Worst in Living Memory?

[ElephantWhaleRabbit]

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?

He hangs on to the last minute
he's a one trick pony, he takes it to the wire cos that's all he got (alas)

He’s doing his best. I would hate to be in his shoes.

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

I'd rather have Boris than Tony Blair.

You have got to be joking right?

@LexMitior

Cummings hasn’t been in charge of COVID.

And besides, if you think Boris was badly influenced by Cummings, what does that say about the PM?

I think you will find someone has already stepped in, but the failure to decide or plan is still with the PM.

Cummings after his resignation was still working at home on his most recent pet project which he had been working on a great deal in the run up to his resignation.

His most recent pet project?

Lateral Flow Testing...

BJ is incapable and incompetent.He is also a blatant fraud and liar.
Worst PM in history.

I am possibly biased because I'm just so angry about the BREXIT debacle. It's unbelievably depressing.

But if I reflect on the COVID stuff, I think he's coped okay, done his best. Only in hindsight will we be able to truly judge.

He's definitely not been a resoundingly great leader, who has harnessed the best of Britain and got the country behind him. The handing out of billion pound contracts to cronies who have then failed to deliver stands out as a low point.

However, nor has he completely failed. I think the economic support has been quite generous for a Tory government. I dread to think what it could have been like in the hands of someone like IDS.

He has demonstrated quite a bit of empathy. I still find it hard to see him as the bad guy, even though he is very clearly responsible for BREXIT.

Middling

He is doing an incredible job.
No one saw this coming
He thought his biggest challenge would be sorting out Brexit.
He is trying to do the best for the Country
He has paid wages for the past 10 months.
Unfortunately he will not be voted back in which is a shame.

So op what would you have done differently with the information you had at the time

I don't think there can be many jobs where bravado and (questionable) charm can win you a senior role with huge responsibilities. I wonder how much he is a product of our class system - we don't quite hear the craps he speaks because at some level we believe his privately educated upper class certainty means he surely must be right.

They all start well, then get a sniff of power and become desperate to cling on to it, it seems...

No one saw this coming

Least of all him because he couldn't be bothered going to FIVE emergency COBRA meetings about the virus in the lead up to the crisis.

James Callaghan - Winter of discontent - Gravediggers on strike - couldn't bury our dead, waste piling up in the streets - no bin collections. Strikes and power cuts - 3 hours on 3 hours off.....

No one saw this coming

Yes they did.
Everybody knows pandemics happen and being prepared for them is an absolute standard requirement for any half decent government.

Another example of his dubious behaviour:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-55414981

@anon666 now compare him with what probably would have happened with Jeremy Hunt as Prime Minister. At least 10,000 fewer deaths I think.

Boris is a posh boy stuck in his school debating society, craving attention, and desperate for his cohort to like him; did you see him smirking on camera yesterday with his mate Grant Chapps when asked about No Deal Brexit, like they had a private joke and the journalists weren't in on it? Still, a least he was able to give his old friend Cummings a £40,000 pay rise this year, and is standing by an out and out bully in his Home Secretary.

He is utterly and without exception useless.

i actually feel sorry for Boris etc, just think what a job hes got, so so stressful and he cant do right for doing wrong, we all know what hes doing wrong and we all think we know best but , really, none of us know the right way to go, and then of course, theres brexit,
Theresa May, was, in my opinion, one of the worst

If any of us were such lazy, incompetent liars we would never work again. He is the prime minister

Gravediggers on strike - couldn't bury our dead

56 gravediggers and crematorium workers working in undeniably dangerous conditions withdrew their labour for two weeks. One said at the time, "When you dig a new grave, you are covered in mud and slime. I have lost count of the times when the earth around me has caved in while I’ve been digging. Just when you think you’ve finished, you find yourself up to your neck again in mud. Every day of your life, you run the risk of being trapped and smothered". They had no protective clothing and were not allowed into the canteen on breaks. They earned £35 a week.

It's not like there were rats gnawing on corpses abandoned in the streets. A few hundred funerals were delayed for 2 weeks. That strike has been demonised for forty-something years now, when all it was was workers facing terrible conditions standing up for their rights.

I'd take Tony Blair over Boris, our standard of living was The best we've had as a normal slightly less than average pay. Boris has not only tucked up Brexit but he's brought corruption into everyday politics in the UK

No other prime minister in living memory has had to deal with this situation. last major pandemic was over 100 years ago.

Yes because previous prime ministers stopped potential pandemics before they got going.

Yes Nobu the rest of us wouldn't get away with such lazy incompetence. It's deeply depressing. Unfortunately the wrong people often rise to the top in politics.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/22/uk-covid-christmas-u-turn-pandemic-scientific-advice?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

A serious thoughtful analysis of how Johnson has consistently made wrong decisions. He could be forgiven for any personal faults, but as Prime Minister he cannot be forgiven for being wrong so often.