Iain Dale’s Top 100 in British Politics

Mace | Issue 2 | Magazine, Westminster Index

From the Archive

The movers, shakers and rule-breakers making their mark in Westminster

When our panel convened during the latter stages of lockdown, we thought we had come up with a definitive list of the most powerful and influential people in British politics. However, as we all know, if a week is a long time in politics, two months in an age. So out went Gavin Williamson and Sir Mark Sedwill. In came Sir Ed Davey and Douglas Ross. Power struggle Any list like this is open to criticism for who is left out and who forms the top ten. “I can’t believe [insert favourite politician’s name] is only at number 69” will be a common cry, but that’s the joy. There is no science to it, and it’s all about opinion and judgement. Our seven-strong panel was a mixture of journalists, ex-politicians and keen observers of the political scene. We spent a long time debating the difference between power and influence and whether Dominic Cummings was the most powerful man in Britain, or was his power limited by the prime minister? You will see from the top two placings that we came to the co...

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