Theresa may

Saturday

Fraser Nelson

It’s a question of when, not if, Theresa May will resign as Prime Minister

Only one Cabinet member – Chris Grayling – had a good word to say about Theresa May and even he waited hours to say it. The silence of the others underlines the scale of trouble that the Prime Minister is in with her own party after blowing its majority in pursuit of a personal mandate. If she had won a landslide (which seemed to be there for the taking), she wanted to make it a very personal landslide, asking people to ‘vote for me’ rather than her party. As I say in my Daily Telegraph column today, the defeat must now be owned by her personally. And the silence of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Cabinet will now assert themselves

One upshot of May’s election fail is that the Cabinet will now be far more influential, as I say in The Sun this morning. They are determined to force her to listen to them more and not just rely on her two chiefs of staff. ‘She needs to realise she can’t do this all on her own’, complains one Secretary of State. ‘She needs a bit of help’. The Cabinet are brutally clear about how the Tories losing their majority is May’s fault. ‘Her limitations have been fully exposed in public’, one tells me. But May’s position is safe for now. Why? Because the Tories don’t want another election. They

Will Heaven

How the dementia tax – a ‘nasty party’ policy – lost Theresa May her majority

Pundits and pollsters have spent the last year trying to explain what the Brexit vote meant. Was it right-wing or left-wing? Was it about immigration or sovereignty? Was it a bit racist? They’ll do the same for this election – trying to pinpoint where it all went so humiliatingly wrong for Theresa May. But to me one answer, even so soon after shock result – and before we’ve been able fully to analyse the results – stands out by a mile: the dementia tax.  There are five reasons, I’d argue, why it ruined Theresa May’s election campaign and may have been the key factor in destroying her parliamentary majority. 1. It was a ‘nasty

Friday

Rod Liddle

I called it! Theresa May has been undone by her pointless election

I would direct you to Liddle passim for why we are now in this state of chaos. Even if Theresa May hadn’t run the worst election campaign in living memory (again, passim) she still wouldn’t have increased her majority by much at all. I knew that as a fact, an absolute certainty, on the day the election was called, and explained why, no matter that the polls were showing a landslide. The decision to call an election was arrogant and complacent — and so was the subsequent campaign. None of us may want the additional chaos of a leadership election, but nonetheless, there should be one. She is, as I

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Jeremy Corbyn’s unlikely fans show he is no revolutionary

So now we know: Jeremy Corbyn is a counterrevolutionary. The man who fancies himself as the secret Red of British politics, surrounding himself with trustafarian Trotskyists and the kind of public-school radical who gets a hammer-and-sickle tattoo just to irritate his parents, is now being talked up as a potential saviour of the establishment from Brexit. From Guardian scribes to actual EU commissioners, the great and good want Corbyn to save their hides from that raucous revolt of last June. You couldn’t make it up: Jez the tamer of the agitating masses. No sooner had those exit polls revealed that May was struggling and Corbyn was rising than the EU-pining

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP: Theresa May will be gone in six months

There’s not a cabinet minister in sight to fight Theresa May’s corner following a disastrous election result. However, Tory backbenchers are proving more forthcoming. The only issue is they don’t seem to have much nice to say about their leader. After Anna Soubry called on May to consider her position, Heidi Allen has gone one step further and predicted — in an interview with LBC — that May will be gone within six months: ‘I don’t believe that Theresa May will stay as our Prime Minister indefinitely. In my view, it may well just be a period of transition. We do need to get some stability. But I just don’t

Ross Clark Ross Clark

George Osborne must bitterly regret quitting politics

I am no psychologist but I don’t think you have to be one to appreciate that there is some turmoil going on in the mind of the man who wrote the Evening Standard’s four front page headlines today. ‘May Hung Out to Dry’, ‘May’s Right Royal Mess’, ‘May’s Irish Bailout’, ‘Queen of Denial’ – these headlines have been presented by many today as a sign of a man enjoying himself, of revelling in schadenfreude. True, none of these headlines is exactly unfair, but the obsessive search for ever more painful ways of twisting the knife into the Prime Minister is surely indicative of something going on deep in the soul

Philip Sime

Britain’s ‘wobbly lady’: Europe’s press reacts to May’s bungled election gamble

Theresa May’s election gamble hasn’t paid off. Yet in spite of the PM blowing her majority, May has vowed to carry on and offer ‘certainty’ to Britain. Overnight, May’s miscalculation has transformed her from an ‘iron lady’ into a ‘wobbly’ political figure in the eyes of the European press. Here’s how the general election has been covered on the continent:  Germany: Germany’s largest daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung rounds on Theresa May, branding her a ‘terrible election campaigner’ and contrasts the ‘strong and stable’ image that she sought to present with what was perceived as a very weak campaign. The newspaper explores her behaviour as Home Secretary and suggests that her key tactic of

The Spectator

Theresa May’s Downing Street statement – ‘I will now form a government’

Theresa May has just appeared on the steps of Downing Street to give a statement following her meeting with the Queen. Here is the full text. I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen, and I will now form a government – a government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country. This Government will guide the country through the crucial Brexit talks that begin in just 10 days and deliver on the will of the British people by taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union. It will work to keep our nation safe and secure by delivering the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

It would have been wiser of Theresa May to show some contrition and humility

Theresa May was determined to suggest that nothing had really changed in her statement outside Downing Street after seeing the Queen. She talked about her plans for the next five years, which is—to put it mildly—ambitious. She emphasised the mandate that came from the Brexit referendum, but made no real reference to last night’s events. She emphasised certainty and indicated it was all business as usual.  Tonally, May’s approach was a mistake. It would have been better to level with voters about what had happened, to tell the country that she would work to regain its trust. It is jarring to talk about how the country needs certainty, when the

