May is set to win big – but at a cost to her reputation

IT’S (VERY) safe to assume Theresa May will be returned as Prime Minister on June 8 – the question is whether sne enjoys a two or three figure majority.

Yet, irrespective of the final outcome, I believe the reputation of the Prime Minister will be greatly diminished.

The reason is this. She became Tory leader because of her straightforwardness and the fact that she, as a vicar’s daughter, simply wanted to get on with the job and serve her country.

In the speech launching her leadership campaign, she could not have been clearer: “There should be no general election until 2020. There should be a normal Autumn Statement, held in the normal way at the normal time, and no emergency Budget.”

And that’s why the public warmed to the then Home Secretary. They trusted her to deliver Brexit while uniting the country, healing its differences and picking up the pieces after David Cameron’s premiership ended in personal humiliation.

They thought they could take her at her word and there was nothing false about her public appearances, most recently when she was a marshal at a charity run in her constituency, days before stunning the nation with a snap election.

Yet, by looking to exploit Labour’s unelectability for party political advantage rather than building a wider consensus in Parliament for her Brexit blueprint, I think she will find it harder to unite the country after her bolt from the blue election on June 8 as more people start to doubt, and question, Mrs May’s sincerity and motives.

Those concerned are said to number 20 and a decision to prosecute is imminent, perhaps by the end of May. In order to avoid a series of a knife-edge byelections, is this the real reason why the Tory leader has cut and run? She hopes to render these investigations redundant.

Call me a cynic, but it’s now less easy to give Theresa May the benefit of the doubt. At a stroke, she’s proved she is no better, or more honest, than any other politician.

THERESA MAY does not appear to have factored one stumbling block into her electoral calculations – the House of Lords.

Even though her manifesto will have added legitimacy if she’s elected, the Tories will still be a minority party in the Upper House.

Visiting offices last week, Commons leader David Lidington told me that Lords reform was off the agenda because of Brexit.

He also said Ministers would have to get domestic legislation right from the outset because of the likely Parliamentary logjam created by Britain’s exit from the EU. I’ll believe that when it happens.

However, when asked about the likelihood of an early election, he said it was a non-starter because there was no appetite from the public for a poll and that the apparent Lib Dem resurgence could hit the Tories in the South West.

Even without the benefit of hindsight, this response suggests Mr Lidington was among those kept in the dark about Mrs May’s self-indulgence.

But will the Tories reform the Lords? A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer will suffice. A POLL by the influential ConservativeHome website of Tory activists reveals Justice Secretary Liz Truss (of flooding fame) to be the least popular Cabinet member with an approval rating of –22.2 per cent. The phrase ‘I told you so’ comes to mind. This has to be one career which is sunk without trace on June 8. Here’s hoping.

I HOPE you enjoy the interview in today’s Magazine with Yorkshire’s very own ‘lady in red’ Betty Boothroyd. Twenty-five years after she became Britain’s first Speaker, she was every bit as formidable and forthright as I envisaged.

I’ll never forget her no-nonsense chiding of photographer James Hardisty – she told him she could only smile for so long before it became false.

Passionate about Lords reform – she says 400 of the brightest and best talents should be appointed to the Upper House to scrutinise legislation – her rise to ‘national treasure’ status remains inspirational.

From humble origins in Dewsbury, she never gave up when she set her heart on becoming a MP – she tried and tried again until being elected in West Bromwich – before becoming the first ever Speaker to be elected from the Opposition benches because of the respect she commanded.

And sitting in the Lords tea room, after the interview, that respect was selfevident as those present acknowledged her presence, a determined woman who reached great office on merit alone.

If only there were more people like Betty Boothroyd in politics.