The downfall of British Prime Ministers: a potted history.
- Chamberlain: appeasement plus "peace for our time" plus Norway = bye bye
- Churchill: 'Socialist Gestapo' plus Tory (but not his) appeasement plus desire for a genuine welfare state = Labour landslide
- Chamberlain: appeasement plus "peace for our time" plus Norway = bye bye
- Churchill: 'Socialist Gestapo' plus Tory (but not his) appeasement plus desire for a genuine welfare state = Labour landslide
- Attlee: too much austerity for too long, including rationing still going on at a time people started wanting things. We'd won the war. Had we lost the peace?
- Eden: d'oh! The third worst foreign policy blunder in postwar British history. Invited to... take early retirement.
- Eden: d'oh! The third worst foreign policy blunder in postwar British history. Invited to... take early retirement.
- Macmillan: Profumo affair plus Night of Long Knives plus that stench of Tory decadence which would become oh so familiar
- Wilson: 'The pound in your pocket' plus England 2-3 West Germany plus the postwar settlement beginning to fail
- Heath: 3 Day Week plus weak leadership
- Wilson: 'The pound in your pocket' plus England 2-3 West Germany plus the postwar settlement beginning to fail
- Heath: 3 Day Week plus weak leadership
- Callaghan: THAT interview plus The Sun capitalising on it plus chaos. For a couple of months at least. The mythology around that time is, incredibly, still with us now.
- Thatcher: poll tax loses the public, "No No No" loses her party too. Good old Sir Geoffrey does the rest.
- Thatcher: poll tax loses the public, "No No No" loses her party too. Good old Sir Geoffrey does the rest.
- Major: Black Wednesday plus Back To Basics plus sleaze and his mad backbenchers.
- Blair: Iraq. Iraq. Iraq. And pledging not to serve a full third term, which made him an instant lame duck.
- Blair: Iraq. Iraq. Iraq. And pledging not to serve a full third term, which made him an instant lame duck.
- Brown: bottling the snap election plus 2008 crash plus "I saved the world" plus calling a bigot a bigot
- Cameron: utterly phoney EU negotiations result in nothing; then he campaigns on nothing at the referendum!
- May: 2017 election plus 'strong and stable' = laughing stock
- Cameron: utterly phoney EU negotiations result in nothing; then he campaigns on nothing at the referendum!
- May: 2017 election plus 'strong and stable' = laughing stock
- Johnson: Christmas Party-gate. This is his Waterloo. He will never regain control after this - and what all his predecessors have found is: once it's gone, it's gone.
Too many internal enemies. Too much public disgust. It's only a matter of time.
Too many internal enemies. Too much public disgust. It's only a matter of time.
And the reason Starmer's only demanded an apology is, in all likelihood, because he wants Johnson to stay as long as possible before the next election.
He's a liability now. And the Tories know it. 1922 Committee intervention incoming before you can say piffle paffle.
He's a liability now. And the Tories know it. 1922 Committee intervention incoming before you can say piffle paffle.
The whole very basic, very unambitious strategy remains:
"Contrast their and especially his incompetence with our and especially my competence".
It's a bit like a football manager sorting out the defence first before going properly on the attack. However dull and dour it is.
"Contrast their and especially his incompetence with our and especially my competence".
It's a bit like a football manager sorting out the defence first before going properly on the attack. However dull and dour it is.
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