The second-greatest living Briton

[David Bean]

I wonder, who do people think is the second-greatest living Briton? I'm specifying 'second-greatest' because there can be no suggestion that the greatest is anyone other than the Queen, but for the second-greatest there's presumably everything to play for.

Personally I'm torn between Baroness Margaret Thatcher and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, leaning towards Lee with Thatcher in a very close third. Other candidates for the top five would, I suppose, include Trevor Baylis - his clockwork inventions are great fun over here, but in the developing world they've transformed a lot of lives - and maybe Lucien Freud and Christopher Lee, unless anyone can think of any better suggestions from their lines of work? Or maybe Sir Cameron Macintosh? I'm sure people must have some other suggestions!

[orudge]

I would hazard a guess that Sir Fred Goodwin will not make it onto this list.

[WashingtonIrving]

Why must the queen unquestionably be number 1? I mean don't get me wrong I'm sure she's a lovely lady, but why?

[Duggeh]

Professor Stephen Hawking

[RedCelt69]

Personally I'm torn between Baroness Margaret Thatcher and Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Sounds good to me... you being torn, that is. Unless your whole post is meant to be ironic. Or perhaps a sardonic enforcement of the recently-posed question of whether the residents of the Sinner are conservative (with whichever sized "C").

Thatcher? Greatest Brit? Greatest bitch, perhaps...

[Hennessy]

He won't be happy he's been relegated to second, his career hasn't been going too well of late

[Duggeh]

Personally I'm torn between Baroness Margaret Thatcher and Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Sounds good to me... you being torn, that is. Unless your whole post is meant to be ironic. Or perhaps a sardonic enforcement of the recently-posed question of whether the residents of the Sinner are conservative (with whichever sized "C").

Thatcher? Greatest Brit? Greatest bitch, perhaps...

Greatness is not measured by goodness. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Castro, Chavez, Thatcher, Churchill, Lincoln, De Gaulle, Ghandi.

Those are all great people in their own ways. Where their politics and and/or actions and/or philosophies agree with your own is irrelevent. Greatness of a person is not negated by how many people do not approve of the actions or some of the actions that made that person great. Thatcher is certainly a strong contendor for the greatest living Briton, and one of the greatest ever. (I personally hated that Churchill won the poll, he was far more of a monstrous human being than any of Thatchers enemies say she is.)


Also, your word play there was exceptionally weak and obvious.

[Haunted]

Second Hawking

[munchingfoo]

fred dibnah gets into my top 10 somewhere.

[munchingfoo]

Also - Admiral Lord Nelson and the the first Duke of Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellesley, have to be there somewhere. Without them we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

[munchingfoo]

and there's me just noticing the OP said "living". oops

[What?]

Fred Dibnah

Also - Admiral Lord Nelson and the the first Duke of Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellesley, have to be there somewhere. Without them we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

Living Britons??

[What?]

Beat me to it!

[Hennessy]

The man is at least a minor deity anyway

[JackDaniels]

Maybe not the greatest but he's pretty awesome.

[Humphrey]

Roger Penrose is better than Hawking. Actually scratch that. Penrose has never been the subject of a spoof gangsta rap album.

[Duggeh]

I have a new nomination.

[Guest]

The queen is great?

[Jennifer Loves Chewitts]

I think Jade Goody is an absolute trooper, and far more deserving than the queen.

[Al]

She's certainly more deserving of a slap.