Can I ask the collective wisdom of MN where they would rank the current Prime Minister and his two immediate predecessors on these lists?

[OverUnderSidewaysDown]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom
Various rankings of twentieth-century and other UK prime ministers in terms of their effectiveness (not their policies). Where would you place Cameron, May and Boris Johnson?
Voting: in general I would place them average or above = vote Yes
In general I would place them average or below = vote No.
My own view is that they are worse than most of the worst people on the list because of the extent of damage they’ve done.

Disappointed this isn’t a game of shag, marry, avoid

Revised version of voting:
Average and above YABU
Average and below YANBU

Johnson rock bottom, May just above, Cameron somewhere in the realms of the mediocre but not outright inept and offensive.

You've got average in both categories!

We could combine replies with a game of Shag, Marry, Avoid, good idea.
Cameron: marry
May: shag
Boris: avoid at all costs

Chachacha, that is true. I’m trying to force a binary vote.

XDownwiththissortofthingX about where I would put them. In the case of Mr Johnson, worst of all time.

So the ranking is on how well they implemented their policies.

I think I'd put them all below average, though I suppose it might be unfair to rank Boris before he is finished.

Oh like Prime Minister Top Trumps. Love it.

Boris is lower than low. Proper scum. Not even because of Brexit; he patently doesn't believe in it, in fact I'm unsure what he believes in aside from his god-given right to fuck whichever woman crosses his path (I have an uncle like this - he believes men are inherently unable to practise monogamy in the long-term and shouldn't be penalised for animal instincts - he's also, like Boris, a massive arsehole). It's his utter incompetence that makes me cross; he stands for absolutely nothing and therefore in Prime Minister Top Trumps he would score 0 for everything. Perhaps a 1 for repopulating the earth with forgotten children.

Then Cameron - his arrogance led us to Brexit and, like Boris, he's never owned his own absolute prick behaviour. He would score 2 in PMTT for smoothness of forehead. That's it.

And lastly May, whose dead-skeletor facial expressions I use to threaten my DC when they're naughty. In PMTT she would achieve the lofty heights of a 7 for scary dancing and a strong 9 for power suits.

Fascinating.

Of the three mentioned May first, Cameron and then Johnson.

Out of a bigger list, Cameron would have come pretty near the bottom, on a par with Alec Douglas Home, but now Boris trumps the lot. Potentially worse that Anthony Eden and Neville Chamberlain, which says a lot. Chamberlain and Eden, I gather, were both considered competent politicians in earlier roles, but being PM and the events dear boy, events, they found themselves with showed them to be out of their depth.

Johnson, although he would like to play the events dear boy card with Covid, was pretty shit as London Mayor, and wasted public money. He was a disgrace as Foreign Secretary, and he is a disgrace now.

I don't think you can compare them - two of them did not have to deal with a pandemic.

IamShark it is true Cameron and May did not have to deal with a pandemic. However May gave the virus a helping hand by suspending the Threats, Hazards, Resilience and Contingency Committee, and then Boris abolished it altogether without any discussion of virus control. (Source: Daily Telegraph).

Good conversation but surely to early to tell with Boris Johnson. His manifesto was overtaken by events after 4 months in unprecedented circumstances. I'm not saying he's going to be any good btw.

Theresa May well below average, near the bottom - will go down in history with Brown and Callaghan as PMs who called an election at the wrong time and blew themselves up. Would surely have been dispatched by her own MPs in 2017 but no-one else wanted to carry the can for Brexit.

Cameron took over in difficult economic circumstances, did more or less what he promised ... you might not like austerity but the British people voted for it ... and maintained a coalition which never really even threatened to fracture. First term, quite effective and probably above average. But then gambled and lost. If you're PM, and you want to stay in the EU, why hold a referendum on leaving? That's what he will be remembered for, so below average.

I vote Labour or Lib Dem, but that's not what my judgement is based on. Hated Thatcher, but she was a political titan.

Johnson is the worse PM ever so far. His only ideology has always been how he can get ahead and fuck everyone else. He's the only PM who is unable to sack corrupt and incompetent ministers as soon as they reveal their colours due to his own ideology.

Cameron was merely arrogant and May, while a hard working politician, was clearly out of her depth.

Boris is of course the worst - incompetent pathological liar with no real interest in anything beyond self-promotion.
I think Cameron will be viewed more harshly by history than he is now. Many people see him as at least partly responsible for unleashing the shit show of Brexit. But actually his main achievement in office was austerity. He didn’t deliberately bring about Brexit but he (and Osborne) did deliberately cut back on the welfare safety net and public services. He should be remembered as the prime minister of children going to school hungry, more homeless people on the street and the rise of food banks. That might seem insignificant compared to the Covid pandemic but it really isn’t.

Cameron and Johnson fucked the country for a jolly jape. May seemed to care somewhat but that was probably just good pr.

I mean I don't like and would not vote for any of them but only Johnson seems utterly inept. I feel a bit sorry for TM as PM - nobody was ever going to get anywhere in the immediate aftermath of brexit but I almost admired her for digging her heels in and giving it a go when all the others were shying away from it like shit on a stick. However her record as Home Sec acts against her...reducing police numbers was a huge mistake.

Cameron again I don't like buttttt I will give him credit for getting gay marriage legalised - don't think many would have expected that from a conservative prime minister even five years prior.

None of them are a Jacinda Arden though!

I wouldn't rank Boris in a category that even had policy in it.

He has no clue, no plan and couldn't write a decent policy if his life depended on it.

May I think could have had potential if the party gave her a chance and for behind her.

Cameron was doing ok I thought - until he fucked up

Shag- Boris (there must be something about him to attract those women?!)

Marry- Cameron (I feel he's just a bit dim)

Avoid- May (her time at the home office was evil. However, she has been usurped by the poisonous Patel)

Good lord Shirley, I've just had my tea.
Cameron-May-Boris.
I liked Boris on who do you think you are.
He should have stuck to that.

Johnson - worst ever.

May - it's a little hard to asses because she oversaw a very challenging time, but didnt do much right either. Below average.

Cameron would have been around average were it not for the referendum.

Cameron somewhere in the realms of the mediocre but not outright inept and offensive. Cameron set off the train of events which is leading to a no-deal Brexit. And he ushered in the slashing of public service spending that has led to us being so un-ready for Covid. He may not be inept but he didn't act in the interests of the majority of his fellow citizens.

I find them Cameron and Johnson hard to judge in terms of effectiveness. It all hinges on what you believe to have been their motives.

I actually almost liked David Cameron (although didn’t vote for him) - I feel he actually did want what was best for the UK, but I’ll never forgive him for allowing Gove to basically shaft the educatione then it’s gone from fucking bad to Boris.

@ShirleyPhallus I’d shag Cameron, kiss May and avoid Boris.

I would put May ahead of the others in terms of good intentions (even though I disagreed with most of her policies). Cameron probably the most competent, in a weak field. Boris, absurdly awful.

Johnson is by far the worst PM in our nations history. I predict that his name will be a term of abuse in school playgrounds 200 years hence.
And historians will write countless academic papers about the collective madness the British population underwent in electing him in spite of his well documented record of depravity and lying in the years before he came to power.