A nation divided. An impossible job awaited. The Brexit referendum result left the country in shock. One MP thought she could deliver the result of a lifetime. In July 2016, Theresa May became Prime Minister, promising to “deliver the results of the referendum.” She said it would be the “easiest negotiations in history.” She was sadly mistaken.
MP of Maidenhead since 1997, Theresa May ideologically identifies as a One-Nation Conservative. From the 1997 landslide victory from Tony Blair’s New Labour which ended almost 2 decades of Tory rule, May had shuffled between various shadow cabinet roles. An election victory by the David Cameron's Conservative Party saw Theresa May become Home Secretary from 2010 until Cameron’s resignation in 2016. During May’s time as Home Secretary, she gained huge support from the frontbenchers of Cameron’s government. Successes such as the National Crime Agency in 2013 rose Mrs May political status. She had strong allies and connections within the party, however, such alliances became diminished in a few years. Forwarding to 2016, when the result came in confirming that the UK opted to leave the EU, Cameron resigned as Prime Minister.
Upon entering office, Mrs May showed no mercy. She instantly sacked a handful of cabinet ministers firing them face to face; for May’s government to succeed the way she wanted she believed portraying herself as a ruthless leader was her only viable option. Key ministers like Michael Gove and George Osborne were shown the door while Philip Hammond was made chancellor and Boris Johnson - a key figure in the Leave campaign - was made Foreign Secretary. In such a short time the new Prime Minister had made a lot of influential Tory members her enemy, a decision she would later regret.
Theresa May’s short term as Prime Minister was filled with many battles most of which she lost. The Labour party and their leader at the time, Jeremy Corbyn, was always on the attack. Week in and week out he gave the Prime Minister a huge thrashing on certain topics such as the NHS and policing. Brexit was without a doubt a hot topic issue which angered many MP’s on both sides of the house. To fully understand Theresa May’s downfall and how she lost control of her government, you have to look at the 2017 general election.
The general election in 2017 was called for Mrs May to gain a personal mandate. For her to successfully deliver Brexit, she needed a majority in the house. May was aiming for a landslide and hoped to quash the Labour party and their socialist leader. Hot topics that came up in the election was education, the NHS, policing and Brexit.
Since 2010 the UK’s spending on education fell by 8%, a reduction of £526 spending per pupil made it harder for classrooms to provide equipment. While in office the funding for schools from 2016 to 2018/19 dropped by a total of £5.4 billion. Under huge pressure from teachers across the country, one primary school headteacher voiced the opinions of most when saying “there was no fat to cut… we’re being expected to do more with effectively less money.” With an increase in class sizes, a low salary for teachers and a restricting budget, May faced heavy criticism from the public. Such a damaging start to an already fractured campaign made the Prime Minister’s job and the jobs of the Conservative party ten times harder.
Another key issue in the May government was the NHS. Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary for Health and Social Care at the time was under scrutiny for under funding, under-equipping and underpaying the NHS. Admitting to a shortage of staff the Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, called it “utterly staggering that voluntary resignations had risen up to 55%.” Corbyn constantly called out May for the £4.6 billion cuts to the NHS. Available bed capacity had also decreased from 130,619 in 2010 to 127,589 the year she resigned. Exercise Cygness, a hypothetical pandemic run by the NHS in October in 2016 showed that a virus coming from the east of Asia and making its way to the UK would have catastrophic consequences. The virtual simulation showed “The UK’s preparedness and response, in terms of its plans, policies and capability, is currently not sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic that will have a nationwide impact across all sectors.” The exercise also showed 22 areas which needed to be improved. Cygness also highlighted that the NHS would be “overwhelmed” with a critical shortage of care beds, ventilators, morgue capacity and PPE. The exercise which was made confidential by Whitehall officials shined a light on the huge gaps in the NHS created by Tory austerity. The government made no action to solve the problems exercise Cygness showed. Instead at the time of the findings, Jeremy Hunt was reducing bed spaces in the NHS by a significant amount. The service this country holds most dearly was being torn down by the government and Labour made sure the public knew the hidden actions of the government.
In a debate facing public questions and a thorough interrogation by Jeremy Paxman, while there was no clear winner Corbyn took fewer hits, both Corbyn and May had been grilled by the public and then slammed by Paxman but at the end of the night, May went home wounded. The first question of the night for the PM was about policing. Asked on the number of police in 2010 and in 2017 May admitted to a reduction in personnel as her time being Home Secretary and year of being Prime Minister from 141,850 to 124,000. To defend herself, May talked about the new ways crime was changing and that she was putting “more money into cybercrime”. However, with an increase in organised crime, the Manchester bombing and the London knife attack the Prime Ministers answer did not cut it for the public. While there was a reduction of police officers from 2010 to 2017 we also saw a mass reduction in armed police. Over 20,000 fewer officers on our streets was an insult.
