Analysis | ‘Iron lady’ May lacks the mettle to make Britain great again

When prime minister David Cameron rightly fell on his sword last June following his disastrous EU referendum, many in Britain hoped for a new beginning. To borrow a phrase, who would now make Britain “great” again?

Home secretary at the time Theresa May was the obvious choice to steady the ship. Swiftly installed as Cameron’s successor, many Conservatives saw her leadership victory as the return of an “iron lady” – a no-nonsense premier cut from the same cloth as Margaret Thatcher. Here was the prime minister that the bitterly divided country now needed. May was quickly lauded by the right-wing national press as being just the ticket to stop in-fighting among cabinet ministers. Here was a leader who would not suffer fools gladly – someone who could prepare the country for a “hard Brexit”.

In his resignation letter, outspoken Ivan Rogers lashed out at the government for its “muddled thinking” on Brexit. It seemed that Rogers had paid the price for weeks earlier suggesting that EU trade talks could take a decade or more.