Margaret Thatcher voted worst Prime Minister in 100 years as David Cameron comes a close second

Voted worst: Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron have been voted the worst prime ministers in the last 100 years
AFP/Getty Images
Fiona Simpson19 October 2016
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Margaret Thatcher has been voted the worst Prime Minister of the last 100 years – with David Cameron coming a close second.

Baroness Thatcher was condemned for her “neo-liberalism, deindustrialisation, selling council houses and failing to act on early stages of global warming", as part of the vote.

The Iron Lady was given the thumbs-down by 11 of 45 historical writers surveyed.

But the choice was disputed by former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown, who told the Harrogate History Festival that she was "a great and necessary destroyer".

"I put her down as one of the most successful PM's of all time, not because I agreed with her, but because she laid out her stall and she achieved it, and Britain in many ways was stronger afterwards - although in many ways it was also weaker, particularly our sense of communities," said Lord Ashdown.

Almost 100 days after leaving office, Mr Cameron was voted the worst PM of the last 100 years by 10 authors.

Imogen Robertson, chairwoman of the Historical Writers Association, accused Mr Cameron of "sleep-walking us into Brexit".

Author Tom Harper also gave Mr Cameron his vote, saying: "Neville Chamberlain had to contend with Hitler, Eden with Nasser: Cameron couldn't see off Nigel Farage."

Mr Chamberlain was ranked third in the worst PM stakes, with eight votes, and was Lord Ashdown's choice for his policy of appeasing Nazi Germany.

"I think Chamberlain could have personally prevented the Second World War," said the Lib Dem peer.

Tony Blair was the Labour PM featuring highest on the list, with five votes, followed by Gordon Brown on four.

Tory Sir Edward Heath also got four votes while Andrew Bonar Law, Herbert Asquith and Sir Anthony Eden got a single vote each.

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