Theresa May has announced that she will resign as Prime Minister on 7 June. (BBC)
The Conservative Party is now expected to choose an even truer Brexit believer as leader and PM, who will move the goalposts even further from the easiest in history cake and eat it deal we were promised before the referendum, and consequently have even less chance of getting an outcome through the House of Commons, never mind past the European Union.
Meanwhile, the UK has an extension on the Article 50 process, which is not to be wasted. Any suggestions what the UK might do not to waste this time will be most welcome by everybody, except perhaps the next Prime Minister.
This open thread is a companion piece to this one from when May began as PM. How did she perform against our expectations of the time?
* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Calling them out
The railway wars come to Market Harborough
Constructive opposition: a phrase you will hear a lot
Friends of Riverside Nature Park AGM #dundeewestend
Hugh Young
Roland
Kevin Hawkins
Steve Trevethan
15 Comments
Sadly just about the worst Prime Minister at a time when we needed the best.
No compromise, no consultation, an “All ways are My way” PM who rushed into Article 50 and then wasted two years during which time everything else was ignored except the all consuming disaster that Brexit has become.
Now we await the Conservatives selecting their next disaster.
How I wish for everyone concerned including poor Mrs May that people like me had worked harder to get Kathy Newbound elected in her seat in 2005!!!!
If you read the comments by David Laws on May none of this will be a surprise. The writing was on the wall from day 1.
The second worse PM in my life time, Cameron was worse, I fear however the next one may beat them both, looking at the list of liars, eighth wits and delusionists lining up to run for the post.
The expectation had been that the next Prime Minister after Cameron could hardly be worse, but with her red lines, her political incompetence, her blind distaste towards immigrants and her lack of personal skills, she has proven even worse than her predecessor.
The expectation this time, such is the dysfunction and blinkered fanaticism of the Tory party, is that her successor will be yet worse again. Who would wager otherwise?
The question now is: does she have the guts to stick two fingers up to the vociferous minority in the Conservative party and rescind our Article 50 notice before June 7th…
I trust we have a stellar PPC ready and waiting in Maidenhead. It may not be long until there’s a by-election there.
Frankie
Actually all of our Prime Ministers have been terrible for decades’ It’s hard to say which one is the worst. In May’s defence she didn’t take us into war on a false pretext that killed thousands of people, flattened cities, destabilised countries and created a refugee crisis. It always amuses me that internationalist on here are less forgiving of attempting to withdraw from the EU than dropping bombs on people. Thinking about it Blair is easily the worst of a bad bunch in terms of long lasting impact, student fees. presidential style, war and so on. Cameron was pretty much just Tory Blair.
Interesting suggestion from Roland. However if she were to use her release to speak truth to the Conservative Party this would require courage, style, political nous and a decent support group. So perhaps not …
@Geoff Reid – I agree with your assessment. I was thinking how can May walk away with some dignity and punish the Bexit nutters in her party. I thought she was going to put the WA package before Parliament, have it voted down and hence do the only sensible thing and deliver no Brexit.
I suspect she has been played and unless Parliament rapidly asserts its authority, the squabbling in the Conservative party will serve the nutters well, as will the rather large amount of ‘recess’ time the government has given MP’s, as it increases the levels of distraction and likelihood the UK will fall, unprepared, into a no deal Brexit, at which point we can expect things to get very nasty…
Glenn 24th May ’19 – 4:29pm………………Actually all of our Prime Ministers have been terrible for decades’ It’s hard to say which one is the worst. In May’s defence she didn’t take us into war on a false pretext that killed thousands of people, flattened cities, destabilised countries and created a refugee crisis. It always amuses me that internationalist on here are less forgiving of attempting to withdraw from the EU than dropping bombs on people……………..
When this party was in opposition the Iraq war was condemned, as you say, for being on a false pretext, killing thousands, flattening cities, etc.
Strange then how, when in government, this party supported the destruction of the nation with the highest standard of living in Africa. A destruction on a false pretext, killed thousands, flattened cities, etc.and REALLY created the flood of refugees from N. Africa. A destruction that continues to this day and all because of an illegal regime change; from Gadhafi to chaos.
As for bombing people being a bigger crime than ‘Brexit’; this party voted to bomb both sides, albeit at different times, in the Syrian crisis.
Expats
I don’t dispute any of that. I’ve always argued against wars of regime change and British military adventurism in the Middle East. The reason I single Blair out is because his grandstanding presidential style and political success at home gave ambitious Party leaders a template. Both Cameron to an extent Clegg were recognisably cast from the Blair mould. He, even more than Thatcher, wanted to project the idea that he was an international statesman. Unfortunately, it turned out he was one, but not in a good way.
Joe pointed out we have an extension on Article 50 giving time that should not be wasted, but what about the long summer recess and the party conferences, as well as the conservative party leadership election ? Is there really time to work with Parliament and the EU to achieve something ? Is there really a chance that before we have a more right wing prime minister Teresa will go for another referendum AND persuade enough MPs to agree ? Will the new people in the EU take a different approach to us ?
Surely the chance of a no deal Brexit have now increased and unless that changes the minds of our MPs and EU leaders, then perhaps in 5 years time enough people will have realised what a mistake that is for a major turnaround in public opinion.
Since John Major, every PM seems to turn out worse than their predecessor. On that basis we are alarmingly heading for Boris, then Corbyn, then Farage.
There seems to be an assumption that the new leader of the Tories will become Prime Minister, at least in the press. Is this the case? Surely the next PM will have to get a vote of confidence first? Given that the most likely winners seem to favour no deal is it likely this will be possible? Surely we should be preparing for a general election?