Brown Most Successful Chancellor, Say British Political Scientists

Gordon Brown has been rated the most successful post-War Chancellor in an exclusive Ipsos poll of nearly 300 academics belonging to the Political Studies Association (PSA).

PSA members rated Gordon Brown's performance on average as 7.9 out of 10 -- his nearest rivals were Kenneth Clarke (Conservative Chancellor between 1993 and 1997) and Stafford Cripps (Labour Chancellor between 1947 and 1950), both rated as 6.1 out of 10. Norman Lamont (Conservative Chancellor between 1990 and 1993) was rated as the least successful of the UK's 20 post-War Chancellors, with an average score of just 2.3.

Brown is also rated as the most successful Chancellor in terms of providing economic stability, working independently from the Prime Minister and leaving a lasting legacy on Britain's economy.

The survey to be published as part of today's (28 November) PSA Annual Awards Ceremony in London, also shows that Brown has a clear lead over David Cameron as the most capable Prime Minister, according to PSA members. Forty nine per cent think the current Chancellor would make the most capable Prime Minister -- a 35 percentage point lead over Cameron (on 14%).

The survey also covered characteristics important to being a successful Chancellor and the predicted and preferred composition of the House of Commons after the next General Election.

Download the 2006 PSA Awards Ceremony Poll presentation pdf, 57KB

Topline Results

• Results are based on 283 completed online responses from members of the Political Studies Association
• Fieldwork dates 13 September - 31 October 2006
• Where results do not sum to 100, this is due to rounding or the exclusion of don't knows / not stated
• An asterisk (*) represents a value of less than one half of one per cent, but not zero

Q1 For each of the following Chancellors of the Exchequer, please indicate how successful or unsuccessful you think each were overall while in office (with 0 being highly unsuccessful and 10 being highly successful)?

Q2 Which two of the following Chancellors do you think were MOST SUCCESSFUL at providing the country with economic stability?

Q3 Which two of the following Chancellors do you think were MOST SUCCESSFUL at leaving a lasting legacy on Britain's economy?

Q4 Which two of the following Chancellors do you think were MOST SUCCESSFUL at working independently from their Prime Minister?

Q5 Here is a list of characteristics some scholars consider to be important for a Chancellor to possess in order for his / her Chancellorship to be considered to be successful. Please look through this list and tick those three that you consider to be most important to being successful.

Now thinking about the present and future ...

Q6 Who do you think would make the most capable Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Q7 Who do you think would make the most capable Prime Minister?

Q8 What do you think will be the composition of the House of Commons after the next General Election?

Q9 What would you personally like the composition of the House of Commons after the next General Election?