Who was PM during the best of times for you?

[verdantverdure]

Me?

Blair. Brown, first bit of Cameron.

On paper I earn more money now but everything's tits up isn't it? From the economy to shit on beaches to being able to get access to the NHS when needed.

Blair definitely. I remember staying up to watch the election results roll in and celebrating.

Blair and Brown. Tories have decimated this country.

I worked for the Blair/Brown government. I genuinely think 85%+ of the MPs I encountered at that time were in it for the right reasons. I remember child tax credit being developed and
marvelling at how many people it was going to help.

Yes Blair/Brown here too.

Not saying the Iraq war was right, or that he didn't make colossal mistakes on that front.

But it doesn't negate the rest of what he did. And the OP asked who was PM during the best times for us - and no, I wasn't sent to war or know anyone who was, I didn't know anyone there, so while I can agree that it was an awful thing to happen, it doesn't mean that those years weren't generally good for me - good health care, education, hope for the future, UK seemed like a positive and forward looking place to be. Then it's all collapsed.

Blair/Brown

Interesting so many saying Blair.

his government was the reason I left the NHS. It set up everything we see today.

closing wards and departments, PFI’s and “social enterprise”. I was sent on a course to learn how to essentially privatise our staff cohort and contract ourselves back to the NHS. All presented as power to the people but in reality privatisation, absolving the nhs of pension/sick/maternity responsibilities.

any department not actively making money was shut down, so a lot of preventative and cost reduction schemes went. Often sold to the private sector.

see also the “social enterprises” set up to run leisure centres. No effectively big corporations, who have managed many sports facilities into decline.

i don’t think I have any particular era where I was better off. Blair though for me was all fur coat and no knickers, looked great, felt great at the time, but all show.

@Lastnamedidntstick

I agree with you. Tony Blair was 150% spin. The policies he put in place have bankrupted the country today. Austerity was needed because he spent like a drunken sailor. There was literally nothing left when Brown left office.

Blair had fantastic PR. I remember when Princess Diana died and what he did to the monarchy was just awful. The only thing that should have been said was there is a grandmother who is tending to the needs of her grandsons who have just lost their mother. We kindly ask you give the family some grace at this difficult time. Instead his comments seemed to push the narrative that the royal family were not being respectful to her legacy. She was dead. It wasn’t about her anymore but about her sons who needed to be away from London.

It was under Blair that non-dom tax status was actively taken advantage of. London was affordable in 2000-2004 when I lived there but I saw the start of tax haven and how it was massively inflationary, pricing Middle class families out of London.

Thatcher transformed the UK. The trajectory the country was following was leading to disaster. Do I agree with all her policies, no, but I do believe she was doing what she thought was right for the country. That I can respect. On the world stage, she was excellent. Had the respect of the Russians.

Major and Blair

Interesting that despite the 'knockers' the reality of most people's lives was that the Blair/Brown years were experienced as positive. We get so much negativity thrown at those years now, but I'd vote for either of them again in a heartbeat.

The idea of spin surfaced strongly with Blair

I see it as the party before the credit card bill comes in, which happened in 2008

He had some better points than current iteration (he knew he had to take everyone not just one layer of society) but I see a lot of it as we were all a bit on a high before the crash

I’m not a massive fan of Blair but when he came in things really started changing tax credits was a game changer you bc did feel proud to be British Cool Britannia it was a good time looking back there was opportunity and hope

Blair/Brown

I think in the UK they were just getting things right (no comment on their policies outside the UK). They had the NHS really getting there and education was good. So disappointed with what Gove did to education a few years later.

This is very true i.was a nurse during the Blair years ,and from what I remember was that yes he threw money at the NHS, but not where it was needed ,I remember lots of Shiney new initiatives ,new buildings ,endless tiers of management with their endless meetings and not achieving very much ,loads more documentation brought in ,everything looked great on paper ,but I don't remember patient care improving much ,but he was the master of Spin ,and by the end of the Blair/ Brown years they were closing wards and departments in my trust at least due to cuts ,I was redeployed twice in 12 months between 2005/2006 due to " cuts"

You mean “Causation in the correlation years. I think it’s Cameron rather than coalition though.”

Its interesting so many have said Blair/Brown. When I saw the question I had no hesitation and didn't even have to think about it.

John Smith was such a loss.
Probably Callaghan for me. I bloody loved the 70s.
I had a great early 80s too, but it was because I was in my early 20s..nothing to do with that monstrous woman.

I just asked my mum, she said Major Blair, Brown, Cameron & Clegg until a year or two after the Olympics.

My dad remembers mortgage interest rates during Major's second term so won't say then, and "is loathe to say Blair and Brown but the years match up."

He thinks all told everything was pretty good in this country "until five or ten years ago".

"It's the worst it's ever been now. Never known times like it."

I deserve a daughterly medal for keeping the B word out of my mouth, that they voted for and I didn't.

Neither did my parents. They only had a bit of back and forth about the Major years.

This!!!

Blair/Brown

Nobody is saying that they don't care.

The question was who was PM in your best years. And for many those best years were the Blair years.

It is not saying the same thing as he was the best prime minister, or that his policies were necessarily good long term, or that his foreign policies were right, or even that you liked him and his spin. It's still a factual answer to say that he was PM during what seemed my best adult years, compared with recent ones especially.

Blair. Life just was more fun, affordable, public services worked better, things seemed more optimistic and this country didn’t seem as racist back then.

Boris

Blair /Brown too.
My husband left me thousands of pounds in debt with a baby, if it wasn't for working tax credits I'm not sure I would've survived! Went back to work and felt supported. Worked and worked, bought a house, moved on, set up a business. Kids had a great education too.

Yes, I don't think many have read the question in that way. Thatcher was PM during my 'best times'. That doesn't mean I think she was the best PM, just that she was PM when I was young, carefree, enjoying life without the worries that come with the responsibility as you get older.

There will probably be young people who will look on these Tory years with fondness - not because of the Tory government but because they were young, beautiful, had freedom, no responsibilities, were enjoying partying, travelling, making their mark on the world.