The sudden rise and metamorphosis of Theresa May

I looked at my desk calendar yesterday, and thought: ‘Good heavens! Barely 3 weeks after the UK’s EU referendum, a new Prime Minister!’ Who says politics is boring!     David Cameron’s epic miscalculation led to the Brexit earthquake whose reverberations are still being felt across the UK, in the European Union and further afield. If David Cameron did not expect the Conservative Party to win last year’s election, Theresa May yesterday did not expect Andrea Leadsom’s bombshell. Indeed no-body expected such a sudden U-turn from Ms Leadsom. Theresa May was in Birmingham yesterday morning when a colleague informed her that her opponent in the Conservative leadership contest had pulled out, leaving her to be crowned as the second British female Prime Minister some 26 years after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. She then rushed to London where she delivered a brief – and for most people unexpected – statement. In fact, Theresa May simply reiterated a 3-point pledge she made earlier in Birmingham where she was launching her national campaign to become Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She said: “First, our country needs strong, proven leadership – to steer us through this time of economic and political uncertainty, and to negotiate the best deal for Britain as we leave the EU and forge a new role for ourselves in the world. Because Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it. Second, we need to unite our Party and our country. And third, we need a bold, new, positive vision for the future of our country – a vision of a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us.” Will May be a Mother Teresa in a divided nation? Pretty astute really! In a nutshell, what else can you say to reassure and reconcile everybody across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom after the Brexit vote and all the bashing and ridiculing which followed, what all that did to national pride, the divisions in the Conservative Party and the country at large? But has Theresa May cannibalised some of Ed Miliband’s (and the Labour Party’s) programme, or does the following from her speech in Birmingham reflect her own profound convictions? “…right now, if you’re born poor, you will die on average nine years earlier than others. If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white. If you’re a white, working-class boy, you’re less likely than anybody else to go to university. If you’re at a state school, you’re less likely to reach the top professions than if you’re educated privately. If you’re a woman, you still earn less than a man. If you suffer from mental health problems, there’s too often not enough help to hand. If you’re young, you’ll find it harder than ever before to own your own home. (…) fighting these injustices is not enough. If you’re from an ordinary, working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise. You have a job, but you don’t always have job security. You have your own home, but you worry about mortgage rates going up. You can just about manage, but you worry about the cost of living and the quality of the local school, because there’s no other choice for you.” In her “vision”, she lays much emphasis on the need for social reforms, and invariably points out that she wants a country, a society, an economy, a democracy, a party that “works for everyone”. Then, she adds that “under my leadership, the Conservative Party will put itself – completely, absolutely, unequivocally – at the service of ordinary, working people. It is why we will make Britain a country that works for everyone.” Now, I don’t know about you, but to me this is rather surprising coming from someone who has always been tough on immigration – she has said on several occasions before that net migration to the UK needs to be significantly reduced; someone who voted to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 – as Home Secretary she has often controversially criticised human rights legislation for “limiting the powers of government” ; someone who voted consistently for going to war in Iraq and who was in favour of deploying British troops in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan… But it is much too early to say if Theresa May will be able to stand up to all kinds of vested interests in her desire to fight against social and economic “injustices”, heal the wounds of a divided country, establish a new role for the UK in the world, and work not for the privileged few but for everyone. La fonction fait l’homme (et la femme). So, let’s wait and see. 12 July 2016