Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Ten Most Irritating Politicians Since The War

I missed Rod Liddle's poll to find the most irritating politicians since the war so he is my list. Obviously there is a strong bias towards politicians whom I am old enough to actually remember with only Bevan and Williams being from before the 1980s. I don't suppose being irritating makes someone bad at their job, I suspect I would have found Gladstone insuuferable had I been alive in the 19th Century but he was still a great figure. None of these people are though:
  1. Shirley Williams- sanctimonious, hypocritical and destructive.
  2. Denis Macshane- Hyper partisan and a compulsive liar.
  3. David Mellor- Useless, incompetent, arrogant and hypocritical.
  4. Edwina Currie- John Major has my sympathy.
  5. John Bercow- Horrible little man, models himself on Mr Toad.
  6. Harriet Harman- Don't worry Hattie women won't be underrepresented on this list thanks to you.
  7. Alan Clarke- No he wasn't a "character" or a "wit" he was a boorish, insecure charlatan with an mystifying level of belief in his own abilities.
  8. Mo Mowlam- Despite carefully cultivating a "people's politician" image she was just another politician with a deluded sense of her own importance.
  9. Nye Bevan- To me he sounds like "Kinnock Mk 1" rather than an inspirational figure. His voice grates.
  10. Lembit Opik- A very cheeky boy.
Honourable mentions for: Tony Benn, Tam Daylell, Patricia Hewitt, michael Portillo, Douglas Hurd, Simon Hughes, Charles Kennedy, Chris Huhne, David Owen, Roy Jenkins, Stafford Cripps and Virginia Bottomley.

7 comments:

Ross said...

I forgot Peter Hain and Gerald Kaufman.

Ross said...

& Jeffrey Archer, Cecil Parkinson, Glenys Kinnock and Alex Salmond.

Anonymous said...

The Baron Faulks and Margaret Thatcher

Mark Wadsworth said...

You can't put Mrs V Bottomley on there! She was top totty in her day!

It's a daft list though, it'd be far quicker to do a list of politicians who aren't totally irritating.

Ross said...

Virginia Bottomley, totty!?


Bugger- I can see why some people find Thatcher irritating. As for Foulkes I had to look him up but he seems like a worthy nominee.

Umbongo said...

Ted Heath deserves a (dis)honourable mention

Anonymous said...

John St. John Stievas - really oily pretend upper class Tory and constitutional expert. What about the invisible useless like my own MP David Crausby - those so feeble we end up with ministers like Mellor and Squirrel Nutkin?