Is Theresa May the worst PM in history? Yes she is ... this is why

There are some occasions, however, when an immediate conclusion can be reached and yesterday’s resignation announcement by Theresa May is one of those rare times when someone’s place in history can be realised.

By any sensible standards, Theresa May is the worst prime minister in the history of the United Kingdom.

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Here’s our horrible half dozen prime ministers in ascending order of awfulness.

6. SIR ARTHUR BALFOUR (1848-1930) In office July 1902 to December 1905
The first Scottish PM of the 20th century, Balfour fancied himself more of a philosopher than a politician, but it would have taken Socrates or Plato to sort out the issue that tore his Conservative Party apart – trade tariffs, the Brexit of his day. Starting well with the 1902 Education Act, Balfour then presided over a meltdown in his party and, like May, did not command enough respect to impose his will on the ministers who resigned. He later served as foreign secretary and wrote the Balfour Declaration, the vagueness of which has caused ructions in the Middle East ever since.

His philosophical attitude was famously described by him in a short sentence: “Nothing matters very much and few things matter at all.”

5. DAVID CAMERON (1966-) In office May 2010 – July 2016
Any good he did – and he did good things such as legalising same-sex marriage – will all be forgotten by history, mostly because of his idiocy in promising an in-out European referendum. By pandering to the anti-EU people in his own party through fear of a Ukip rise, Cameron brought in the 2016 referendum which has caused nothing but trouble ever since – and we’re only the first stage of the leaving process. He lied about staying on after the referendum no matter the result, and thus brought us Theresa May. Worse still for Scots, although he agreed to an Section 30 referendum, he cheated with the “Vow”, and if you add that to austerity and his war on the poor, plus more privatisations, you get a premiership damned by its pitiable conclusion.

4. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN (1869-1940) In office May 1937 – May 1940
Having been Chancellor of the Exchequer during most of the Great Depression, Chamberlain could claim credit for several domestic policies that had helped the UK grow very slowly back to growth, but he will always be judged adversely on his major foreign policy – the appeasement of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

There is a school of thought that having advocated rearmament in 1935, Chamberlain was buying time with his appeasement of Hitler, but had he taken a tougher stance in 1937 and 1938, Hitler might well have slowed down his annexation of the countries around him. He hesitated and the world lost the chance to halt the Nazis. He died just months after Winston Churchill succeeded him.

3. LORD NORTH (1732-1792) In office January 1770 – March 1782

The man who famously “lost the colonies”, Frederick North, the 2nd Earl of Guildford, was often compared to Nero who fiddled while Rome burned. North, by contrast, diddled while America erupted. North was educated at Eton and Oxford – just like David Cameron and Anthony Eden – and became an MP at 22. He had a spell as chancellor before succeeding the Duke of Grafton as prime minister. Despite the public deeming him a creature of King George III, he was successful at first as the Royal Navy regained control of the Falklands from Spain, but the Boston Tea Party in 1773 began the struggle for American independence which North comprehensively lost, being evicted from office by a vote of no confidence after the 1781 defeat at Yorktown.

2. SIR ANTHONY EDEN (1897-1977) In office April 1955 – January 1957
Few Prime Ministers have had such a preparation for No 10 as Anthony Eden. The Old Etonian war hero – he was given the Military Cross for rescuing a wounded sergeant – became an MP at 26, and was made foreign secretary in Chamberlain’s government but resigned over the appeasement policy. He was at Churchill’s side for most of the war and again when the Conservatives won in 1951, covering up for the fact that Churchill had suffered a stroke. He became prime minister when succeeding Churchill, then easily won a General Election. It was all going well when the Suez Crisis erupted and overnight Eden became a basket case – he was actually very unwell and though he survived a vote of confidence, it became clear that he had been lying to Parliament before resigning on health grounds. The Suez Crisis damaged Britain’s image nearly as much as Brexit. Enough said.

1. THERESA MAY (born 1956)
Having created a “hostile environment” as home secretary, she got the top job because better candidates were compromised. She declared Article 50 without a clear idea of what was needed, she called a General Election she didn’t need to and lost an overall majority. She did a shoddy bribery deal with the DUP, she lost Commons votes by the biggest margins in history, she presided over 50 MPs leaving her government, and above all she made the UK a complete laughing stock with her “Brexit means Brexit” slogan that didn’t mean anything, and all the time being a politician of no discernible talent. She is the worst prime minister – ever.