Nearly three-quarters of adults believe Liz Truss changed the country for the worse during her brief, chaotic time in office, according to a new poll.
The Ipsos survey for the Standard found 72 per cent held this critical view about her administration.
She resigned after 45 days with the country in economic meltdown following her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s September 2022 mini budget.
Only a tiny five per cent think she improved things, the sole recent premier to fail to get into double figures.
For four other Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron and Gordon Brown, more people say they left the country in a worse state on leaving Downing Street than when they walked through the door of No 10, than believe they improved things.
Margaret Thatcher scores highest on this question, with 46 per cent saying she changed Britain for the better and 37 per cent for the worse.
She is followed by Sir Tony Blair on 42 per cent to 36 per cent respectively, despite the Iraq War. Sir John Major, who was at the helm on Black Wednesday when Britain pulled out of the European exchange rate mechanism in 1992, is also in positive territory, by 26 per cent to 19 per cent.
But for Mr Johnson, 62 per cent say he changed things for the worse and 25 per cent for the better. Ms May, who failed to get Brexit through the Commons, also gets a poor rating of 49/21 (worse/better), while Mr Cameron, who held the referendum on Brexit, was on 45/29, and Mr Brown on 33/28.
Hopes are not high for Rishi Sunak, with 38 per cent believing he will have left Britain in a worse state than when he become PM last October, and 24 per cent in a better position by the next election.
Gideon Skinner, of Ipsos UK, said: “Rishi Sunak’s two predecessors continue to cast a shadow with most Britons judging them to have changed the country for the worse over their tenure — especially Liz Truss, who is the only premier for whom a majority of their own supporters are also critical.
“But it’s also notable that none of the Prime Ministers who have been in power since the financial crash, from Gordon Brown onwards, receive a net positive rating.”
