston Churchill (Conservative, 1940-1945 and 1951-1955) – Fame: 97%; Popularity: 68%

Arguably Britain’s most famous political figure of all time, Winston Churchill is almost synonymous with Western triumphs in the Second World War.

At the helm, it was his “extraordinary leadership” during the war years that “marked him out”, said the BBC. With sheer stubbornness, “he inspired a nervous and hesitant Britain” by exuding energy and a determination never to give in.

In 2002, he was voted the “greatest Briton of all time” in a nationwide poll that attracted “more than a million votes”, said the BBC. Churchill won nearly 450,000 of those votes, beating Isambard Kingdom Brunel into second by 56,000 votes.

Such adulation reflects a 20th-century impression of the great war-leader, however. His robust approach to Hitler and war efforts aside, “Churchill’s record was so bad he was viewed as a negative indicator”, said Forbes.

Churchill’s “policies on Ireland”, “mismanagement of the British economy” between the two world wars and his “astonishingly bigoted opposition to Mahatma Gandhi” and the Indian independence movement, have invited a re-examination of his legacy.

Tony Blair (Labour, 1997-2007) – Fame: 95%; Popularity: 25%

“It is easy to roll one’s eyes” at the continued presence of the “septuagenarian ex-prime minister”, in mainstream politics, nearly 20 years since he left office, said Anne McElvoy in The Independent.

Blair still carries weight and influence as a statesman, with his “regional knowledge” of the Middle East and its geopolitics, making him “better qualified than many to be involved in the endgame of the Israel-Gaza conflict”.

Since 1945, no British prime minister has achieved a higher number of seats at a general election than Blair, winning 418 in 1997. The total slipped by six in 2001, with many calling the latter a “quiet landslide”.

He headed the two biggest majorities since the Second World War, ahead of the Conservatives by 178 and 166 in his two general elections.

In office, he was a proponent of key constitutional changes, introducing reform in the House of Lords, and creating the Freedom of Information Act to promote transparency in public institutions.

His involvement in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 was seen as a “huge diplomatic feat” and the “culmination” of lengthy “knife-edge negotiations”, said The Guardian.

His decision to involve the UK in the American bombing of Iraq has tarnished his reputation somewhat. He was a large advocate of the “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States, stating “I will be with you, whatever” over Iraq, according to the Chilcot report.

Margaret Thatcher (Conservative, 1979-1990) – Fame: 100%; Popularity: 46%

Just as Blair had George W. Bush, Thatcher had her “soulmate” Ronald Reagan, “making the so-called special relationship extra special” as they joined forces to fight communism, said Sky News.

During her three terms in power, Thatcher “revolutionised Tory thinking”, and is still ”adored and revered” by the party, most notably current leader Kemi Badenoch, and “despised and reviled on the left and in many working-class communities” more than three decades later.

On the economic front, Thatcher lay at the heart of the UK’s “most radical postwar effort to increase competition and productivity”, believing in “curbing regulation and stimulating competition, including by liberalising the City of London”, said the Financial Times.

Despite entering government at a time of high unemployment, her effective – if controversial – policies stimulated the economy, as well as entering the Falklands War in 1982.

She championed free-market policies, often drawing heated criticism from mining communities, and forged stark divisions between the upper and working classes.

Her legacy in British politics is “formidable”, and has radically “changed the political climate” for the parties and governments that follow, said The Telegraph.

Clement Attlee (Labour, 1945-1951) – Fame: 62%; Popularity: 31%

“All Labour leaders live in the shadow” of Attlee’s “postwar triumphs”, said The Guardian. In the same way that Conservatives laud Churchill and Thatcher, Labour leaders “of every stripe” must still draw “inspiration” from Attlee.

Attlee “knew what he wanted” from his government, creating a “team out of his rivals”. “His stock has only grown with the years.”

In July 1945, Attlee became the first Labour prime minister with a majority government, winning the general election with a landslide majority of 146 seats, as well as serving as leader of the Labour Party for 20 years between 1935 and 1955.

During his six-year tenure as prime minister, Attlee was responsible for some of the most fundamental pillars of contemporary British life, creating the NHS, welfare state, and the signing of the Nato treaty.

Unlike Churchill, who was PM immediately before and after him, Attlee was “not a demonstrative, dominant figure” like the wartime leader, but his “understated modesty masked a ruthless approach” to delivering small- and large-scale change, said The Times.

Robert Peel (Conservative, 1834-1835, 1841-1846) – Fame: 71%; Popularity: 50%

The figure furthest in the past on this list, Sir Robert Peel, the son of a wealthy Lancashire mill owner, arguably laid the foundations of workers’ rights, forming the basis of legislation today.

His first speech in the Commons was a “sensation”, and described by the Speaker of the House as “the best first speech since that of William Pitt”, according to Parliament Records.

Like Attlee, he can be credited with introducing a mainstay of current British society, by establishing London’s Metropolitan Police Force, reducing the number of offences “punishable by death”, and making efforts to “educate prisoners” during his time as home secretary, said Radio Times.

Due to spearheading the new police movement, he is the reason why policemen have since been nicknamed “peelers” or, more commonly, “bobbies”.

Peel’s time in office was defined by social reform, including “limiting the number of hours women and children could work” and improving “safety standards” in factories. His Mines Act of 1842 also banned the employment of women and children underground.

He was also instrumental in pushing through the Catholic Emancipation Bill through Parliament, ending the ban on Catholics in parliament and high office, after more than 20 years of opposition from previous governments.