Prime Ministers I have known (and loved?)

Theresa May and her bunch of clowns comprise the fourteenth administration I've lived through. It begs the question of how they compare with the rest. And I can remember them all. Some have left a bigger impression on me than others and purely as an exercise of the neurones I've mulled on what immediately came to mind when I recalled them. More pondering brings a deeper appreciation but the first superficial trawl was interesting. Consider it a very partial flit through the last 70 years of British political history.

	Clement Attlee: I have no memory at all of Clem Attlee but I hold him very dear as the enabler of the Welfare State, of which my generation have benefited immeasurably. Arguably, the most socialist PM we've ever had and probably the least vain.
	Sir Winston Churchill: I have vague memories of an elderly gentleman in old fashioned clothes and a top hat. I also remember my grandmother telling me that he'd sent the troops in to fight the miners. His first biography, 'My Early Years', was the bane of  my formal introduction to English Literature in grammar school.
	Sir Anthony Eden: I have hazy recollections of the Suez Crisis and Eden's name in connection with it.
	Harold Macmillan: I was aware of Harold Macmillan through the scorn of Mr Kenwyn Lewis, who I worked for on his farm and milk round. Although Mr Lewis was a staunch Tory, he had no time for 'Super Mac'. From what I can recall through very sketchy memories, this animosity stretched back to WW1, in which they both served.
	Sir Alec Douglas-Home: Sir Alec became Prime Minister when I was in Form 4 in Grammar School and becoming increasingly politically aware. I remember thinking how strange it was that someone who was a Lord had to become a 'commoner' to continue to be Prime Minister.
	Harold Wilson: The first Labour Prime Minister since Clem Attlee. I remember being at a disco at the Top Rank in Newcastle (how and why I was there is a long story) on the night he was elected. And the DJ was the infamous Jimmy Saville. Wilson's governments were the backdrop to the consolidation of my politics and my conversion to being a political nerd. The world has a lot to thank him for. He is also the only PM I've seen in the flesh: once as a speaker at a Welsh Farmer's Union Conference in Aberystwyth circa 1966 and the other time at a public meeting in Caerphilly during the by-election in 1968 to fill the vacancy caused the death of Ness Edwards (or to give his full Christian name, Onesimus). This was also the meeting at which a group of us decided to wave a few placards and shout slogans against the Vietnam War. My second futile action on this, the first being a sit-down protest in the Post Office in Aberystwyth.

	Edward Heath: A figure of fun in the early years of the 70s. Who can forget the Mike Yarwood impersonation? Forever 'Grocer Heath' to all readers of Private Eye. He took us into the EU. His saving grace was that he hated Margaret Thatcher with a passion that remained undiminished over the years.
	Harold Wilson: Back again until he resigned because of ill health but not before he'd given us a referendum confirming our membership of the EU. He has the reputation of being a smooth political operator. He was very fond of the Scillies and shorts. No modern politician would be seen dead doing this now. The internet would crash with all the memes that people would come up with.
	James Callaghan: Affable Sunny Jim. Forever associated with the 'Winter of Discontent'. Much reviled by the Left for being anti-Trade Union and for setting the scene for the arrival of the Iron Lady.
	Margaret Thatcher: Let's just say that I have great difficulty in being anywhere near objective about her. We are still paying for the policies and attitudes she set in motion. Rather ironically, she did give me a memorable afternoon when I joined a protest against her in Plymouth in 1972 or thereabouts. She was then Education Secretary and was instrumental in removing free school milk from some children. Oh, how I enjoyed joining in the chant "Margaret Thatcher - milk snatcher. Margaret Thatcher - milk snatcher". We were nothing if not inventive in those days.
	John Major: Thatcher was always going to be an impossible act to follow. And so it proved for John Major. It was Norman Lamont who said of his government that "we give the impression of being in office but not in power". My verdict? An essentially decent man, despite being a Tory, who was out of his depth. To his chagrin, he will always be defined by Steve Bell's depiction of him as 'Underpants Man'.
	Tony Blair: Not my cup of tea but he did win three elections for Labour so he can't be written off. I parted company with him when he gave up on Clause 4. His legacy will always be the Iraq War and the 'dodgy dossier'. I read it at the time and it really was an insult to the voters' intelligence. I can't help feeling that there is a lot more to come out about this episode and it won't be flattering for Blair. In summary, a tremendous disappointment to those of us on the left. Years of wasted opportunity.
	Gordon Brown: A good Number 2 but never, ever a leader. And he proved he wasn't - in spades. A very smart man but, quite often, too smart for his own good, and ours.
	David Cameron: A disaster as a Prime Minister. He gave us austerity and the Referendum. And let's not forget Libya and the Coalition.
	He got in again, with a deservedly reduced majority, and quickly hoofed it after he lost the Referendum. I'd like to say he gave Etonians a bad name but that would be forgetting about the dynamic duo of Boris and Jacob.
	Theresa May: Arrrggggghhhhhhh. A living nightmare. A disaster as a Home Secretary and a disaster as a Prime Minister. I think I'll go and lie down in a nice quiet dark room. Wake me up when she's gone.