3 PMs in 30 years vs 6 since Brexit
Between 1979 and 2007 Britain had only 3 prime ministers, but since Brexit in 2016 it has had 6, illustrating a dramatic collapse in political stability.
Snapshot · The Rest Is Politics: US
198. Trump's War On Europe: No Way Back?
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Jun 22, 2026
Where this was said
British Political Instability: The Brexit Effect
At 8:00 · chapter starts 5:55
Scarborough opens with a number that lands like a slap: between Thatcher in 1979 and Blair's exit in 2007, Britain had just three prime ministers. He lived through the entirety of that stable era — high school, college, football coaching, musicals, law school, Congress, Morning Joe — all in the span of three British premiers [1] — Joe Scarborough "3 PMs in 30 years vs 6 since Brexit: Between 1979 and 2007 Britain had only 3 prime ministers, but since Brexit in 2016 it has had 6, illus…" 08:00 . Since Brexit in 2016, that number has doubled to six, with four arriving just since 2022. For a self-described Anglophile, the spectacle is troubling. The deeper puzzle, he says, is that if the British political class understands Brexit was a colossal mistake, why can't the country simply reverse course? The answer he keeps getting: you just can't do it. Kay adds a pointed footnote — on America's 250th anniversary, the UK now has more social mobility than the United States, a stat that deserves its own episode.
3 Prime Ministers in 30 Years — Then 6 Since Brexit
Between 1979 and 2007, Britain had just 3 prime ministers. Since Brexit in 2016, it has had 6. This collapse in stability is not just a parliamentary curiosity — it's a symptom of a country that understood Brexit was a catastrophic mistake but can't find its way back.
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