Footsteps, Pierre is hearing footsteps

We love him, we hate him, we rate him...

Since 2007 the folks at Angus Reid have been asking us to rank the Prime Ministers,  and in four consecutive years Pierre Elliot Trudeau has held the top spot, the choice of 36 per cent of respondents for this 2011 survey year, holding his title with rather impressive totals from across the country.

For the first time however, the current homesteader at 24 Sussex has moved up the rankings into second place, checking in with a 19 per cent approval rating among those who replied to the poll,  leaping over Jean Chretien who now drops to third most popular PM of the last 44 years or so with a percentage of 12.

Still for the top three it's a wide gulf between them and the also rans, all of whom collect in the range of a high of 6 percent to  a low of 1 per cent, leaving not much of legacy for the likes of Mulroney, Martin, Clark, Campbell and Turner.

22 per cent of those that replied said they weren't sure who was the best Prime Minister since 1968

It's not all accolades and achievement however for Prime Minister Harper, he's also pretty highly placed on the Worst Prime Minister rankings, in a tie at 19 per cent with fellow Conservative Brian Mulroney.

An indication that like Mulroney before him, Harper's Prime Ministership tends to have a rather high polarizing effect on the population.



Vancouver Sun-- Stephen Harper second best and worst PM since 1968: Poll
Globe and Mail-- Harper makes 'remarkable' gains in best-prime minister ranking
Global Edmonton-- Harper trails Trudeau as best PM: poll