The New Prime Minister

[whiskeryron]

Yet again the majority ( however slim) of the electorate have been totally disregarded. By selecting a Tory MP who is a stay ( in the EU) MP, to be Prime Minister, the establishment is cocking a snoot at the will of the people of the UK. The new Prime Minister by default should be a firm Brexiter.

[sp1814]

whiskeryron

But all the Brexiters dropped out.

And being the leader of the Conservatives and Prime Minister isn't going to be all about Brexit. The leader will have a host of other matters occupying her time. One thing she will need to do is unite the two factions of the Tory party. Infighting is not good for any political party...just look at what Labour is up to at the moment.

[Calibax]

As long as she agrees to implement the will of the majority of those who voted. (and she has - "Brexit means Brexit") I don't think it matters one jot which side of the argument she was on beforehand.

[mikey4444]

Ron...just under half the electorate voted to stay. The BREXIT candidates who failed or dropped out had their chance.

Its up to the Tory Party to choose whoever it thinks fit and proper to take over from Dave. Personally I think that they should have done the choosing of the candidates again, and then put the two names left to the Party membership, instead of this automatic coronation of Mrs May.

But there again, I am not a Tory Party member !

[DTCwordfan]

why - the Brexiters blew their loads - (ii) it's the rules of the party how they elect their leader...and they are different from party to party. The PM is not directly elected by the general population, the US we are not.

Lastly, anybody want a sweepstake on TM and Mikey saying 'that bloody woman' or equivalent.....

[whiskeryron]

I'm sorry sp but you are disregarding the facts as I have illustrated them above. It does not matter one jot how many times Mrs May states that she will look after the demands of the British people, she will always be of the opinion that we should have remained tied to the EU & I fear will act accordingly.

[whiskeryron]

//
As long as she agrees to implement the will of the majority of those who voted. (and she has - "Brexit means Brexit") I don't think it matters one jot which side of the argument she was on beforehand. // I await in wonder !!!

[DTCwordfan]

wonderful isn't it, the British disease - don't even give the new PM a chance to establish her credentials and strategy - and in an environment where things could equally collapse in our favour in the EU - the establishment of a limitation of employment (and benefits), but still permitting the movement of folk between countries.

[Old_Geezer]

There's the question. Was there something suspicious about how all other candidates engineered excuses to drop out (well save for the couple of also-rans I suppose). Or was it just one of those things ?

I have some doubts that it was all above board; it all seemed very convenient that two candidates find a 'backstab & give up' scenario between them to get out, whilst the remaining other gives the press ammunition, tells them not to use it, and then uses the result to bow out. One might wonder if there was an acceptance of May being best for the party, and the others informed that they'd get their turn (or whatever) later.

If that is the case then yes, the party is treating the members with disdain. On the other hand if the extremely weird set of unreasonable situations were just unplanned occurrences, then it would be just unfortunate that despite the size of the Conservative party all alternative candidates were so unsuitable. That should tell us something about the state of the party.

Ideally with a Brexit on the agenda obviously the leader of the party should be someone who believed in that action, and in the sovereignty of our nation. The risk of giving away too much in the ongoing relationship negotiations for after we leave, is much higher from someone who never wanted to go. But we can now only see what happens.

Meanwhile, as I've pointed out in another thread; "Brexit means Brexit" is a meaningless sound bite, but which seems to be fooling many to believe that it is some kind of promise. That is a bit worrying.

[jourdain2]

Whiskeryron - for that reason I think that UKIP will not disband and the 'Vote Leave' organisation should and will, continue - or be amalgamated into UKIP. They are there to keep politicians focused.

The whole thing has been epic in complexity - I would challenge Shakespeare to make sense of it. How winners become losers?

I half-trust T.M.. If she doesn't come through, UKIP will probably win the next election and the Tories will be reduced to a rump. She is luke-warm about Brexit so she needs to appoint a fired-up Brexiteer to head up the team if she wishes to have any chance of heading up a united (!) party.

I don't think she wants rioting in the streets and that is the lever - plus UKIP watcdhing closely.

[sp1814]

whiskeryron

The majority of the public voted to leave the EU. That vote had nothing to do with the new PM.

What is the alternative? Only Brexit supporting MPs allowed to stand for PM?

That doesn't make sense.

And it's really unfair to judge Tezza before she's even started the job.

If you really want to have a go at her, start on that mental suit she chose to wear on her first day.

[mikey4444]

DTC...I look forward to seeing what Mrs May will do.

We here in South Wales had such fun the last time there was a woman in Number Ten ! I just hope history doesn't repeat itself.

[Gromit]

The Prime Minister should be a Brexiter.

Ok, who?
Boris Johnson - he chickened out.
Buster Crabb - he threw in the towel.
Gove - no one would vote for him.
Leadsom - no one knew who she was.
Liam Fox - don't go there.

No one else stood for the post.

[mikey4444]

Gromit........perhaps they wouldn't have dared go against that "difficult woman" !

[grumpy01]

UKIP won't win anything Jourdain.Admittedly they campaigned strongly for a referendum but that event has now happened and therefore their job is done.Already in the area I live two local councillors have returned to the Conservative fold and this will now escalate nationally.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Given that both country and parliament are split more or less fifty-fifty on Brexit I think it's probably a good thing that the new prime minister is a Remainer, WhiskeyRon. Interested to see who form the first May cabinet and who constitute the negotiating team.

[mikey4444]

grumpy is right here....UKIP are dead in the water.

[naomi24]

I would have preferred to see a Brexiter in office, but she's an able politician and she's not a fool. We shall see.

[jno]

well, the Brexiters should have stayed and fought for the job. Boris and Leadsom both ran away. Gove stayed long enough to knife Boris then announced that he'd be a terrible choice and was quickly eliminated.

They've no doubt realised that their actions have caused a mess and they want someone else to clean it up.

[Gromit]

If no Brexiters stay the course, and only May is standing, how can you possibly blame the eztablishment? There were no brexit candidates for Prime Minister precisely because they have all chickened out or ruined their own chances.

[ChillDoubt]

It is terribly ironic that a Remainer now has to carry out the wishes of the electorate who voted out. Combine that with the Corbynistan State Circus et al and you've got a script that I'm hoping, nay praying Armando Ianucci could turn into comedy platinum, let alone gold.