A sizeable proportion of people in Britain maintain a positive opinion of Winston Churchill and two thirds believe that Gordon Brown has been the worst head of government since the end of the Second World War, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
Labour Party supporters express more interest than other voters in reading or buying Tony Blair’s autobiography.
A sizeable proportion of people in Britain maintain a positive opinion of Winston Churchill and two thirds believe that Gordon Brown has been the worst head of government since the end of the Second World War, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of a representative sample of 2,025 British adults also found that supporters of the Labour Party are more interested in reading or buying the autobiography of former Prime Minister Tony Blair than the average Briton.
Best Prime Ministers
Four-in-five Britons (79%) describe Churchill as a good prime minister. No other British head of government reaches the 50 per cent mark on this indicator, with Margaret Thatcher (47%), Tony Blair (39%), Harold Wilson (37%), David Cameron (34%), and Harold Macmillan (31%) getting a good review from at least three-in-ten respondents.
Churchill’s overall score of +75 (a comparison between positive and negative responses) is the best for all 13 heads of government featured in the study. Only three other prime ministers posted a positive rating: Wilson (+16), Clement Atlee (+15) and Cameron (+7). In stark contrast, Gordon Brown (-45) and John Major (-25) had the lowest scores.
Tony Blair’s Book
About one-in-five Britons say they plan to buy or have bought Blair’s autobiography (5%), or plan to read the book or have already read it (14%). People who voted for the Labour Party in the 2010 General Election are more likely to express interest in buying (9%) or reading (19%) the book.
In addition, 14 per cent of respondents say the fact that Blair will give the proceeds of his autobiography to a project funded by the Royal British Legion that provides rehabilitation services for seriously injured members of the armed forces makes them more likely to buy the book.
