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THERESA MAY GAMBLED AND LOST

Jun 28, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

For the past year, Prime Minister Theresa May presented herself as a stable leader to take Britain through Brexit, but her gamble in calling a snap election was a major political mistake. It backfired and has left her deeply wounded. A humiliated Theresa May refused to resign after her party lost its parliamentary majority in the June 8 election.
Like her predecessor David Cameron, who called the Brexit referendum in June last year in the mistaken confidence that he would win, May called the election three years early in the hope of acquiring a mandate to negotiate with the European Union (EU). The election came on the heels of the French vote in which Emmanuel Macron defeated his right wing opponent, Marine Le Pen, by a decisive margin in the May 7 run-off election.
Much like the surprise defeat of the PPP in the snap election on May 11, 2015, called by former President Donald Ramotar, Britain’s snap election boomeranged on Prime Minister Theresa May. She gambled and lost badly as the results indicate a minority government reminiscent of Guyana’s parliament in 2011.
Prime Minister May called the election with the hope of gaining a larger majority in Parliament, but instead, the election elevated the opposition Labour Party and its lackluster leader Jeremy Corbyn to greater prominence.
When Theresa May replaced David Cameron as Britain’s Prime Minister after the Brexit vote, she was confident that she would be able to steer Britain away from uncharted waters. Obviously, Brexit is not an end in itself, but an illusion that it is the means for policy change. Proving her commitment, May began the formal process of leaving the EU, and with the promise to pull Britain out of Europe’s single market in order to cut immigration.
She took a hard line against Brussels on the campaign trail, describing herself as a tough woman who would walk away from the Brexit talks if Britain could not get a good deal. But during the campaign, Theresa May was accused of being robotic, over-reliant on slogans and soundbites, and awkward around members of the public. Like our ex-president Donald Ramotar, she refused to participate in a national televised debate with the opposition. The result was she led her party to defeat just as ex-president Ramotar did in 2015. It was the opposite what May had expected to strengthen her hand in the negotiations with the EU.
May ran a pretty dreadful campaign. But the two terrorist attacks in London and Manchester gave her an opportunity to show her strength. They also drew questions over her six years as interior minister, when she oversaw cuts to the police force. Not only was she attacked for the two terrorist attacks, but her competence also came under scrutiny amid warnings that the police and security forces did not have adequate resources to do their job.
By contrast, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was riding high in the right-wing media, as he drew large crowds with a message of hope and ending austerity.
During the campaign, the Conservative Party leader provoked outrage and had to be repudiated for ignoring the social issues as she campaigned only on Brexit. May’s no-nonsense image crumbled under the scrutiny, and she was forced to backtrack on a number of issues that offered little in the way of a positive vision to the voters.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party focused on health, education, housing, pensions and employment for youths rather than solely on Brexit.
While the Conservative Party has more seats than all the other political parties, it did not gain a majority and could not form a Government.
In order to remain in power, Prime Minister Theresa May formed a coalition with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Many pundits believe it is another political gamble that could lead to another general election in the near future.

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