A few short months ago, it seemed that Theresa May was in total control of both her party and the country. She was being compared, rather ridiculously it must be said, to Margaret Thatcher and replacing her simply wasn't on the cards. Then she made a mistake.
May's mistake wasn't calling an election, although that was unexpected and it seems that it was a personal decision which took even her Cabinet colleagues by surprise. Her mistake was the way in which she launched a very 'Presidential' campaign and then mucked it up. In particular, the way in which she proposed changes to the funding of social care was catastrophic and Jeremy Corbyn hasn't looked back since. The election was an effective disaster for May and calls for her to go arose from every quarter.
Of course, she hasn't gone, yet. In fact, it seemed likely that she might well last until at least the end of 2018 and perhaps until after the UK's actual departure from the European Union in March 2019; that was until yesterday's troubled Conference speech. Now, the media, led by the accursed lefties of the BBC, is baying for blood and hunting around to find anyone who will stand up and say that May has to go.
To be fair, the Conference speech wasn't the rip-roaring success that Jeremy Corbyn enjoyed last week but then Corbyn is currently more of a celebrity pop star at the moment; one might almost have expected swooning girls to be ripping off their underwear and throwing it on to the stage during his performance. No, May is a much more of a pragmatic character who gets on with the job without the histrionics so beloved of some. Sadly for her, yesterday not only were there no histrionics, pretty much everything else went wrong as well.
Trying to make an hour-long speech while suffering from a bad sore throat was bad enough but experiencing an interruption from some character who'd managed to avoid the security arrangements really wasn't needed, though she dealt with the situation rather well. She also had a handy line ready when Chancellor Hammond offered her a cough sweet and, given her travails, got through a very difficult ordeal remarkably well. Nonetheless, when the letters of the party's slogan began falling off of the wall behind her, it really seemed that her luck was out.
In truth, it was a terrifically brave performance and seems to have received the full backing of her Cabinet colleagues, although listening to the BBC one wouldn't necessarily know that. They seem more interested in concentrating on the few disaffected backbenchers who've reportedly been discussing moves to ask for May to resign, although no one has yet stuck their head above the parapet which suggests this is mostly hot air.
A leadership battle now would be disastrous for both Party and country. Labour would seize the opportunity to try to force a general election with their opponents in total disarray and the Brexit negotiations would grind to a halt. The supposed uncertainty which business leaders keep whining about over Brexit would become a reality and there'd be mayhem on the stock market while the pound would probably collapse. Senior Conservative figures know all of this and that's why they rallied behind May yesterday and will continue to do so, while prodding and poking at times, until Brexit is a done deal.
May's tenacity in carrying on against all the odds, both since the election and during yesterday's speech, says a lot about her character and I don't see her going anytime soon, whatever mischief the BBC and the rest of the media trolls try to stir up.
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