After being heckled by members of the audience it was time to face Paxman. Paxman had already ripped into Corbyn for being unable to get his own policies into the Labour manifesto but the damage caused on May was substantially larger and more lasting. In the ‘interview’ Paxman made it very clear that in the referendum, May had voted to remain. She had said when campaigning for remain we would be more secure, more prosperous and more influential if we remained in the European Union. Paxman questioned Mrs May on whether she ever really changed her mind about Brexit, he believed that she was still a remainer and that deep down she believed leaving the EU was a bad idea. Mrs May answered the same way each time saying she would deliver on the result but never directly confronted Paxman on whether he was right or wrong about his beliefs.
The once ruthless prime minister had started to weaken.
Popular among the youth, Jeremy Corbyn quickly gained huge support in the south of England, places like Canterbury and Plymouth were won by Labour despite being a Labour no go area for years. The media, who had a biased view against Corbyn had believed he would lose the election by a huge margin, Corbyn shocked the country when he came out higher than expected in the polls.
On the eve of the 2017 general election, the public went to their local polling station and casted their vote to determine the future of the country. The results came through the next day, and once again the country’s face dropped. A hung parliament. Theresa May’s Conservatives only won 318 seats (48.9%). Down 12 seats and without a majority May’s job became even harder. Labour had shined in the election-winning 261 seats (40.8%), an increase of 29 seats. Corbyn’s leadership qualities were still questioned after the general election but his opponent, Mrs May, was damaged beyond repair. The hung parliament forced May to fengage in an agreement deal with the DUP. Her confidence started to break apart.
Just days after the election, the Grenfell Tower fire saw the leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn once again hammer down Mrs May. In parliament at the dispatch box, Corbyn with clear frustration and sadness told the Prime Minister that “every single one of those deaths could and should have been avoided”. The lack of fire safety in the building which was not addressed by the landlords and not made mandatory by the statute law saw Theresa May to be responsible for the deaths of 72 people. An avoidable tragedy that haunted May wherever she went.
With the country separated between remain and leave and a government in chaos, the Prime Minister lost all control. Her grip on power was slipping away. On the 8th of November 2017, the International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, resigned over secret meetings she held with Israeli officials including Benjamin Netanyahu on her state-sponsored trips.
Priti Patel’s resignation in 2017 was only the start. In 2018 in such a short space of time there were 16 departures from the cabinet, some of whom were frontbenchers. May faced 60 ministerial departures overall, 42 of them over her Brexit strategy. The Prime Ministers take on Brexit and her strategy left many of her colleagues unhappy. Key figures such as Boris Johnson and David Davies, two officials who voted leave - had said that May’s Brexit plan was shambolic and they could not support it. The Windrush scandal saw Amber Rudd tend her resignation to the Prime Minister in April the same year. A huge loss for May. A colossal wave of resignations in a few months forced Mrs May to conduct a huge cabinet reshuffle, Sajid Javid was made the new Home Secretary with Jeremy Hunt moving to the Foreign Office and Matt Hancock was made the Secretary for Health and Social Care.
Such a drastic change in little time saw the public’s trust wither away in the government.
While 2018 was a shock-horror year for May’s government, it was nothing compared to her final 6 months. In the final months of 2018, the House voted to block no-deal strong-arming the Prime Minister into harder negotiations. The amendment passed the house with the ayes having 327 and the noes 299. Negotiations with EU leaders were never going well with the Prime Minister. In Brussels where the meetings were held the PM was the odd one out, isolated in plain sight while the other members had warm conversations with each other. But then again, she was the only one in there trying to secure a withdrawal deal.
January 2019 was when the Prime Minister had first put her deal to the house. An overwhelming defeat. The worst defeat to a government in the history. Theresa May’s Brexit deal was defeated with the noes having 432 of the votes and the ayes having 202 votes. With the EU already have telling May that a new deal was not to be negotiated May placed her deal to the house again. Once again it was defeated; the noes 391 the ayes 242. (Third worst defeat to a government in British history). Finally, after a few changes, the House voted on the bill for the third time. Before the House voted May had said publicly if the bill passes she will step down as Prime Minister as she had done what she had promised on day one, to deliver the result of the referendum. While it was a tempting offer the country’s future could not be gambled with. The bill failed once again. The noes 344 the ayes 286.
A complete annihilation on May and her Brexit deal left her hopeless. During January May survived on thin ice. A vote of no confidence in the prime minister was set forward and on the 16th of January MP’s from all sides of the house voted. The ayes 306. The noes 325. Surviving by just 19 votes the PM’s credibility to lead was questioned severely not just by Labour but by her own party. Coalitions against May formed. She was now fighting a war on both fronts.
Just a month ago in December 2018 May had survived a party vote of no confidence with 117 Conservative MP’s voting against May and 200 voting for the prime minister.
The PM may have survived both votes of no confidence but without a doubt was she on board a sinking ship taking on a tidal wave.
On the 24th of May 2019 Theresa May took to the steps of Downing Street and told the country she decided to resign.
May said in her resignation speech she had “done her best” to try and deliver Brexit. “I have done everything that I can to convince MP’s to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so. I tried three times.”
“It is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort.”
For three long years Theresa May fought the battle of Brexit.
For three long years she took the hits.
After three long years she stepped down.
A quick rise to power.
And an even quicker downfall.
Written by Rahul Patel - Instagram @rahulpatel7832
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