James Slack’s
Theresa demolished his legacy in six quick steps BANISHING OF THE NOTTING HILL SET
Within 24 hours of entering No10, Mrs May had ruthlessly sent Mr Cameron’s closest allies and followers to the backbenches – ending their decade-long reign over the Tory party. George Osborne was sacked in a brutal face-to-face meeting, despite having hopes of staying on. He left by the back door. Nicholas Boles, Ed Vaizey, Oliver Letwin and Hugo Swire were also despatched. In came state school-educated ministers.
Mrs May promised to ‘build a better Britain not just for the privileged few’ in what appeared a pointed reference to the privileged background of the old regime.
THE END OF SPIN
At her first Cabinet meeting, Mrs May told ministers ‘politics is not a game’. This was seen as a pointed reference to the Cameron/Osborne regime and its obsession with creating endless dividing lines with its opponents, chasing headlines on the 24-hour news channels and making a series of gimmicky announcements that quickly came unstuck.
Ministers are no longer expected to spend their time on social media or spewing out press releases. Allies of Mrs May say she is determined that – when she leaves No 10 – public trust in politics will have been restored.
SNUB ON GRAMMARS
In the early days of his leadership, Mr Cameron burnished his modernising credentials by refusing to support the opening of new grammar schools.
In her first major policy intervention, Mrs May has reversed this ban – though she has been careful to praise the free schools regime Mr Cameron introduced.
Announcing his resignation yesterday, Mr Cameron did nothing to dispel the belief that he is unimpressed by Mrs May’s schools revolution. Allies said that – by quitting – he would now not have to troop through the lobbies in support.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Mr Cameron took personal charge of a crusade to reduce the amount of sugar children consume. Mrs May, however, considered much of this childhood obesity strategy to be full of gimmicks and nannying – and promptly junked it.
Policies that were jettisoned included a ban on junk food TV adverts before the 9pm watershed, and the outlawing of ‘guilt aisles’, in which shops put sweets at check-outs. An end to the use of cartoon characters on unhealthy food, and new restrictions on multibuy deals in supermarkets, were also abandoned.
AUSTERITY
For six years, the Cameron government was defined by its mission to eliminate the deficit and begin to pay off the country’s record £1billion-plus debt.
Mrs May immediately swept away this Cameron/Osborne commitment to get back into the black by the end of the current parliament. She said that – in the wake of Brexit – the circumstances had changed and the Government must be ready to respond to the changed economic circumstances. For good measure, she also sidelined Mr Osborne’s beloved Northern Powerhouse project, saying a ‘proper industrial strategy was needed’.
COSYING UP TO CHINA
Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne assiduously courted communist China in a bid to attract billions of pounds of investment. During one visit to China, Mr Osborne was praised by the country’s state media for choosing not to mention its appalling human rights record.
Mrs May immediately made it clear she was not prepared to go on bended knee to anyone – putting on hold China’s multi-billion investment in the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.