Theresa May has become the Tories’ Gordon Brown

At the outset of this general election campaign one thing seemed clear: Labour would get everything they deserved but, alas, the Tories would not. That is, Jeremy Corbyn would lead Labour to a thoroughly-merited disaster and Theresa May would gain an ill-deserved, but whopping, victory.

Well that was then and this is now as it looks, at least for the moment, as though this scenario could be reversed. The Tories, enduring a stinker of a campaign, may be punished just as thoroughly as they deserve to be but, if that is the judgement of the British people, it also requires voters to treat Labour with a gentle indulgence the party does not merit.

Which is, I suppose, another way of noting that neither party presently inspires much confidence and that the choice between Mrs May and Mr Corbyn is between the unpalatable and the unacceptable. Mrs May will return to Downing Street but unless her victory is significant, she will do so as damaged goods.