100 Worst Britons
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100 Worst Britons We Love to Hate is one in a series of "100 Greatest..." etc shows to be shown on British TV.
The poll by the British TV station Channel 4 in 2003, was inspired by the BBC series 100 Greatest Britons, though it was less serious in nature. The aim was to discover the 100 Worst Britons We Love To Hate. The poll specified that the nominees had to be British, alive and not currently in prison or pending trial, although enough respondents ignored this for a fictional character and a pop band to be listed among the "winners".
The results of the vote were shown on Channel 4 in an evening-long programme presented by British comedian Jimmy Carr. The programme was a countdown from No. 100 to No. 1, featuring TV clips of the Britons in question, together with various commentators suggesting why they had made the list.
The results reflected the opinions of those who voted on the Channel 4 website. As with many similar votes, little or no effort was expended to prevent people voting more than once. The resulting list turned out to consist mostly of minor celebrities and politicians. Harry Potter was included in the list despite being a fictional character. Jimmy Carr defended this by stating that "The Queen is German and therefore not technically British". He also stated that the only real restrictions to who could be up was that they must be perceived as British and must not be either dead or incarcerated in prison - therefore Harry Potter was eligible to be on the list, and Jeffrey Archer at the time was not eligible because, as Jimmy Carr explained, "sadly he's in prison, and not dead." (Since the show has aired, Jeffrey Archer has been released from prison.)
[edit] Results
The results are shown below. People marked (*) also appeared on the 100 Greatest Britons list.
- Tony Blair (* 67th)
- Jordan
- Margaret Thatcher (* 16th)
- Jade Goody
- Martin Bashir
- Gareth Gates
- Alex Ferguson (Football manager)
- H from Steps
- Geri Halliwell
- Queen Elizabeth II (* 24th)
- Liam Gallagher
- Chris Evans
- Victoria Beckham
- Rik Waller
- Anthea Turner
- Bernard Manning
- Robbie Williams (* 77th)
- Peter Stringfellow
- Neil and Christine Hamilton - 2 people
- Jim Davidson
- Charlotte Church
- Darren Day
- Lady Victoria Hervey
- HRH The Prince of Wales
- Anne Robinson
- Edwina Currie
- Chris Moyles
- Jamie Oliver
- Cliff Richard (* 56th)
- Max Clifford
- The 3AM Girls - 3 people
- Naomi Campbell
- Simon Cowell
- Sara Cox
- Harry Potter
- Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
- James Hewitt
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
- Tracey Emin
- Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
- Mick Hucknall
- Michael Winner
- Pete Waterman
- Naseem Hamed
- Ainsley Harriott
- Trinny and Susannah - 2 people
- Peter Mandelson
- Ken Livingstone
- Darius Danesh
- Amanda Holden
- Zoë Ball
- Martine McCutcheon
- Elton John
- Ant and Dec - 2 people
- Alastair Campbell
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Stephen Byers and Jo Moore - 2 people
- Richard Madeley
- Vinnie Jones
- Alan Titchmarsh
- The Countess of Wessex
- Chris Tarrant
- Ben Elton
- Jeremy Clarkson
- Jeremy Spake
- Carol Vorderman
- David Dickinson
- Frank Skinner
- Paul Burrell
- Tom Jones
- Sarah, Duchess of York
- Carol Smillie
- Elizabeth Hurley
- The Princess Royal
- Guy Ritchie
- Delia Smith
- Johnny Vaughan
- Peter Tatchell
- Sting
- Gordon Ramsay
- Mick Jagger
- Damien Hirst
- Julie Burchill
- Richard Branson (* 85th)
- John Prescott
- Judith Chalmers
- Cherie Blair
- Nigella Lawson
- David Beckham (* 33rd)
- Will Young
- Vanessa Feltz
- Ann Widdecombe
- Davina McCall
- Chris Eubank
- The Lord Irvine of Lairg
- Craig David
- Iain Duncan Smith
- Atomic Kitten - actually a pop group, not a single person (3 people)
[edit] See also
- BBC History Magazine's "Worst Britons" in history by century.
[edit] External links
- 100 Worst Britons page on the Channel 4 website
