Churchill claims greatest Briton vote

WAR-TIME British prime minister Winston Churchill has been named the greatest Briton of all time in a nationwide poll that attracted well over one million votes.

Participants in the BBC’s Great Britons survey voted the Second World War leader top of the list of the country’s 100 most significant individuals, gaining 447,423 votes, beating his nearest rival, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel by more than 56,000 votes.

The result came after a passionate two-hour live debate on BBC2 in which celebrities including former Tory minister Michael Portillo and TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson argued the case for their choices.

In the end Churchill, ex-Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam’s choice, secured a convincing victory after the month-long survey in which viewers cast their votes by telephone and e-mail.

Dr Mowlam put her case for the heroic war leader in the last of the documentaries presented by the advocates on Saturday, provoking a late surge of support and putting Churchill in the lead.

“Churchill was the greatest and I’m absolutely delighted that the public agree with me,” she said.

“He was the greatest Briton because he showed the determination and courage to protect Britain from invasion and without his inspiring leadership the outcome of World War Two may have been very different.”

England football captain David Beckham also threw his weight behind the Churchill campaign, saying: “He was a giant of a leader at a time when Britain needed hope and inspiration.”

Jane Root, controller of BBC2, who came with the idea for the series, said: “I’m really pleased that this series has so captured the public’s imagination and have been delighted by the level of interest and debate generated.”

Others in the top 10 were: Diana, Princess of Wales; Charles Darwin; William Shakespeare; John Lennon; Elizabeth I; Isaac Newton; Horatio Nelson; and Oliver Cromwell.