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Winston Churchill 'more inspiring' than Martin Luther King

  • World
Sir Winston Churchill pictured at Downing Street in 1940 Credit: PA

A survey has found that Britons find Winston Churchill's speeches more powerful than those of the US civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King.

The ComRes poll, to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech on August 28, asked people to rate their favourite speakers.

The survey, conducted for tomorrow's Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror newspapers, found that 39% believe that Churchill was a "more inspiring" speaker than King.

A further 36% think he was "about the same".

Only 11% say Churchill was "less inspiring" than King, in research conducted with some 2,000 people.

President Barack Obama is the highest-ranked living person in the table.

President Barack Obama is the highest-ranked living person in the survey

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, emerges in sixth place as the best living British speaker, just ahead of the three most recent prime ministers.

Boris Johnson is the highest-placed living British speaker Credit: PA

And here is the list in full:

  • Winston Churchill

  • Martin Luther King

  • John F Kennedy

  • Margaret Thatcher

  • Barack Obama

  • Boris Johnson

  • Tony Blair

  • David Cameron

  • Gordon Brown