As Theresa May gets ready to depart 10 Downing street for the last time as Prime Minister in a few short weeks what will her legacy be? When she won the top prize in politics that of leader she stood in front of the black door and she spoke about fixing society's injustices and ills but would the vicars daughter and MP for Maidenhead make good on her pledges? Well not really, after being in office for three years knife crime is spiralling out of control, the toxic legacy of austerity is still being felt and will be felt for generations to come and the country is more divided than ever before.
When Theresa May cut short her own career she made an emotional speech where she almost broke into tears was she emotional about not being able to get a commons majority on her deal? The strain after three years of being battered by leaver and remainers? Or was it that she would be the first Prime Minister to not have a legacy?
In her three year tenure as the First Lord Of The Tresury May came up against a plethora of problems she had the Windrush scandal, the Manchster bombings and the rise of knife crime on our streets.
Most leaders come into office at the wrong time receiving in rugby terminology a hospital pass. Gordon Brown took over in 2007 and was soon thrown into the international banking crisis, Clement Atlee took over from Winston Churchill after world war two and had to build a new Jerusalem from the ground up having to borrow $4 billion in order to do so from the states and May inherited the poisoned chalice of Brexit From David Cameron.
Many political careers end in failure Winston Churchill lost the election after world war two, Tony Blair left office in 2007 with the shadow of Iraq lingering over him and in more contemporary times David Cameron resigned faster than you can say withdrawal agreement not even 24 hours after the EU referendum result was announced.
Many leaders are prone to hubristic tendencies Margaret Thatcher elevated herself to near deity level before her party got rid of her then David Cameron bet the house on red but the ball fell into the back hole instead in the EU referendum. However May never showed signs of hubris but she showed an immense level of arrogance by driving her deal through parliament three times failing each time to get a commons majority, only at the eleventh hour did she reach out to Jermey Corbyn but talks fell apart as soon as they had started it was too little too late. Had she offered to work with Corby in a war cabinet style set up from the start of her premiership I think she would have been a stronger leader for it.
But how has she left her party? May is leaving office having failed to unite the different factions some have gone off with ex Labour MP’s to create the (insert whatever name they have picked this week) party and some MP’s have gone off to join Nigel Farage’s Brexit outfit. She deified the 2010 fixed term parliament act by calling a general election in 2017 she entered the election with a majority and ended up having to make a toxic supply and demand deal with the DUP instead. I was rather surprised when May sent Amber Rudd to cover for her at the the televised debate instead of going in person.
Then there was her painful conference speeches where she coughed through out, the lettering fell of the wall and some one handed her a P45 form. I'm not even going to talk about the dancing only that I'll say she demeaned the office of Prime Minister a lot that day.
We won't ultimately know what May's legacy will be for at least a few years. I'm at a loss as to come up with any examples of both domestic policy and foreign policy that May has signed off on and has had royal ascent. I think instead we need to use a different set of metrics and highlight what she has tried to do. I believe that May's lasting legacy will be of damage control and trying to appease both sides but not satisfying either. She is the second PM to resign because of Brexit and I'm going to make a bold prediction not the last! May is leaving behind her a legacy of ashes and her cast iron promise of getting us out on time will be seen as ammunition for the Brexit Party they have said they will be ready to field 650 PPC's in the next election. So will May be responsible for the rise of Nigel Farage being kingmaker?
Looking to the future will she I wonder try to get a role in a Hunt or Johnson cabinet? Will she head back to the back benches after twenty years absence? Or will she stand down from politics and resign her parliamentary seat? Most previous PM's have done this after Major lost the landslide he went to being opposition leader then standing down followed by his successor Blair.
So as Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson battle it out to be our next leader will they revive May’s legacy of ashes and finally implement her deal or will they set a course for the abyss of a no deal hinterland?
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