Most Successful PM

Over the last couple of days there has been a media flurry about a survey of academic historians rating the success of Prime Ministers since 1945. Clement Attllee (L 1896.2) was rated as 'most successful.' It seems the criterion was an assessment of how much of a mark the various PMs left on British society and politics, and how much of their programme they managed to impliment. The establishment of the welfare state is viewed as defining the modern political landscape. This is the second time the survey has been undertaken by Professor Kenneth Theakston of the University of Leeds and Mark Gill of Woodnewton Associates, and on the  previous occasion as well Attlee came out top.

The survey was done for the Financial Times, but as they have a paywall you may prefer to follow the story on free sites here, here and here

If anyone has had time to read Niklaus Thomas-Symonds' new biography of Attlee, Attlee - A Life in Politics do post a comment. Philip Zeigler reviews it in the Spectator here and says that it is a useful corrective to what he views as the over sympathetic work of Kenneth Harris but that Thomas-Symonds fails to bring in any new material beyond some things about his time at Haileybury. Zeigler remarks that this is covered in less than a page. There may be some room for more there in that Attlee was such a supporter of the school and of Haileyburians. I seem to remember being told that Attlee remarked once that "all other things being equal I would rather have a Haileyburian with me than another man." One assumes that he actually meant "all other things being equal" at face value!

Over the next couple of days I shall try and dig out a link to a recording of Attlee giving an interview to Sir Robin Day. It shows how much things have changed as the by then former PM gives basically monosyllabic answers.