Jenny McCartney Jenny McCartney

The DUP’s wildest dreams have just come true

If the election result has severely weakened Theresa May, it has correspondingly strengthened another female politician – Arlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist Party leader, who could be seen beaming with delighted party colleagues at the election count in Northern Ireland. After a stormy year in Northern Ireland – in which the devolved Assembly collapsed amid allegations that Foster was to blame for a costly renewable heating scandal – the Westminster election appears to have restored the DUP’s fortunes beyond its wildest dreams: with the 10 seats it has won, it could now take on the role of ‘kingmakers’ in a minority Conservative government, and has already indicated its preparedness to

Alex Massie Alex Massie

If Theresa May was the election’s biggest loser, Nicola Sturgeon was its second greatest loser

Comeuppance is a dish best served scalding hot. That’s the first thing to be said about this glorious election result. Like Ted Heath, Theresa May asked ‘Who governs Britain?’ and received the answer ‘Preferably not you’. Her election campaign – a word that grants it greater dignity than it merits – will be remembered for decades to come as a classic example of what not to do.  Until yesterday we had thought her victory would be tainted by the fact she had only beaten Jeremy Corbyn; now we might reappraise our view to note that poor Jeremy Corbyn has been such a hapless leader of the Labour party he couldn’t

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Theresa May needs a deputy Prime Minister

Bizarrely, many of the Cabinet haven’t yet heard from Theresa May or her closest aides. Number 10 need to get on the phones—and quick. She will need the Cabinet’s support in a way she never has before in the next few weeks and months, and securing that support will require actively consulting them. Several senior Tories are arguing that May should appoint a deputy Prime Minister. The thinking is that this would force May to consult beyond her own, extremely tight inner circle. Following this advice would be a smart move by Theresa May. It would reassure the Cabinet that things genuinely will be different now, and that May is

James Kirkup James Kirkup

To survive, Tories must compromise with Remainers – and Corbynism

Regardless of who leads it, the Conservative Party now has the opportunity to cling to office, possibly even for the rest of this five-year Parliament. They’re the biggest party and a deal with the DUP is the basis for forming a new government. But that’s only the start. To remain in office, the Conservatives are going to have to accept a lot of compromises. They’re going to have to compromise on Brexit, and thus on immigration. They’re going to have to compromise on economic policy (spend more, cut less) and markets (intervene more). They’re going to have to compromise with the Scottish voters who threw them a parliamentary lifeline by

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What went wrong for the Tories?

Inside CCHQ there is a sense that three things cost them their majority in this election. First, the public were fed up with austerity. With the Tories taking the deficit off the table as an issue, they had no plan to balance the books in the next five years, and they had no response to Jeremy Corbyn’s promise to spend more on pretty much everything. Second, there was a Brexit backlash. Those who had voted Remain turned up in great numbers at this election and voted against the Tory candidate. Third, Theresa May turned out not to be who the voters thought she was. Voters liked her because they thought

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Revealed: Tories’ hung Parliament briefing lines

Senior Conservatives insist that they don’t recognise the exit poll, which predicts a hung Parliament. But privately they appear to concede a hung Parliament is a possibility – and they are trying to get on the front foot. In a briefing to Conservative candidates, the party has issued lines to take on the exit poll. They say to state that in the event of a hung Parliament, it is the Tories who would have the first opportunity try and form a parliamentary majority: ‘If it is right then the Conservative Party has won the most seats and probably won the most votes. The constitutional guidance is clear that it’s up

The Spectator

Catastrophe for the Conservatives as Theresa May blows her majority

Tories lose their majority, falling eight seats short. Labour achieve 40 per cent of the vote, up 9.6pc. This is the biggest increase in vote share since Attlee in 1945. Theresa May has been to Buckingham Palace and sought permission to form a new government, working with the DUP… …in spite of personally engineering a cock-up of historic proportions. The main five Cabinet ministers have all retained their positions; no further appointments will be announced until tomorrow. Paul Nuttall has resigned as Ukip leader, stepping down with immediate effect. SNP lose 21 seats, as Scottish Tories take 12 seats, Scottish Labour takes 7 and LibDems 4. Ousted: Nick Clegg, Alex

Thursday

The Spectator

May needs her party

As if we needed reminding, this past week has shown that the Islamist threat is a truly global problem. In the space of a few days, Isis claimed responsibility for attacks on London Bridge and Borough Market; and elsewhere, for the attack on the Iranian Parliament and the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini in Tehran. It would be hard to think of more diverse targets than drinkers at London pubs on a Saturday night and the tomb of the theocratic Shia cleric who inspired the 1979 Iranian revolution. Yet for Isis there is logic. All are enemies: infidels, heretics, apostates. The Tehran atrocity shows again that what we are witnessing is

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 8 June 2017

By the time you read this, the campaign will have drawn fractiously to its close, so here is a strong overall impression drawn from it, which stands whatever the result. Watching a large number of debates and question and answer sessions with party leaders and the public, I noticed, even more insistent than in the past, the righteous tone of the recipient (or would-be recipient) of state money. Whether it was a teacher or health worker, a person on benefits, a young woman wanting her tuition fees paid, or an old man sitting on a house worth (say) £750,000 and demanding that the state bear his putative long-term care needs

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The pound plunges as markets start to take in the enormity of May’s blunder

The pound has plunged sharply on the exit poll, as markets start to come to terms with the idea that Theresa May might have blown it. It’s 1.7 per cent down against the dollar, 1.8 per cent against the Euro – expect those gains to deepen if tonight’s results confirm the results of the exit poll. For a simple reason: Theresa May asked for a general election to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations. If the public refuses to do so, she will be hugely weakened in the biggest negotiation that any Prime Minister has had to undertake. If, indeed, she survives long enough to undertake it – which is