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Is Theresa May the Worst Politician Ever?
Scathing, but then so is everything that you see written about UK politics these days from a non UK source
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/opinion/theresa-may.html#click=https://t.co/3wr4pwm9km
Mrs. May’s extraordinary inability to develop or grasp the critical importance of alliances, friendships, coalitions and mutual understanding in politics has destroyed her premiership — and derailed the Brexit process from its beginning to its calamitous stalemate today. This week, Mrs. May sealed her fate. She announced to her Conservative Party that if they voted for the Brexit deal she negotiated with the European Union — and which Parliament had, humiliatingly, voted down twice already — she would finally resign. On Friday afternoon, Parliament voted down the deal for a remarkable third time. What happens next with Brexit remains terrifyingly uncertain and it’s not clear how much longer Mrs. May can hang on. But one way or another, her days are numbered. And the damage is done.
When Mrs. May unexpectedly became the Conservative Party’s leader optimists hoped that despite her dullness — or perhaps because of it — she would be a cautious, careful prime minister. As a former Remainer she could have sought common ground between both Leavers and the 48 percent of voters who wanted to stay. It quickly became clear she would do no such thing.
Mrs. May has made dozens of strategic mistakes in the past three years, from calling a general election that destroyed her parliamentary majority to vindictively sacking talented members of her cabinet who had previously opposed her, to allying herself with the most destructive and intransigent Brexiteers in her Conservative Party. Each of these errors has stemmed from the same fatal flaw: her belief that she can lead and win without paying attention to what her allies, enemies, colleagues — and potential collaborators — want or think. Famously wooden, she seems to regard other crucial players in politics as pieces she can move around a chessboard without motivations of their own.
Mrs. May’s willful ignorance and obstinacy means she has never understood the landscape she’s operating in, where the minefields lie, where the safe places and escape routes might be. She has essentially been blundering her way blindfolded through the most delicate and critical negotiations that Britain has faced since the Second World War, and now she has blown up her political career. She may have blown up the country along the way.
When Mrs. May unexpectedly became the Conservative Party’s leader optimists hoped that despite her dullness — or perhaps because of it — she would be a cautious, careful prime minister. As a former Remainer she could have sought common ground between both Leavers and the 48 percent of voters who wanted to stay. It quickly became clear she would do no such thing.
Mrs. May has made dozens of strategic mistakes in the past three years, from calling a general election that destroyed her parliamentary majority to vindictively sacking talented members of her cabinet who had previously opposed her, to allying herself with the most destructive and intransigent Brexiteers in her Conservative Party. Each of these errors has stemmed from the same fatal flaw: her belief that she can lead and win without paying attention to what her allies, enemies, colleagues — and potential collaborators — want or think. Famously wooden, she seems to regard other crucial players in politics as pieces she can move around a chessboard without motivations of their own.
Mrs. May’s willful ignorance and obstinacy means she has never understood the landscape she’s operating in, where the minefields lie, where the safe places and escape routes might be. She has essentially been blundering her way blindfolded through the most delicate and critical negotiations that Britain has faced since the Second World War, and now she has blown up her political career. She may have blown up the country along the way.
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