National Review/Madeleine Kearns: Theresa May: A Political Obituary

National Review

May. 25, 2019  

World   
Theresa May: A Political Obituary
By Madeleine Kearns

May 24, 2019 5:03 PM

British Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a statement in London, England, May 24, 2019. (Toby Melville/Reuters)
Hooray and good riddance.

On Friday, Theresa May, perhaps the worst Conservative prime minister in recent history, announced her resignation outside of number 10 Downing Street. She will step down effective June 7.

“I have done my best,” she insisted. “I have done everything I can. . . . I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high.” She went on:

    For many years, the great humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved the lives of hundreds of children by arranging their evacuation from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia through Kindertransport, was my constituent in Maidenhead. At another time of political controversy, a few years before his death, he took me to one side at a local event and gave me a piece of advice.

    He said: “Never forget that compromise is not a dirty word. Life depends on compromise.” He was right.

    As we strive to find the compromises we need in our politics, whether to deliver Brexit or restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, we must remember what brought us here.

But what did bring us here; here, this unfortunate place of constitutional crisis and extreme polarization? Was it, as Mrs. May suggests, forces beyond her control, or was it three years of her incompetent leadership?

At her urging, let’s try to “remember.”

NOW WATCH: 'Theresa May Heckled at Conservative Conference'

Theresa May became the second female prime minister after the Brexit referendum result and David Cameron’s resignation in July 2016. In March 2017, she decided to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, setting the Brexit process into motion and giving the United Kingdom exactly two years to exit the bloc.

In 2017, May then called a snap election, which threw away her party’s majority and propelled Jeremy Corbyn within striking distance of power. Needing support in facing this threat, May was forced into a coalition with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party.

Given the needless and catastrophic damage inflicted by the general election, this was the obvious moment for her to resign. But she didn’t. After insincerely promising a commitment to Brexit (“no deal is better than a bad deal”), May then came up with an unbelievably bad deal: the withdrawal agreement, which was crushed by historic margins in parliament. Again, here she should have resigned. But again, she didn’t. Her deal was then rejected two further times and each time May clung on, only narrowly surviving a vote of no-confidence in December of last year.

So, what to make of this? In her resignation speech May extolled the virtues of compromise. But her mishandling of the Brexit negotiations was never about strategic diplomacy in pursuit of Britain’s best interests, it was about political incompetence in a damage-control exercise gone badly wrong.

By signaling to the European Union that she would not entertain no deal, May allowed the Brussels and the two-thirds Remain majority in Westminster to use secondary issues as bully tactics. After 2017, May began to make concessions that were unthinkable to most Leave voters. The Irish backstop, the regulatory annexation of Northern Ireland, and finally — with her fourth attempt at a deal this month — cross-party talks with the Labour party, which entertained the idea of a second referendum (the precise opposite of Brexit).

Compromise is indeed the stuff of life. But it is not the same as weakness. In April 1938, Neville Chamberlain, in responding to the threat of fascism on the continent, sought out a number of “compromises” that, if enacted, would have proven disastrous. In an attempt at “peace with honour,” he conceded to almost all of Hitler’s demands. Of course, the EU isn’t quite Hitler. And, thankfully, Brexit is hardly a world war. But it is the greatest peacetime issue of the last century. Westminster knows this only too well, as I wrote in October last year in a profile on the former foreign secretary and Brexiteer Boris Johnson:

    In the Palace of Westminster, next to the bomb-damaged Churchill’s arch in Members’ Lobby, are four bronze statues that tower over some smaller busts of lesser-known prime ministers. The looming figures are David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Margaret Thatcher. Pointing to the latter two, a trusted Johnson aide told me, “We are living in as decisive times as these. And we need a prime minister of such stature.” Not Boris, surely! some will protest, knowing full well that Britain could do much worse. And already has.

Theresa May said today that it was a matter of “deep regret” that she hasn’t delivered Brexit. But three years ago, it seems, a half-competent leader could have enacted a persuasive and moderate Brexit with a comfortable majority. A half-competent leader, making the kinds of mistakes Theresa May has made, would also have known when to quit. She has been entirely uncompromising on that front — resigning only when forced to.

