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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:
Impatiens · 21/12/2020 17:26

I actually don’t think I’d have made a single decision differently

Not even one decision? You wouldn't have locked down earlier? Banned flights in from countries with high rates early on? You'd have lied about having enough ppe? Not sacked Cummings for his terrible effect on morale? Lied about having a 'world beating' track and trace system? Not asked for a postponement of Brexit negotiations until the pandemic was under over? You'd still have promised that people could have 5 days over xmas to mingle together despite warnings, and then doubled down on that decision despite louder and louder warnings. Then turned round at less than 24h notice and locked down London, causing a stampede of people (probably carrying Covid-20) all round the country and abroad?

Not a single thing you'd change? (the above is only a small selection of terrible, negligent decisions of course)

Impatiens · 21/12/2020 17:27

Johnson is - by a long long way - the worst PM in living memory. Everyone with sense knew he was totally inadequate to the job but he's proved a thousand times worse than we feared. He's got to go before he does any more damage.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 21/12/2020 17:27

Yes I do.
Even without Covid (which would have been a bugger for any govt to cope wit0 he has cocked up everything he has touched - he's like a reverse King Midas.

He's just an arsehole who thought he could joke his way through his term in office and step up his fees on the after dinner circuit - but he won't accept that he has no leadership qualities, and take advice of experts and ministers. He is too arrogant to listen to anyone and insisted on taking personal responsibility for everything and then doing bugger all!

He's like Hitler trying to attack the Eastern Front with non-existent tank divisions and refusing toe listen to his generals.

He's lazy, greedy, self-serving and cowardly - totally irresponsible.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 21/12/2020 17:29

@WitchQueenofDarkness

I feel sorry for him - getting Covid obviously scared him badly and he's lost his nerve so he listens too much to the doom mongers. As a natural libertarian it must be hard for him presiding over the lockdowns but he no longer has the confidence to stand up against them.

Worst PM by far was Gordon Brown although I think Mark Drakeford as FM in Wales may just be about to overtake him

I don't feel sorry for him.

He's a cowardly, self-serving liar. He doesn't give a damn about anyone except himself.

FreekStar · 21/12/2020 17:32

Boris is just not cut out to deal with a crisis! He comes from a background where he has never had to do a days proper work in his life- his family are very wealthy and privileged which has got to him to where he his today and he's relied on his bumbling likability to win over the general public. I fear he has few true convictions in regards to politics and does not have a deep-rooted belief in any ideology. His main strategy seems to be to pick the policy he feels will be the most popular and win him the most votes. I think Boris is not a bad person, and he seems to have a small shred of empathy for people, but at the end of the day he'll save himself first.

Margaret Thatcher on the other hand, would not have been a good person to have in charge of a pandemic and would have been far worse than Boris. Her belief in the survival of the fittest was extreme and I fear far more would not have have survived if she had been taking policies around Covid. However, shethroughly believed in her own ideologies, which I don't believe to be true of Boris.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 21/12/2020 17:32

Tony Blair was scary.

Blair WAS scary - and greedy and self-serving and a liar.

But he could take control and wouldn't have let things get to this state.

RaspberryCoulis · 21/12/2020 17:32

I must be old.

I can remember the 78-79 Winter of Discontent, power cuts, strikes, rubbish in the street. It was bloody awful. James Callaghan was the PM at that point and was useless.

Boris isn't amazing, he's all bluster and blunder but tbh I think anyone would be out of their depth handling Covid and Brexit. Everyone praises Sturgeon but she just has better presentation skills - she's no better at handling Covid, and doesn't have to deal with the Brexit stuff.

KOKOagainandagain · 21/12/2020 17:32

There's short term politics with a little 'p' for the term of a prime minister and then long term Politics with a capital 'P' that change the dynamic and power balance between the haves and the have nots for decades.

So if you want to understand low pay, in work benefits, zero hour contracts you need to look back decades to see how workers' rights were deliberately and systematically devalued. Same for unaffordable tuition fees, housing, social care. Thatcher was the poster girl but she didn't invent capitalism.

It's all economic and it's all about power. Some PMs are bastards and proud to be so 'society does not exist' etc if fighting is required and some hide their privilege by playing the bumbling fool. Some think they can change the system from within despite not being an Etonian

The pandemic has not changed this dynamic. It has reinforced it. So mr Johnson dosent care how pissed off you are because, ultimately, you are powerless.

Might be dramatic but I always think of Primo Levi. I didn't stand up for ...but then they came for me ...

I have SN DC - experience changes your thinking.

Sertchgi123 · 21/12/2020 17:34

@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?
A lesser man could be in pieces by now. What he's had to deal with is awful and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I do believe mistakes have been made but if you look at other countries, there are many doing just as badly as us and just look at the USA.

akerman · 21/12/2020 17:34

I can't see Corbyn handing out billions of pounds in contracts to his mates for PPE, somehow. I think Corbyn would have listened to the science, and we might have had a fighting chance at having a reasonable Track and Trace system.

Nor do i think that Corbyn would have charged at the most destructive form of Brexit.

And, to tell you the truth, I can barely stand Corbyn. I think he is vain, selfish and just generally rather crap. But he is leagues better than Johnson.

LindaEllen · 21/12/2020 17:35

I think what people forget is that the PM is only the figurehead for the government. The government as a whole is made up of many different parties, and it's almost certain that things would have been the same whoever was in charge. In fact, BJ probably makes relatively few decisions himself.

Peregrina · 21/12/2020 17:36

Gavin Williamson is a huge liability.

Then why doesn't he sack him?

lioncitygirl · 21/12/2020 17:37

Ridiculous to say something something like that. Do you know many other Prime Ministers that have had to deal with such a pandemic?

Eskarina1 · 21/12/2020 17:39

I think he is the worst in living memory for this set of circumstances. Not least because he doesn't seem to value competence in his cabinet. In other circumstances, I probably prefer him to Cameron and Thatcher but not now.

MaryLeeOnHigh · 21/12/2020 17:40

@lioncitygirl

Ridiculous to say something something like that. Do you know many other Prime Ministers that have had to deal with such a pandemic?
Well, yes, all over the world right now. Have a look at the comparative death rates, particularly in Europe.
MaryLeeOnHigh · 21/12/2020 17:41

I think Cameron is a very close competitor, because the utter stupidity of the Brexit referendum is a very hard one to beat. But I'm not sure that even he would have made as much of a mess of everything as Johnson has.

CaptainSandy · 21/12/2020 17:42

Any suggestions as to who would have handled this better. Forget about your political views. Who would it be?

My cat. She's been dead a while, too, but she'd still outperform him.

Impatiens · 21/12/2020 17:44

Blair WAS scary - and greedy and self-serving and a liar. But he could take control and wouldn't have let things get to this state.

Yes.

MaryLeeOnHigh · 21/12/2020 17:45

@LindaEllen

I think what people forget is that the PM is only the figurehead for the government. The government as a whole is made up of many different parties, and it's almost certain that things would have been the same whoever was in charge. In fact, BJ probably makes relatively few decisions himself.
Well, no. With someone with a bit more sense the likelihood is that we would at least have had people like Gauke, Rudd, Hammond and Javid in the cabinet. None of them were great but at least they're a bit brighter than the current set of idiots. I can't imagine Rudd turning up on TV as Patel did and claiming credit for a fall in shoplifting during lockdown.

I think much of the problem is that Johnson bears distinct similarities to Trump, particularly inasmuch as he desperately wants to be Prime Minister but doesn't want to do the work associated with the PM's job, and hasn't got any ability to do it anyway.

CoronaIsWatching · 21/12/2020 17:46

I think so, he's a trickster and a fraud. He doesn't believe in Brexit, only supported it to get himself noticed. I HATE him.

MaryLeeOnHigh · 21/12/2020 17:47

I do believe mistakes have been made but if you look at other countries, there are many doing just as badly as us and just look at the USA.

If the best you can say of Johnson is that he's not doing quite as badly as Trump, that's a bit of a counsel of desperation. And if you compare his performance with that of virtually all other European and Western leaders, it's absolutely painful.

CaptainSandy · 21/12/2020 17:48

Do you know many other Prime Ministers that have had to deal with such a pandemic?

Several hundred globally, right now, if we're allowing presidents as well. Let's say heads of state for ease.
Trump and Bolsanaro have arguably done worse but that's not a high bar.

MrsWooster · 21/12/2020 17:48

I remember despising governments and prime ministers but I have never felt this level of disgust at their dishonesty and incompetence.

KatherineJaneway · 21/12/2020 17:48

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, both FAR worse than Boris.

lljkk · 21/12/2020 17:49

tbh, I don't think any other PM could have walked back the Christmas relaxation as well as BJ did. I don't like the guy, but he was born to successfully carry off flipflops in policy. He'd win an election with big majority again if he ran now.

BJ is probably better in the maddening crisis seat than a lot of the 'good' PMs ever could be, the same PMs who would wipe BJ on the floor when it came to routine matters of governance.

Almost every country & jurisdiction is flopping around on policy. I don't know why the English think their leaders have a monopoly on that. Places like Japan, South Korea or Singapore have had constant policy changes, too. Lockdown in Australia? Very few places are stable; the most stable places have the least governance happening of all.