Power of the Prime Minister - factors grid + -

Filled version. Use this to check your own grid - and tap any cell for the full detail behind the judgement.

PM+ -	Majority	Mandate	Media	Big Beasts	Party Control	Opposition	Events
Starmer 2024- (174)	+174-seat majority (Labour 411, Conservatives 121) - he can lose dozens of backbenchers and still legislate.	±Huge in seats, thin in votes: 33.7% is the lowest winning share in post-war history.	-Right-wing press hostile from day one; the Lord Alli row (2024) and Mandelson row (2026) each ran for weeks.	±No open rival yet, but Burnham and Streeting wait - and Rayner sits on the back benches.	±Over 40 Labour MPs signalled revolt over disability benefit cuts (2026); the Reeves Budget split the party.	±The Conservatives collapsed (worst since 1832) but the threat moved: Reform UK hit 27% in 2026 polling.	-Southport riots, Trump's second term, the Iran conflict and Gaza divisions - a run of early shocks.
Sunak 2022-24 (80→38)	±Inherited Johnson's 80 but it eroded to roughly 38 through defections and lost whips.	-Never won an election - or even a members' ballot, having lost to Truss in 2022.	-Nicknamed Drowning Street; leaving the D-Day commemorations early (2024) was seen as ending his campaign.	-The cabinet attacked more than it backed: Braverman's savage resignation letter, Johnson looming.	-Open splits over Brexit, Rwanda, immigration and the ECHR; the whipping operation broke down repeatedly.	-Labour led by 15-20 points for over eighteen months and swept the by-elections.	-Inflation at 11.1%, NHS strikes across 2023, the mortgage-rate surge - crises inherited, never mastered.
Johnson 2019-22 (80)	+An 80-seat majority - the largest Conservative win since 1987 - drove through Brexit and lockdowns.	+Get Brexit Done: the clearest single-issue mandate of any modern PM, taking dozens of Red Wall seats.	+Boris was a personal brand - skilled at using the media and at dodging it.	±Tame at first, then the cascade: Sunak's resignation (July 2022) triggered 50+ resignations in 48 hours.	±Strong at the start, collapsed by July 2022 - open revolt over Partygate and the Pincher affair forced him out.	+Corbyn's Labour lost 60 seats in 2019 - its worst result since 1935.	±The vaccine rollout and early Ukraine support lifted him; Partygate - his own event - ended him.
Blair 1997-2007 (179 / 167 / 66)	+179 (1997), 167 (2001), 66 (2005) - the 1997 cushion passed devolution and the minimum wage with ease.	+A clear Change mandate built on the 1997 manifesto.	±The Sun switched to Labour and Campbell ran the Grid - until the dodgy dossier (2003) broke his credibility.	±Brown was his greatest asset and greatest internal threat; Cook resigned over Iraq (2003).	±139 Labour MPs voted against Iraq - the largest backbench rebellion since the 1840s; top-up fees scraped through by five.	+Weak Conservatives under Hague, Duncan Smith and Howard - until Cameron arrived in 2005.	±Judged strong on 9/11 and 7/7 - but Iraq defined the premiership and broke it.
Thatcher 1979-90 (43 / 144 / 102)	+43 (1979), 144 (1983), 102 (1987) - no PM since has won three consecutive elections.	+A clear Change mandate: curb the unions, roll back the state, privatise - BT, Gas and BA all sold.	+The Iron Lady image embraced; Saatchi and Saatchi's Labour Isn't Working.	±A talented cabinet that turned on her: Howe's resignation speech and Heseltine's challenge ended it.	±Strong for a decade, then lost - Westland (1986) and the Lawson and Howe resignations drained her authority.	+A weak, divided Labour, with the SDP-Liberal Alliance splitting the anti-Conservative vote.	±The Falklands made her and the miners' strike entrenched her - the poll tax helped end her.

PM+ -

Majority

Mandate

Media

Big Beasts

Party Control

Opposition

Events

Starmer
2024-
(174)

+174-seat majority (Labour 411, Conservatives 121) - he can lose dozens of backbenchers and still legislate.

±Huge in seats, thin in votes: 33.7% is the lowest winning share in post-war history.

-Right-wing press hostile from day one; the Lord Alli row (2024) and Mandelson row (2026) each ran for weeks.

±No open rival yet, but Burnham and Streeting wait - and Rayner sits on the back benches.

±Over 40 Labour MPs signalled revolt over disability benefit cuts (2026); the Reeves Budget split the party.

±The Conservatives collapsed (worst since 1832) but the threat moved: Reform UK hit 27% in 2026 polling.

-Southport riots, Trump's second term, the Iran conflict and Gaza divisions - a run of early shocks.

Sunak
2022-24
(80→38)

±Inherited Johnson's 80 but it eroded to roughly 38 through defections and lost whips.

-Never won an election - or even a members' ballot, having lost to Truss in 2022.

-Nicknamed Drowning Street; leaving the D-Day commemorations early (2024) was seen as ending his campaign.

-The cabinet attacked more than it backed: Braverman's savage resignation letter, Johnson looming.

-Open splits over Brexit, Rwanda, immigration and the ECHR; the whipping operation broke down repeatedly.

-Labour led by 15-20 points for over eighteen months and swept the by-elections.

-Inflation at 11.1%, NHS strikes across 2023, the mortgage-rate surge - crises inherited, never mastered.

Johnson
2019-22
(80)

+An 80-seat majority - the largest Conservative win since 1987 - drove through Brexit and lockdowns.

+Get Brexit Done: the clearest single-issue mandate of any modern PM, taking dozens of Red Wall seats.

+Boris was a personal brand - skilled at using the media and at dodging it.

±Tame at first, then the cascade: Sunak's resignation (July 2022) triggered 50+ resignations in 48 hours.

±Strong at the start, collapsed by July 2022 - open revolt over Partygate and the Pincher affair forced him out.

+Corbyn's Labour lost 60 seats in 2019 - its worst result since 1935.

±The vaccine rollout and early Ukraine support lifted him; Partygate - his own event - ended him.

Blair
1997-2007
(179 / 167 / 66)

+179 (1997), 167 (2001), 66 (2005) - the 1997 cushion passed devolution and the minimum wage with ease.

+A clear Change mandate built on the 1997 manifesto.

±The Sun switched to Labour and Campbell ran the Grid - until the dodgy dossier (2003) broke his credibility.

±Brown was his greatest asset and greatest internal threat; Cook resigned over Iraq (2003).

±139 Labour MPs voted against Iraq - the largest backbench rebellion since the 1840s; top-up fees scraped through by five.

+Weak Conservatives under Hague, Duncan Smith and Howard - until Cameron arrived in 2005.

±Judged strong on 9/11 and 7/7 - but Iraq defined the premiership and broke it.

Thatcher
1979-90
(43 / 144 / 102)

+43 (1979), 144 (1983), 102 (1987) - no PM since has won three consecutive elections.

+A clear Change mandate: curb the unions, roll back the state, privatise - BT, Gas and BA all sold.

+The Iron Lady image embraced; Saatchi and Saatchi's Labour Isn't Working.

±A talented cabinet that turned on her: Howe's resignation speech and Heseltine's challenge ended it.

±Strong for a decade, then lost - Westland (1986) and the Lawson and Howe resignations drained her authority.

+A weak, divided Labour, with the SDP-Liberal Alliance splitting the anti-Conservative vote.

±The Falklands made her and the miners' strike entrenched her - the poll tax helped end her.

How to use this

Power of the Prime Minister - factors grid + -

Power of the Prime Minister - factors grid + -