This unlucky general must keep fighting
NO doubt it is how her speech will be remembered. But nobody with any sense of fairness could think the worse of Theresa May for the series of misfortunes that befell her in Manchester yesterday.
It wasn’t her fault that the people in charge of security – with unbelievable incompetence – let a notorious prankster within inches of her to interrupt her flow (and this deeply unfunny exhibitionist should count himself lucky that, no thanks to him, we live in an open society where he wasn’t shot.)
Nor can she be blamed for the coughing fit that seized her soon afterwards. Nor for the Fawlty Towers moment when letters fell off the conference slogan behind her: ‘Building a country that works for everyone.’
Indeed, most will have felt a pang of sympathy for the Prime Minister, coupled with admiration for her resilience in battling on through everything fate could throw at her.
As for her husband’s reassuring hug, when she seemed close to tears, this revealed more than any number of interviews about the warmth of their marriage, belying her reputation as an unfeeling automaton.
But you can be sure there will be no shortage of glib commentators citing her tribulations as metaphors for her premiership and omens for her future.
Her speech deserves better. True, she will never have Boris Johnson’s flair for working an audience. She also lacks the smooth assurance of a David Cameron, peddling whatever line the focus groups fed to him.
No, with Mrs May, what you see is what you get. And what you see is a seriousminded, diligent, cautious, socially concerned woman who entered politics not as a stepping stone to self-advancement but to fight for the oppressed, victims of unfairness and the Just About Managing.
Indeed, as her speech yesterday showed, her brand of compassionate conservatism – inspired by a vision that every generation should be better off than the last – couldn’t be further removed from the Left’s caricature of the party of the mega-rich.
Hence her anxiety to find practical solutions, within the tight constraints of the nation’s debt, to problems and injustices affecting our everyday lives – the housing shortage, student debt and the energy giants’ ruthless profiteering.
Some may question whether her answers are right. What they cannot question is the decency of her motives.
But let us not be naïve. Principled motives alone will not ensure her survival. Nor even will her skill in handling the near impossible task of uniting her party behind Brexit.
As a matter of urgency, she must gather more impressive people around her. She needs, too, to find language in which to express her vision, with the passion of which she has shown herself capable.
Meanwhile, she should stop fretting about the Marxist mountebank Jeremy Corbyn. Still less should she try to ape him.
Instead, she should be trumpeting the truly astonishing achievements of the Conservative alternative – from record employment to policies which, despite Labour’s lies to the contrary, have sharply narrowed the gap between rich and poor.
Indeed, far too often she appears defensive and apologetic. What’s the point in repeatedly saying sorry for calling the June election (in which the Tories won their highest vote share for 34 years)? True, she presided over a dreadful campaign – and, unlucky general that she is, the 2.3million extra Tory votes she polled failed to save her overall majority.
But that’s behind her now. As Brexit approaches, there’s a future to fight for, bursting with opportunities – and this paper sees nobody better qualified to seize them.
Yesterday, Mrs May inspired sympathy. If she goes on to inspire Britain, she will make her own luck.