Which Prime Minister has fared worse than Brown?

Bruce Anderson says if Brown went now he’d be a “strong candidate for the accolade of ‘worst Prime Minister since 1900’” and it’s got me thinking – why just a candidate? Who would compete with him for this title?

My take is that in politics (as in life) you play the hand you’re dealt. The Callaghan years were a disaster, but Sunny Jim was dealt a bad hand – and, crucially, was more popular than his party. You can argue that without him Thatcher would have had a far larger majority than she did in 1979.

As for Eden – as Iain Martin pointed out yesterday – he did manage to win an election. So he at least had a real success before the spectacular failure of Suez.

Think of the goodwill Brown inherited just over a year ago, it was like the nation was willing him to succeed. And think how quickly he destroyed his political capital.