London, Nov. 30: Clement Attlee, who played a crucial role in the granting of independence to India, has emerged as Britain?s most successful Prime Minister in a poll conducted among a large group of history and politics academics.
A MORI poll conducted among 139 of them saw Attlee emerge on top with an average of 8.34 marks out of 10. The results, based on the survey carried out between September 27 and November 5 this year, will be announced at the Political Studies Association Awards.
Winston Churchill, who will always retain a special place in the hearts of the British people as a great wartime leader ? indeed it will surprise many he did not come out of top ? is second with 7.88. Churchill once remarked disparagingly of the small statured Attlee: ?An empty taxi drove up to the House of Commons and Mr Attlee got out?.
The Liberal, David Lloyd George, is third with 7.33. The ?Iron Lady? Margaret Thatcher and fellow Tory Harold Macmillan are fourth and fifth with 7.14 and 6.49 respectively.
While Thatcher is the daughter of a grocer in Grantham, Macmillan came from a more traditional patrician background.
Tony Blair?s day is not yet done but he comes a respectable sixth with 6.30 marks. It is known that he is concerned about his legacy. History will not be kind to him, though, if Iraq fails to achieve even a flawed democracy. In the list of 20 top Prime Ministers, Anthony Eden, who oversaw the Suez Canal crisis, is rated the least successful with 2.53.
According to the pollsters, Churchill?s statesmanship during World War Two was seen as the greatest success of any 20th century Prime Minister. But for the academics it was outweighed by Attlee?s domestic reforms, especially the setting up of the welfare state, according to the research commissioned by the University of Leeds.
Today, the ?Attlee Room? in the House of Lords is frequently hired for a variety of functions by Indian peers such as Lord Swraj Paul and Lord Bhikhu Parekh. There is also an Attlee Room in Port Cullis House where MPs have offices. ?He is the only person to have two rooms named after him,? said an Indian peer?s secretary.
Asked for the three qualities required in a successful Prime Minister, the academics listed leadership (64 per cent), sound judgement (42 per cent) and being good in a crisis (24 per cent).
