EC chief Barroso voted most influential in Britain

EC chief Barroso voted most influential in Britain

	Published : Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:05 By : James Rowe Print this Story

LONDON: European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is the most powerful person in the U.K., according to a BBC poll. He received 22 per cent of the votes from the listeners of Radio 4, who were queried -- Who Runs Britain? Media baron Rupert Murdoch got 15 per cent and came second.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, chancellor Gordon Brown and the British Parliament were all well below these two in terms of influence. Blair is tied with Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, with 7 per cent votes each. They were, however, more powerful that Brown, who secured 4 per cent votes, along with Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil liberties group Liberty and the only women in the list of 10.

Sir Gus O'Donnell, cabinet secretary and head of civil service, surprisingly received more votes than Blair -- 10 per cent. The parliament had 14 per cent of the votes, while 10 per cent votes went to the British people, and 6 per cent to Google.

The list in the order of influence:

1. Jose Manuel Barroso - 22 per cent
2. Rupert Murdoch - 15 per cent
3. Parliament - 14 per cent
4. The British People - 12 per cent
5. Gus O'Donnell - 10 per cent
6. Terry Leahy - 7 per cent
7. Tony Blair - 7 per cent
8. Google - 6 per cent
9. Gordon Brown - 4 per cent
10. Shami Chakrabarti - 4 per cent

The European Commission, being the executive body of the EU, is the only institution that can enact laws in the EU region. Barroso, 49, former prime minister of Portugal, is an unelected officer of the commission.

The Who Runs Britain? poll was on air for three weeks and consisted of radio debates and interviews on how much real power different individuals and institutions wielded. Experts in various fields submitted nominations and the listeners' views were broadcast.

A panel with Stella Rimmington, former head of MI5, Kevin Marsh, Today editor, Will Hutton and Bill Morris whittled the list of suggestions down to 10.