A Rocky Road Ahead

Apparently EU politicians believe May should have called an election before triggering Article 50 to give herself a mandate. That is not necessary under the British system; Churchill only had a parliamentary mandate to fight WWII and May secured a vote in parliament to trigger Article 50. But they could be right in feeling that the timing of the contest is unwise. It all looked so good on the hiking break in the Welsh mountains. The Tory party was almost drunk on the certainty of a landslide after her surprise announcement which caught everybody off guard.

Now troubles are piling up. The EU has declared a unanimous position on the negotiating agenda. It is radically different to the story being peddled by the May government. Leaks abound in the form of briefings of top media correspondents suggesting that the UK government is in cloud cuckoo land over the possibilities before it. For the first time some polls are showing a majority now think Brexit a bad idea. The economy is slowing as problems in almost all public services have a slot on every news channel. The Tory lead, still impressive, is reducing in the polls and Labour is going up.

The Tory campaign has made Brexit and leadership, May’s, the core of the election. But if the campaign swings to issues affecting everyday life, the going could get tougher. And if the voters begin to get tired of May’s know all style and bossy demeanor, coupled with her refusal to answer a single question with anything beyond an evasive soundbite, it could happen that the country decides that, on reflection,  hers is not the type of leadership it favours.