Theresa May in tears

tutional history, verily a phase that is riveted to an individual, indeed the head of government.

That phase is now nearing its end three years after the affirmative “Yes” vote in the referendum on June 23, 2016.

That English summer of hope has now given way to a season of a Brexit that is beyond hope.

It would appear in retrospect that May was unable to fully realise how difficult the process would be if the consummation, that was devoutly to be wished for, was to attain fruition.

And this doubtless played a major role in her downfall, which has not been sudden.

If her position as prime minister had been fragile for the past three years, the distinctive signals of Brexit’s rollercoaster narrative made it pretty obvious that she had become increasingly wobbly at the knees.

Rather than convince the political class and the British generally, she had alienated herself with the rhetorical flourish – “Brexit means Brexit” and “No deal is better than a bad deal”.

Of course, these made smart headlines when they did.

Actually, however, she appears to have been poorly advised by ideologues as she was confronted with the hard realities of economics and diplomacy.

The country now faces a Conservative contest for leadership. The candidates will have to appeal to their parliamentary colleagues and then to a membership numbering little more than 120,000.

The Tory “electorate” doesn’t quite represent a cross-section of the country.

Small wonder that the party’s voters have been referred to as being “older, whiter and richer than the average citizen” who voted in the referendum.

A majority of card-holders among Conservatives are also happy that they will proceed with a no-deal Brexit, acutely