Theresa May has made her 'big' conference speech and I have to say that it was pretty dull. In fact, following on from an exceptional performance by the recently appointed Attorney General, Geoffrey Cox, it was little more than mediocre and something of a yawn.
True, Mrs May didn't make any blunders and nothing fell off of the wall; she didn't cough and splutter but she also didn't really tell us anything that we didn't already know. Lots of high minded rhetoric and calls for her party to work together, but little of any real substance. There was more about the potential horrors of a Jeremy Corbyn led government than there was about the future policies of a Conservative one, other than rather vague references to policies to come.
Some commentators have said that Mrs May seems to have done enough to stave off any imminent leadership challenge, although whether any such thing was ever really on the cards may be debatable. Would anyone, even Boris Johnson, really want to take over now, when the party is riven with splits over Brexit ? Indeed, would not a challenge at this time be catastrophic for both the party and those who desire a genuine Brexit to be agreed at the earliest possible date ?
What Mrs May has done is to give herself a little more time. Her future as Prime Minister remains in the balance and as much in the hands of the European Union as in the hands of her colleagues in the Conservative Party. The outcome of the Brexit negotiations must be known within the next few weeks; Mrs May's future is inextricably linked to this and the way in which it is received by her friends, and enemies, in Parliament.
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