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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Worst in Living Memory?

641 replies

ElephantWhaleRabbit · 21/12/2020 13:45

Maybe it’s because we’re all caught up in everything right now, but AIBU to think Boris Johnson the worst Prime Minister in living memory? I mean, which of the former PMs, wouldn’t you swap in for him? Or is he just a victim of a bad set of circumstances?

OP posts:
Aprilx · 21/12/2020 13:48

No PM during my lifetime has had to deal with what BJ has had to deal with, so I don’t think I could make a fair comparison.

Cocomarine · 21/12/2020 13:48

I expect his personal opinion about people dying from Covid19 might be marginally more humanitarian than Thatcher’s would have been.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 21/12/2020 13:50

It’s impossible to say because no one knows how any other PM or any other party would have dealt with this. Many of the people who voted for his party did so because they were so fed up with JC and his lot. We just can’t say, because there is nothing to compare it with.

MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously · 21/12/2020 13:52

I'd rather have Boris than Tony Blair.

Knittedfairies · 21/12/2020 13:52

It's a particularly bad set of circumstances, although I hold him responsible for the Brexit debacle.

xmasfairybuns · 21/12/2020 13:53

I can't stand him or his way of doing things but if I absolutely must be fair (must I?) then I think anybody would struggle to deal with it as nobody has any experience of it. Added to that the fact that he, like many politicians, is a very priviledged individual with stacks of money who is disconnected from the reality of like for most people and it's hard to see how he could do anything other than fuck it up.

PinGwyn · 21/12/2020 13:56

YABU.

I don't envy Boris in the slightest dealing with a worldwide Pandemic, becoming Ill alledgedly, negotiating terms of Brexit which will have implications for generations and throwing a newborn baby into the mix.

I can't say I envy his position!

JustCallMeGriffin · 21/12/2020 14:02

My lifetime started with Maggie. As much as I loath BoJo he doesn't have the cut-throat ruthlessness that Maggie had for the lower end of the earning spectrum. His approach is more blustering than vindictive. The damage she caused is still having repercussions today.

Maggie's only redeeming quality was that she acted without hesitation for the Falklands. I think when if Spain do the same to Gibraltar BoJo will just roll over after some nonsensical blithering in a press conference.

I really can't comment on PMs before my time...because history is invariably written by the victors (which is why Churchill's misdeeds keep being defended instead of accepting he made some horrible decisions against the people he was meant to represent).

Crankley · 21/12/2020 14:02

I can list the crap actions of Labour PMs that have damaged this country if you are interested? No, of course you aren't - Labour voters aren't interested in reality.

Drivingbuttercup · 21/12/2020 14:02

Tony blair was an absolute dick, but there was a time when he showed strong leadership but then again it might have been because i was a lot younger and ive become a lot wiser to the crap MPs dish out.

abstractzebra · 21/12/2020 14:03

What is a good Prime minister? If it's not the party you voted for or certain things happen within their term, that effect you, then you are not going to like them.
Also, the prime minister is only a figure head for the whole party.
I was disappointed when Nick Clegg 'forgot' all of his party's policies just to be in a coalition.
I didn't like it when labour were in power and their irresponsible spending.
I don't really like any of them but the choices are pretty limited.
He's certainly had a lot to deal with but I suppose you could say that it's what he signed up for!

JustCallMeGriffin · 21/12/2020 14:04

Plus, covid aside you have to remember he wanted to be the PM to lead the UK out of the EU and is doing a spectacularly bad job given that we actually exit the union in 11 days and there still isn't a clear indication of what businesses will have to deal with, let alone individuals. He definitely is not a victim of circumstance!

Callipygion · 21/12/2020 14:07

There was a good piece on him in the guardian the other day

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/20/sudden-u-turn-over-christmas-boris-johnson-caps-year-of-debacles

Pukkatea · 21/12/2020 14:08

@crankley OP didn't actually say she was a labour voter - in my lifetime at least there have been more tory PMs than Labour ones, so Boris' main competition for 'best' or 'worst' comes from within his own party. But by all means continue an irrelevant personal attack on people who may hold different political opinions to you.

Gingerkittykat · 21/12/2020 14:09

Theresa May was weak, I think she would have done worse than him.

xmasfairybuns · 21/12/2020 14:09

@Crankley

I can list the crap actions of Labour PMs that have damaged this country if you are interested? No, of course you aren't - Labour voters aren't interested in reality.
@Crankley see my post upthread. I think you'll find that this Labour voter was more than fair.

Show me how a Labour MP has fucked up during a pandemic, I'm all ears.

xmasfairybuns · 21/12/2020 14:10

Show me how a Labour MP has fucked up during a pandemic, I'm all ears.

^ PM! Stupid typos. @Crankley

BrumBoo · 21/12/2020 14:11

Covid wasn't his fault, but he and his government have dealt with it appallingly. They had warning, they chose (and continue to choose) to hold off until things got out of control. Not once, but several times this year.

Brexit was entity his campaign, it was his platform to become PM, he shat on TM from a great height in hopes to look like the one who swoops in and saves the day, and he still fucked it up. So zero sympathy on that front.

Without these two ecenomic catastrophes? I'm not sure. You'd still not dare be poor or sick under a Tory government, their reaction to BLM was woeful (in my opinion), but they are the only political group that aren't actively (so far) trying to worsen women's sex based rights. Generally they're the same old Tories, as long as you don't care much for the public sector then they probably work for you.

GintyMcGinty · 21/12/2020 14:11

No Pm has had to deal with anything like this in many decades.

I'm not a Tory voter or fan btw.

Thewithesarehere · 21/12/2020 14:12

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

I'd rather have Boris than Tony Blair.
This.
safariboot · 21/12/2020 14:12

I think Thatcher still did more damage.

Some of the 50s and 60s Labour PMs were pretty rubbish weren't they? Which is why Thatcher and Major were in power for so long.

Pukkatea · 21/12/2020 14:15

The last time I remember a PM having to deal with multiple crises was Gordon Brown, who within a year had the return of foot and mouth, mass flooding and the global financial collapse. Labour were subsequently voted out and are still today blamed for the finances in this country when they've been out of power for over a decade and they've gotten worse and worse.

Whereas now everyone is falling over themselves to excuse the tories for things that are absolutely their own fault. The double standards are astounding.

kidsatuniemptynester · 21/12/2020 14:15

Covid isn't his fault, but the cronyism and corruption over the awarding of PPE contracts is. He is unfit for office as he is a liar, adulterer, has a very different moral code from me and is basically lazy. He wanted the job, stabbed a few backs to get it and I suspect it is not as much fun as he thought it would be.

Kendodd · 21/12/2020 14:19

Here he is in his own words, the lying, cheating, racist, misogynist his voters love.

johnsondossier.com/

goldielockdown2 · 21/12/2020 14:21

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