David Cameron rated UK's third-worst prime minister since World War II

David Cameron has been rated the third-worst prime minister since World War II by a panel of experts.

Who was doing the rating?

The survey of 82 academics, each specialising in post-1945 British history and politics, was carried out at the University of Leeds in collaboration with Woodnewton Associates, a market research company.

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Respondents were asked to rate the performance of each leader during their tenure in Downing Street on a scale of one to ten, with ten representing the top score of "highly successful".

What did it find?

Top of the list was the Labour PM Clement Atlee, who held office from 1945-51, during which time he introduced the welfare system, established the NHS and began rebuilding the country after the devastation of the Second World War.

Second on the list is Margaret Thatcher, followed by Tony Blair. Winston Churchill appears in seventh place - but for his 1951-55 term in office: his wartime leadership was not included in the study.

What about David Cameron?

Cameron, who left office in July, following the EU referendum, came in at number 11, making him the UK's third-worst post-war leader.

The Tory MP fared particularly badly in "foreign policy and Britain's role in the world", with around 90 per cent of academics citing the Brexit vote his greatest failure. One concluded the defeat was the greatest failure of any PM "since Lord North lost America" and was forced to resign in 1782, says The Independent.

Professor Kevin Theakston, at the University of Leeds, said: "For all his achievements as a successful coalition PM, David Cameron's reputation and place in history seems destined to be defined by Brexit and his calling and losing the referendum.

"Academic opinion, as reflected in our survey, is currently pretty damning," he added.

However, Theakston continued: "Reputations can wax and wane as subsequent events, the passage of time and new evidence change perspectives." If Brexit turns out to be a success, Cameron could be viewed in a better light.

The post-war league table of prime ministers

1. Clement Attlee, Labour 1945-512. Margaret Thatcher, Conservative 1979-903. Tony Blair, Labour 1997-20074. Harold Macmillan, Conservative 1957-635. Harold Wilson, Labour 1964-70 and 74-766. John Major, Conservative 1990-977. Winston Churchill, Conservative 1951-558. James Callaghan, Labour 1976-799. Edward Heath, Conservative 1970-7410. Gordon Brown, Labour 2007-1011. David Cameron, Conservative 2010-1612. Alec Douglas-Home, Conservative 1963-6413. Anthony Eden, Conservative 1955-57