The expert opinion is in: Clement Attlee was the most successful post-war PM

Clement Attlee was the best prime minister since the Second World War, while David Cameron was the worst in 50 years. That’s not the results of a LabourList survey, but expert opinion.

A series of university academics rated each of the post-war PMs on their successes in office, with Labour’s Attlee topping the table with highest mean average score.

Attlee, who swept to power with landslide victory in 1945, is best remembered for overseeing the Government that created the National Health Service, the modern welfare state and embarked on a huge scale housebuilding.

Last year, LabourList readers selected Attlee as the party’s greatest ever leader.

Tony Blair, the only Labour leader to win three consecutive general elections, was rated the third most successful post-war PM, while Harold Wilson rounded off the top five – giving Labour the majority of the top places.

The bottom three places, meanwhile, were all take by Conservatives, with Anthony Eden finishing last, just below Alex Douglas-Home and David Cameron.

The survey, carried out by the University of Leeds, also saw academics rate prime ministers on different areas of policy. Of leaders since 1979, only the Labour PMs Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were given positive ratings on improving the economy, society and democracy in the country.

You can see the full table, as ranked by 82 academics working in the field of post-1945 British politics or history, here: