Theresa May has now declared that she will quit on 7th June, which means that a new Prime Minister and Conservative leader will be chosen by the end of July. As soon as her resignation was made public, there were many tributes to her determination and efforts to find an agreement to the EU deal. There have also been predictable opinions that her premiership was a disaster. In truth, I think that she has done her best to find a way to leave the EU, but it has been too difficult for her to obtain a majority in parliament. There are so many permutations and hidden interests that the political parties have split and individuals within the parties are running around like headless chickens, rather than trying to unite in a democratic way. The members of parliament have taken over the proceedings, but are blinkered in finding a settlement that would be good for the country. Theresa May did her best but was never going to succeed.
Although she originally voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, she has worked tirelessly as PM to find the best deal possible for a smooth exit from the EU. The fact that she’s failed is down to the politicians who have hijacked democracy and ignored the party lines. The referendum result was too close to ensure that the small majority would stick together, especially as the propaganda before the vote proved to be half truths and lies, so the support has crumbled and divided the decision makers.
Looking ahead, the United Kingdom will have a new leader, but will he or she manage to do any better than Theresa May and find consensus. There are a number of Conservatives who have declared their interest in the job, but we haven’t yet seen a unifying spirit. We can expect to hear candidates for the vacant position declaring their policies for the way forward, but, importantly, I doubt whether they’ll include a consideration for how the EU will view them. At present, it appears that the EU is unlikely to alter the agreement already on the table.
The new leader will be chosen by only Conservative party members and they won’t be making any allowance for their opponents in the other parties. Why would the party members think that the parliamentarians will concur with a different leader when no one is prepared to compromise? There is a time limit to leave the EU and the process has already been going on for too long. British people have lost faith in their politicians and the country is laughed at by Europeans. The probable options for the UK will be to either leave without a deal or not leave at all, neither of which is preferable. This whole procedure has been a lesson on how not to run a country and, although it’s the fault of all politicians, it’s Theresa May who will be unfairly blamed.