Top 5 Best British Prime Ministers (or First Lords of the Treasury, to be pedantic)

The greatest British PM of the twentieth century was David Lloyd George. Whenever you or a relative picks up an Old Age Pension, thank him.

However just like WSC he like to interfere with the way a world war was being conducted. However unlike WSC if he had no confidence in a commander he didn't sack him, just undermined him instead - e.g. trying to put the BAF under General Nivelle (not a great success) and withholding troops in 1918, which weakened the army (it was said that there were a lot of troops in the UK). He said in parliament that there were none to spare, yet when the Germans launched their offensive thousands suddenly became available.
I could also add he sold peerages for money to the Liberal Party and probably mishandled Ireland post WW1.

For those reasons IMVHO DLG does not make it into the top ten, but would be in the top twenty for his 'People's Budget', which laid the foundations of the modern Welfare State. However without WSC it might not have lasted post-'40, especially if the UK surrendered to the Third Reich.
 
Clement Attlee takes the top spot by a country mile, with someone like David Llyod George lagging behind.
 
I am not British or very knowledgeable on PMs generally but here is my top 5

1. Churchill
2. Pitt the Elder
3. Lloyd George
4. Walpole (yes he was an ass but he expanded the PM position and really made it mean something)
5. Thatcher (I see her come up a lot on this thread)

not trolling just giving a less educated opinion in hopes of providing fodder for the convo
 
In alphabetical order:

Attlee
Campbell-Bannerman
Churchill
Gladstone
Pitt the Younger

The 2nd Marquis of Rockingham would have been on this list if he had lived longer.
 
These people seem to be the ones who can be judged as being definitively successful in what they set out to do:

Macmillan failed in the mainstay of his foreign policy, which was his European policy, and ultimately failed in his economic policy. I am not sure how this means he was a succesful Prime Minister, much less one of the greatest.


Anyway. These lists are always silly (how can you quantitively rate two Prime Ministers, let along two who held office two centuries apart?) but clearly the obvious names of Prime Ministers would be in clear contention for being considered 'great':
  • Thatcher
  • Pitt the Younger
  • Attlee
  • Churchill
  • Gladstone
 
Top