May should make a virtue of the complexity.
Churchill saw a century ago that the existing party machines will always prove the stronger, and UKIP and the SDP have confirmed this.
Sometimes a politician becomes a beloved public figure – it’s happening to one Conservative MP right now.
Corbyn doesn’t care about it, and May’s credibility is weakened by the failure to fulfil the tens of thousands pledge.
First, that Leave had won dishonestly. Second, that the country had become more racist. Third, that the 52 per cent had wrecked the economy.
For all the chatter about the Customs Union, leaving the EU in full is still on course. But May’s bungled election has raised the chances of a disorderly outcome.
Coalitions are the new normal…”banging on about Europe” is inherently unpopular…no-one will ever listen to the polls again.
It was, of course, back when he expected that his side was going to win. His party appears not to have taken the advice.
They’re simply winning over the voters of a competitor party. That’s how democracy works.
It is doubtless bad manners to ask, on day two of his new job, what he will do next. But posing the question and trying to answer it is irresistible.
Far from trying to re-fight the battles of 2016 and perpetuate Leave-Remain divisions, most voters are now keen to embrace Britain’s post-EU future.
Taking out the middle man is what the Protestant reformers promised to do, and Carswell is in his way a very Protestant figure.
Above all, don’t neglect the obvious. May is vulnerable to Tory revolts – as the NICs debacle proved. She wants a real working majority.
Gender, race and sexuality dominated the early phases of Tory modernisation. The Prime Minister is now scaling the most challenging peak: class.