Prime Ministers

"If my critics saw me walking over the Thames, they would say it was because I couldn't swim." Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister, 1925-2013)

"A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years." Harry S. Truman (President of the United States, 1884-1972) on Prime Ministers

"The trouble with political jokes is they get elected." Anon

Being prime minister is a lonely job... you cannot lead from *the crowd.*the front.*the bar.* Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister, 1925-2013)

"A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965)

If you're not a socialist before you're 25, you have no heart. If you're still a socialist after 25, you have no *brain.*heart.*way forward.* Georges Clemenceau (Prime Minister of France, 1841-1929)

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965)

"It is fitting that we should have buried the Unknown Prime Minister [Bonar Law] by the side of the Unknown Soldier." Herbert Asquith (British Liberal statesman, 1852-1928)

"[Lloyd George] can't see a *belt*face*navel* without hitting below it." Margot Asquith (British political hostess, 1864-1945)

"There are three classes which need sanctuary more than others – birds, wild flowers, and Prime Ministers." Stanley Baldwin (British Conservative statesman, 1867-1947)

"[Lloyd George] did not seem to care which way he travelled providing he was in the driver's seat." Lord Beaverbrook (Canadian-born British newspaper proprietor and Conservative politician, 1879-1964)

"Listening to a speech by Chamberlain is like paying a visit to Woolworth's: everything in its place and nothing above sixpence." Aneurin Bevan (British Labour politician, 1897-1960)

"If he ever went to school without any boots it was because he was too big for them." Ivor Bulmer-Thomas (British Conservative politician, 1905-93) referring to Harold Wilson

"He occasionally stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965) of Conservative Party politician Stanley Baldwin

"An empty *taxi*box*bus* arrived at 10 Downing Street, and when the door was opened, Attlee got out." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965)

"[Clement Attlee is] a modest man who has a good deal to be modest about." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965)

"A sheep in *sheep's*wolf's*no* clothing." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965) of Clement Attlee

"The Prime Minister has nothing to hide from the President of the United States." Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister, 1874-1965) on stepping from his bath in the presence of a startled President Roosevelt

"Margaret Thatcher has added the diplomacy of Alf Garnett to the economics of Arthur Daley." Denis Healey (British Labour politician, 1917-2015)

"He is a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet... Nailing Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall." Boris Johnson (British Conservative politician, 1964-) on the Hutton Report on the Iraq War

"[Churchill] would make *a drum out of the skin*fun*mince meat* of his mother in order to sound his own praises." David Lloyd George (British Liberal statesman, 1863-1945)

"He was not only a bore; he bored for England." Malcolm Muggeridge (British journalist, 1903-90) of Anthony Eden

"A big cat detained briefly in a poodle parlour, sharpening her claws on the velvet." Matthew Parris (British journalist and former politician, 1949-) of Lady Thatcher in the House of Lords

Every Prime Minister needs a *Willie.*break.*chance.* Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister, 1925-2013) at the farewell dinner for William Whitelaw

"In the 1964 Government, I had to occupy almost every position on the field, goalkeeper, defence, attack- I had to take the corner-kicks and penalties, administer to the wounded and bring on the lemons at half-time." Harold Wilson (British Labour statesman, 1916-95)