The question has been asked here and there but it seems
unlikely that Theresa May hoped to lose the 2017 snap general election. Did
she though? Initial opinion polls said she would win easily in 2017 but she made a remarkable
hash of things and nearly lost it. Maybe losing narrowly was the idea, but if so Mrs May made a
hash of that too.
The obvious advantage of such a devious scheme would be to
force the poisoned Brexit chalice into the hands of a supremely incompetent
Labour Prime Minister. In such a case it certainly seems plausible that post-Brexit Labour would be in such disarray that the Tories would take the
following general election by a landslide.
Presumably Mrs May would be instantly dumped from the Tory
leadership after a Corbyn victory, but she may have been promised a consolation
prize and not having to handle Brexit may have had some additional attractions.
The advantage for Tory Remainers would be to scuttle both
Brexit and Corbyn at the same time. Seems highly implausible with more than a whiff of conspiracy theory but perhaps not
totally out of court.
5 comments:
Absolutely.
Mrs May gambled on the outcome and won her corner, but she introduced an amazing backlash from normal people and is really suffering now.
The conference will be a bloodbath and what a good idea that is.
I think the idea is extremely unlikely, given that it would be (as far as I can recall) completely unprecedented in British politics. The obvious weakness would be as per your third paragraph (i.e. she would be dumped and would face more ignominy than even Cameron) and the fact that politicians tend to be relentless seekers of power.
There is an interesting general point to be made about such hypotheses. When looking at politics, the general public (and journalists, to some extent) tend to attribute motives that they are familiar with from everyday life. They tend to see it as "office politics", and this would be like old Theresa from accounts attempting to deliberately fail her interview because she didn't want to take on the newly-restructured department. There is a big gap between how things work in the areas we are familiar with, and how the highest office in the land works.
Unlikely I think she has been watching too many Rick Stein videos, where all the ingredients are fantastic and amazing... Yes nod because he is a visionary cook from Devon ..
It is akin to the Jamie phenomenon. Good food is recognisable even if you are not Rick Stein I wouldn't trust him to make a cup of coffee
The very idea that Theresa would aim to lose is shocking. But if you add a Russian angle, weaken her majority shore up a ropy lefty, but then Michael Foot never took money from mother Russia
Scrobs - not a great gambler - can't even read her own cards.
Sam - that big gap between office politics and the highest office in the land is what interests me here. We make assumptions about power politics yet bungling the 2017 election feels like ordinary office politics bungling.
Graeme - it is shocking and very likely wrong, but it's strange world up there on the greasy poles.
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