IT'S THERESA MAY FOR ME.

And so the Conservative Party has decided that our next Prime Minister will be either Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom, the final choice to be announced on September 9th.

 

Theresa May has many years of Parliamentary and government experience and seems to be the preferred candidate of Conservative Members of Parliament; she campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU, though was not exactly at the forefront of the campaigning. In truth, she was probably a rather reluctant 'remainer' who rather hedged her bets when it came to choosing sides and has already suggested that her negotiating stance with the EU will be quite tough.

Andrea Leadsom only entered Parliament in 2010 after a career in financial services. She has progressed fairly quickly to junior minister level but has no experience at cabinet level. It has been suggested that she may be a bit of a closet 'remainer' even though she was a leading light in the 'Brexit' campaign, and some of her comments suggest that her negotiating stance may actually be more liberal than that of Mrs May.

Some of Leadsom's supporters have said that her lack of senior government experience is no concern as she has plenty of experience at a senior level in her previous career. They also cite David Cameron's lack of government experience when he became Prime Minister in 2010 which, to me, is no recommendation at all; Cameron has hardly been a Prime Minister who has covered himself in glory and history will largely ignore him except for the glaring issue of the EU referendum.

Theresa May entered Parliament in 1997 and has been at a senior level in the Party since 1999. Appointed as Home Secretary in 2010, she has now been the longest serving in that post for over 60 years, surviving remarkably well in a job which has traditionally been a graveyard for politicians. Indeed, Mrs May seems to be something of a survivor, having come unscathed through the various turmoils of her Party over the last 20 years. Kenneth Clark has been heard saying that she's good but also that she's a 'bloody difficult woman', something which could easily be seen as a recommendation.

I don't have a vote in this contest and, as a committed 'Brexiteer', if I did I ought to be a supporter of Mrs Leadsom. However, I really think that her lack of political and diplomatic experience is a massive stumbling block. Mrs May, on the other hand, does have a track record at the highest level, has the confidence of an overwhelming majority of her Parliamentary colleagues and seems to know her own mind. Consequently, I find myself firmly in the corner of a 'bloody difficult woman'; let's just hope that, as our second woman Prime Minister, she proves to be as tough as our first.