Yes Minister tops MPs comedy poll

Yes Minister was said to have been Margaret Thatcher's favourite

BBC classic Yes Minister has been voted the greatest political comedy of the past 50 years by MPs.

The series, which first aired in 1980, portrayed the struggle between Paul Eddington, as Jim Hacker MP and Nigel Hawthorne as his permanent secretary.

ITV's Spitting Image came second while Channel 4's show Bremner, Bird and Fortune, still on air eight years after it was first broadcast, came third.

The 30 Greatest Political Comedies was shown on More4.

'Chillingly accurate'

Yes Minister gained a reputation not only for great acting and brilliant dialogue but also for being remarkably true to life.

Labour MP and ex-minister Gerald Kaufman once described the tales of double-dealing Whitehall mandarins and hapless politicians as "chillingly accurate".

Parliament voted for Drop the Dead Donkey and Have I Got News For You, both lampooning some of the political stories of the day, in fourth and fifth place.

Little Britain, whose political characters include the Prime Minister and his smitten gay aide Sebastian Love, is sixth.

The countdown of greatest political comedies from the last 50 years was presented by Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy.