NOT since the final stretch of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership has Britain seen more hubris in Downing Street.
First there was David Cameron, super-confident he would win the EU referendum, and, after his fall, Theresa May, super-confident she could, politically, kill off Jeremy Corbyn and his divided Labour Party with a snap election.
Both insisted their actions were in the best interests of the country but, in reality, they were executed in the best interests of the Conservative Party.
In the early months of the year, the Tories were riding high with staggering poll leads of more than 20 per cent. Mrs May’s own personal poll rating topped +20.
Finally, after an Easter walk in Snowdonia, the Conservative leader succumbed to the electoral temptation.
Within Westminster it was common knowledge that while the PM was regarded as a good administrator, she was not a good campaigner; she lacked empathy and passion; key ingredients for any election campaign.
This was part of the reason why Tory election strategists sought to keep the Maybot as far away from ordinary punters as possible.
Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, was a natural campaigner. He had, after all, won two landslide leadership contests. But the penny hadn’t dropped at Tory HQ.
Anyone witnessing the Labour leader on the stump saw a man transformed. The hapless campaign performer was not Mr Corbyn but Mrs May, dubbed the “glumbucket”.
Tory hubris also translated into the mother of manifesto blunders.
Such was the over-confidence with which Mrs May had entered the election, she felt able to attack her core vote: pensioners.
To make matters worse, when the doorstep backlash began on social care, the PM promised a cap on costs but denied it was a U-turn, when, of course, it was, declaring: “Nothing has changed. Nothing had changed.” Yet everything had changed.
Taking the public for granted and for fools meant nemesis followed hubris on June 9.
Now Mrs May is hobbled. Without Brexit, her feet would not have touched the ground as the men in grey suits would have escorted her from Downing Street within hours of the election result.
Having to rely on the DUP is always a risky business and now the PM has called on other parties to "contribute and not just criticise".
The move understandably has alarmed Tory colleagues, who believe, rightly, it underlines her weakness while, needless to say, Mr Corbyn has gleefully rebuffed Mrs May’s offer, saying it shows her government has “run out of steam”.
The PM’s future looks precarious but as one Cabinet minister confided what the Government feared most was another election, which the Tories could lose.
So Mrs May will stay for the time being, living day by day over the political trap-door. For her and others July 20, when Parliament rises for its summer recess, can’t come quickly enough.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel