It's Not All Bad News

The BPIX poll of 2,034 adults on their attitude to The Great Leader and his 10 years in power published in yesterday's Observer did not make particularly comfortable reading for me. According to the poll findings, Tony wanted better schools and hospitals in a happier nation, but at least half of us think he got it wrong on all counts. He wanted people to trust him, whereas most people don't. In short, the poll found that most of Britain thinks Tony Blair has been a failure on public services, quality of life, crime, immigration and, above all, Iraq. Worse still, almost 3 times as many people think Macaroon will continue Tony's legacy as the total of those who think David Miliband and Charles Clarke will.

It's not all bad news. The results show that Britain is considered a better place for the disabled, gays and lesbians and the ethnic minorities, although there's no indication that a majority of the disabled, gays and lesbians or the ethnic minorities agree with the rest of the population. And a quarter of all interviewees thought that history would look more favourably on The Great Leader, even if rather more people thought he will look even worse with hindsight.

Still, that's all water under the bridge. Once Tony has stepped down gracefully and handed over the reins of power to Gordon, I'm sure everything will be rosy again. And at least we still have Hackney to look cheerfully at. Whatever misfortunes may have beset New Labour at a national level, we've certainly done Hackney proud. You only have to look at the Hackney Toady to see just how well we have been running the borough. I certainly don't expect to see any unpleasant stories about our Great Leader Julian Pipeshaft, or the wonderful, progressive and honest council that he has been leading (with my help).

How do you feel about Tony Blair?	Strongly like	Like	Neutral	Dislike	Strongly dislike	Don't know
	5	14	29	18	30	4
Which of these do you associate with Tony Blair?	Too concerned with spin	Out of touch with Britain	Not trustworthy	Tired, run out of ideas	Unreliable	Easily led
	49	45	43	40	32	30
	Incompetent	A weak leader	His own man	A strong leader	Competent	Principled
	26	22	17	14	14	12
	Reliable	A safe pair of hands	In touch with Britain	Visionary	Trustworthy	None of the above/ Don't know
	8	7	7	7	6	8
Has your opinion of Tony Blair changed over the past 10 years?	Yes, I like him more than I used to	My opinion hasn't changed significantly	Yes, I like him less than I used to	Don't know
	5	35	56	4
Which of the following best describes your opinion about Tony Blair's character?	He genuinely believes all of his statements and actions are morally right	He manages to convince himself that whatever he has decided to do must be morally right	He does not believe that all of his statements and actions are morally right	Don't know
	28	51	9	12
Which of these best describes your view about the timing of his departure?	He is leaving office too early	The timing is about right	He has stayed in office too long	Don't know
	9	22	57	12
What is your view of the following quality-of-life statements:	Agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree	Don't know
Britain is a more successful place in 2007 than it was in 1997	27	27	38	8
Britain is a more pleasant place in which to live in 2007 than it was in 1997	10	23	61	6
Britain is a more dangerous place in which to live in 2007 than it was in 1997	69	18	8	5
Britain is a more liberal place in which to live in 2007 than it was in 1997	21	33	38	8
Britain is a happier place in which to live in 2007 than it was in 1997	8	28	58	6
Britain is a better place for women in 2007 than it was in 1997	22	41	27	10
Britain is a better place for disabled people in 2007 than it was in 1997	35	31	21	13
Britain is a better place to live for people from ethnic minorities in 2007 than it was in 1997	51	23	16	10
Britain is a better place for gay and lesbian people in 2007 than it was in 1997	61	23	5	11
What is your view of the following statements about Tony's influences:	Agree strongly	Agree slightly	Neither agree nor disagree	Disagree slightly	Disagree strongly	Don't know
Tony Blair is in touch with ordinary people	5	13	14	19	44	5
Tony Blair is too influenced by the rich	26	29	25	9	4	7
How would you rate the government's performance on each of the following issues?	Very good	Good	Average	Poor	Very poor	Don't know
The economy	10	28	31	15	10	6
Education	2	16	31	28	17	6
The National Health Service	2	12	25	27	30	4
Crime	1	7	28	27	32	5
The environment	2	13	42	23	14	6
Tackling poverty	2	13	32	26	19	8
Reform of the public sector	1	7	30	26	24	12
Cleaning up politics/ending sleaze	1	4	20	26	41	8
Transport	1	6	27	31	29	6
Climate change	1	10	39	24	17	9
Work/Life balance	2	9	37	23	20	9
Overall performance of the government under Tony Blair over the past 10 years	6	20	29	21	21	3
Which of the following do you believe has been Tony Blair's biggest success as PM?	Good Friday Agreement in N. Ireland	Bank of England independence	Managing a stable economy	The ban on hunting with dogs	Winning the 2012 Olympics for London	G8 deal for Africa
	23	11	11	7	5	4
	Devolution in Scotland/Wales	The Kosovo conflict	War in Iraq	None of the above	Don't know
	4	1	1	20	13
Which of the following do you believe has been Tony Blair's biggest failure as Prime Minister?	The war in Iraq	Being in office while the gap between rich and poor widened	Becoming the first PM to be interviewed by police while in office	Failing to reorganise the railways	The fuel tax protests	The ban on hunting with dogs
	58	10	5	3	3	3
	Failure to reform the Lords	Failure to reform the electoral system	Failure to encourage greater integration in the EU	None of the above	Don't know
	2	2	1	5	8
What has improved or deteriorated over the past 10 years?	Improved	Stayed about the same	Deteriorated	Don't know
Your personal finances	28	24	43	5
The standard of education provided by the schools and universities in your area	17	23	44	16
The standard of health care provided by the National Health Service in your area	19	20	52	10
Britain's international reputation	9	17	64	10
Britain's relationship with Europe	12	32	41	15
Which of these statements best describes your opinion about Tony Blair's record on dealing with issues?	Too soft	About right	Too hard	Don't know
Criminals	69	14	3	14
Immigration	74	13	4	9
Has Britain's relationship with the US during the Blair years been..?	Too close	About right	Not close enough	Don't know
	69	19	4	8
Do you think Tony Blair did the right thing by supporting the war in Iraq?	Definitely	Possibly	Probably not	Definitely not	Don't know
	9	17	28	40	6
Do you think Tony Blair genuinely supported the war in Iraq, or do you believe he was simply following the American lead?	He genuinely supported the war	He was following the US lead	Don't know
	30	60	10
Which of the following statements comes closest to your own view?	Tony Blair should be able to accept free holidays as a perk	He should not be able to accept free holidays as it demeans his office	Whether or not Tony Blair accepts free holidays is not my concern	None of the above	Don't know
	8	48	36	3	5
Do you think these have been a help or a hindrance to Tony Blair in his public life?	A help	No difference	A hindrance	Don't know
His religious beliefs	8	51	15	26
Cherie Blair	11	26	48	15
Which of the following politicians is most likely to carry on the work started by Tony Blair?	Gordon Brown	David Miliband	Charles Clarke	David Cameron	None of the above	Don't know
	35	4	1	13	19	28
How do you think history will judge Tony Blair as Prime Minister. Will his reputation improve with time or not?	It will improve	It will not change	It will decline	Don't know
	25	26	35	14