Which is why I don’t feel in the least bit sorry for the trembling ninny. As far as political obituaries go, Mrs. May is survived by the disintegrated remains of the Tories and populist drain (the Brexit party). How’s that for a legacy?

16   

Madeleine Kearns is a William F. Buckley Fellow in Political Journalism at the National Review Institute. She is from Glasgow, Scotland, and is a trained singer.
More in World   
Al Jazeera Writes Another Chapter in Its Own Ugly History
What’s Missing from Trump’s China Policy
Boris Johnson’s Trumpian Path to No. 10
The Brexit Party Poses an Existential Threat to the Tories
Recommended Articles
Anatomy of the Brexit Crisis
John O'Sullivan
Brexit’s Civil War
Madeleine Kearns
Russianism
Victor Davis Hanson
Brexit: A Little Local Difficulty
Andrew Stuttaford
SPONSORED CONTENT

    Find Inspiration in Dubai's Most Luxurious Mansions Find… Mansion Global
    Clever Gadget Transforms Your Bulky Keychain Into A Handy Tool Clever… Next Tech
    That’s a Bad Idea with Charles Cooke: Should We Raise the Smoking Age? That’s…
    The Deepfake of Nancy Pelosi The…

    Explore These Luxury Listings in Sydney Explore… Mansion Global
    Discover These Luxury Properties in San Francisco Discover… Mansion Global
    Root, Root, Root for the Home Team Root…
    French Authorities Investigating Lyon Explosion as Potential Terror Attack French…

Recommended by
PROMOTED POSTS
Cohen’s Prison Reality: ‘The Situation’ And Shabbat Services
factswanted.com
Disney Reveals Upcoming Marvel Movie Schedule Through 2022
boundingintocomics.com
Woman Who Married Herself: It Was The Best Day Of My Life
dailywire.com
Violence, Poverty Reign In Honduran City Where Caravans Form
factswanted.com
Most Popular
White House   
For Democrats, the Party’s Over
By Conrad Black
Religion   
The Sexual Revolutionaries Got Sexual Satisfaction All Wrong
By David French
Video
Attorney General William Barr Makes First Ruling Against Asylum Seekers
Economy & Business   
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joins the War on Cauliflower
By Jim Geraghty
Law & the Courts   
The Supreme Court Should Take Up NR v. Mann, and Vindicate Free Speech
By The Editors
Politics & Policy   
Florida Abortion Statistics Debunk Common Pro-Choice Argument
By Alexandra DeSanctis
Law & the Courts   
Avenatti Stole Stormy Daniels’s Book Advance, According to Indictment
By Jack Crowe
Law & the Courts   
Great-Grandmother Arrested at Disney World over CBD Oil
By Katherine Timpf
Politics & Policy   
Against Jonathan Chait’s One Weird Trick
By Charles C. W. Cooke
Elections   
The 24 Democrats
By Jim Geraghty

    Login

    Donate
    Subscribe

    Sections
        The Corner
        Bench Memos
        The Morning Jolt
        The G-File
        News
        Books, Arts & Manners
        All Articles
        All Authors
        Podcasts
        Photos
        Games
        Videos

    Topics
        Politics & Policy
        Culture
        White House
        Film & TV
        PC Culture
        U.S.
        World
        Immigration
        Economy & Business
        Elections

    Magazine
        Latest Issue
        Archive
        Subscribe
        Gve NR as a Gift
        Customer Care
        NRPLUS
        Magazine FAQ
        NRPLUS FAQ

    About
        Frequently Asked Questions
        The Masthead
        Contact Us
        Careers
        Privacy Policy
        Terms of Service
        NR Institute

    More
        Advertise
        Donate
        Search
        E-mails & Alerts

Newsletters
Morning Jolt (M-F)
NR Daily (M-Sa)
The G-File (F)
Breaking News (M-Su)

© 2019 National Review
Loading...
Our 60%-Off NRPLUS Flash Sale Is On! Join