Who was the last government you were happy with?

[WhiteTilesWhiteGrout]

Following on from another thread, it seems that whenever it comes to UK parties, nobody is ever happy. Even those who are siding with - say - the Tories or Labour, are not very happy with them.

So if the party you are planning to vote for in the next elections wins, will you actually be happy with what they'll do? When was the last time you were happy with the party in power?

Because it seems that no matter who's running the country, people are never happy.

Funny how the conservatives don't actually conserve anything. They just destroy and pillage.

Thatcher had the one off gift horse of north sea oil proceeds which was largely wasted, while she sold off the family silver.

Truss broke the economy by trying to do a Thatcher with a load of tax cuts for the rich in a bad economy. Unlike Thatcher she didn't have the north sea oil gift to finance them. We've had scandalous wealth inequalities ever since.

Spot on, the Iron Lady would not have stood for any of this shite. When Blair came along I lost all hope and that frigging song 'things can only get better' has to be the biggest joke ever. That man has made millions off the back of wringing this country out to dry by the time the tories took over again it was all a bit too late. I have no faith in any of them now. That said I do believe Teresa May was handed a poisoned chalice by Cameron who was just as bad as Blair. Then along came Boris, and we all got locked in our homes.. I'd have been partying at No10 quite frankly 🤣 what a shit show of a time he had. Oh my.. they really are a crazy bunch and supposedly 'run' the country!

Agreed. So much optimism and everything from the roads to the NHS to the cleanliness of our rivers and the sea was better.

Thatcher.

I think whatever answer you give may be from when you had your formative years. I was born 1966, lots of shit Labour governments in the 70's. Thatcher sorted the country out. The 80's were fab. I did vote for Blair though too post Thatcher.

Blair after his first win

I do not feel the same optimism for Labour as I did then. I will when they win but not in the same way they don’t feel so passionate about making changes as under Blair/Brown and Campbell

This Labour team are far more cautious

When Blair came along I lost all hope and that frigging song 'things can only get better' has to be the biggest joke ever. That man has made millions off the back of wringing this country out to dry

Yeah, it had probably happened before, maybe I was too young to notice, but Blair was when I first realised that they are ALL, all of them, every single one of them, in it for themselves. Not for what they earn in office, which is relatively little, but where it gets them afterwards. Nick Clegg is another prime example. And Johnson obviously. But it’s not restricted to them by any means. The workhorse local MP, doing their utmost for their constituents and local area, and only focused on that, are a rare beast now, for sure. No matter what colour their rosette.

Blair round 1 before I understood pfi. Tbh Thatcher was probably the last actually competent PM we had.

The last Labour government

85,000 more nurses,
32,000 more doctors
36,000 more teachers
14,000 more police
600,000 children raised out of poverty
150,000 less deaths from heart disease
50,000 less death from cancer
1 million social homes brought up to standard
1 million pensioners lifted out of poverty
500,000 people less on inpatient waiting lists
2,200 Sure Start Centres

Banned fur farming, animal cosmetic testing and fox hunting.
Crime cut by 32%
Cleanest rivers, beaches, air and drinking water since before the industrial revolution
Introduced paternity leave and civil partnerships
Doubled the number of apprenticeships
Museums and galleries became free to all

Oversaw the longest period of low inflation since the 1960s

It was a bloody brilliant, positive, happy time to be alive.

Honestly what we need is someone to tell us the truth. Out politicians are basically terrified of just telling us we can’t afford all the shit we like. It’s our fault really, don’t like hard truths.

Blair was when I first realised that they are ALL, all of them, every single one of them, in it for themselves

If Blair was in it for himself then a lot of us benefited along with him.
You can't say that about this current shower. Only the richest of the rich and their mates are better off these days.

My sister was born in the same year as you. There's no way on God's earth she'd say Thatcher, the absolute epitome of evil.

I was born in 72.
My parents voted Tory. As soon as I understood politics I was arguing with them.
Small victory is that they voted Lib Dem in the last election, before they both died.
My bio Dad is working class Tory and we agreed to stop talking politics, as I always end up getting horribly emotional about it, as he votes against himself time after time.

Thatcher was unpopular with many, but she knew that came with territory, unlike Boris Johnson, who wanted to be adored and worshipped by everybody - nobody told him that you have to be dead before you can apply for sainthood. Thatcher took the job of being prime minister very seriously indeed. In Thatcher's time, it was acceptable for the government to tell the blunt economic truth: a simple example being that buses cost more to run if they have a driver and a conductor. She would probably have said "I know you think we should lock down, but it would cause massive damage in many, many ways. It would be a mistake to dance to their (other countries') tune."

After Johnson, and to some extent Blair, I never want a "comedian" prime minister again. Give me boring old farts like Thatcher and Major any day.

There is a saying I am fond of: "Politicians are like nappies: they should be changed regularly, and for the same reason."

Maggie

Yes. And agree it felt hopeful.

The sense of relief when they won - I remember that well.

Margaret Thatcher, the best P.M.

I believe the money is there. It’s what they choose to spend it on that makes the difference.

I said previously keep the NI reduction and spend it in the nhs.

Thatcher said Blair/New Labour was her best legacy. He only continued what she started for the most part (aside from investing in public services which NL did actually do).

Dunno..Thatcher or possibly Major. In my lifetime.

Tony Blair was handsome and charismatic...I never trusted him and I feel he should have been called to account for iraq. brown I think was okay.

But Maggie, Reagan and Gorbachev were three world leaders who sorted a long term issue and brought real optimism.

Nobody currently deserves a vote

Blair and New Labour, I'd give anything to live those years again.

Reaganomics/Thatcherism were all built on sand though and their ideas ended with the 2008 crash. The problem is ever since we've been waiting for something else to replace it.

The wealth inequalities from 80s onwards has been obscene as a result of them.

Blair’s first government in 1997.

obviously history will judge him differently now due to Iraq but we needed him at the time.

Blair was a spiv. Looked like you were getting a bargain but all the while encouraging immigration, for cheap labour and to increase housing demand while closing hospital beds and getting schools and hospitals paid for on the never never.

In 1997 I had just turned old enough to vote, it felt a fresh and optimistic time having what seemed a younger and trendier government. Working in the NHS, then it seemed we were given more resources and money and waiting list came drastically down, for a while anyway.

The coalition government, I liked a couple of things they did, universal infant school meals for example.

Blair and new labour

I think it's our duty as citizens to keep improving the government, keep critiquing, keep working for a better society.

We certainly haven't had any government anyone with any ethics could be close to happy with in my lifetime so far, anyway. But even if there were, it would be our duty to keep improving the bits that could be improved. We're all part of the running of our society and it's our responsibility.