Which historical or literary figure should have led lockdown?

[wanderings]

What with all the threads with people demanding yet more restrictions, and turning on each other, which leaders past or imagined would have given the lockdown some people are demanding, for better or for worse?

I keep thinking of the Puritan Oliver Cromwell, but perhaps those more clued up on history might have different ideas.

With literary or fictional characters, the obvious choice would be Big Brother in 1984, who had children spying on their parents. Also Lord Farquaard in Shrek, the baddie in chitty chitty bang bang, and to some extent, Basil Fawlty, who was always policing the hotel guests (“riff raff”) one way or another.

Keep this light hearted, please!

President Snow. Obv.

Stalin?

Florence Nightingale, good at infection control and hygiene

Dad's Army platoon.

I think the government has taken inspiration from the Carry In films at times

Mary Poppins

@motorcyclenumptiness I hadn't thought of Mary Poppins, that's a good one!

I thought Cromwell too! But that would end in rivers of blood. Lord Verinari from Discworld maybe.

*Vetinari

Joint effort between Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg!

Miss Trunchbowl

Miss Trunchbull is an interesting case: although most people were frightened of her, nobody was brainwashed into respecting her. All the pupils wanted to do was play tricks on her. She would hardly have observed social distancing herself, as her methods were very tactile, such as picking children up and flinging them away. Her idea of "lockdown" would have been eternity in the Chokey.

Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, appointed to be an authoritarian bureaucrat at Hogwarts. She managed to get a few pupils on her side for her "inquisitorial squad", but she was overwhelmed by the masses.

Dark humour suggests Anne Frank ...

Boudiccea

President Bartlett. He could persuade me to do anything.

Pennywise
Elizabeth I
Chairman Mao

Laura Roslin (president in battle star gallactica)

Dumbledoor

Extremely knowledgeable, brilliantly talented, fiercely brave but also quite a comforting figure who is stylishly dressed!

Definitely Granny Weatherwax, she would do it using the power of her will. Vetinari would rely on force if necessary, he liked the City to keep running.
President Bartlett is a great shout, inspirational, engaging etc and he would be in for 12 weeks as was medically vulnerable.

Nanny McPhee

Fictional: Vetinari for overall strategy with Sam Vimes on the ground for tactics and keeping the masses on side.

Historical: whoever persuaded everyone in Eyam to self-isolate and cut off the whole village to stop the plague spreading to other communities.

Gandalf

Another vote for Dumbledore here too.

Historical: whoever persuaded everyone in Eyam to self-isolate and cut off the whole village to stop the plague spreading to other communities.

That would be Reverend Mompesson

Surely Dumbledore is any easy one, he'd just put a spell and on us?

Sher-lockdown