As the vultures begin to circle overhead ready to pick at what will soon be the remains of her premiership and the journalists sharpen their pencils in preparation to write her parliamentary obituary, one can’t help asking: where did it go quite so wrong for Theresa May? Whether it’s been entirely of her own making or whether she’s simply been the victim of a series of unfortunate events (Westminster’s very own Lemony Snicket), it’s clear that, barring a miracle, her time in office is almost up. She’s currently standing on the political precipice, peering down into the dark abyss below with no one willing to help pull her back from the brink. Plenty of people, however, are only too eager to help push her over the edge; the final killer shove likely to come from... hmm, your guess is as good as mine. Although my money’s on Arlene.
More a scapegoat than a sacrificial lamb, her fate was practically sealed from the first day she walked into Number 10, which she might as well have entered through a turnstile. No one, including herself, probably thought she was there for the long haul and her position was vulnerable from the start. A one issue Prime Minister, she was always doomed to fail, largely because the issue in question, namely Brexit, was similarly doomed to fail.
After the referendum result, the Tories wanted someone they could blame if and when the whole process imploded and in her they found the perfect candidate for the job. Thus far, she has managed to exceed all expectations of incompetence. So much so that in the opinion of many, we’ll crash out of the EU with no deal on the table, which the more cynical might claim is precisely what the Conservative top brass always wanted. The even more cynical might claim it’s also exactly what the Labour top brass always wanted.
Forever a compromise politician, the difference between her increasingly weak leadership is of marked contrast to that of her US counterpart with his uniquely confrontational style of getting things done.
Since the very off, his ridiculously overblown arrogance to deliver on the promises he made to the American public left him looking naively optimistic at best and wildly delusional at worst. Time was when he was frequently measured up against the maddest of dictators. In some quarters, he still is - watch filmmaker, Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Fahrenheit 11/9.
But while the dwindling days of Theresa May’s government could be viewed as having an almost bunker like quality to them, Trump will definitely not end up in the same situation. Not for him the 21st Century equivalent of the cyanide capsule and self-inflicted gun shot, which in modern media terms probably equates to an excruciating and humbling 90 minute resignation interview with Oprah.
At one time or another during the past two years, any of the crises he’s faced could in theory have brought about his downfall and seen him eventually impeached. Regrettably for his numerous detractors, they have come to nothing. And that doesn’t seem like changing anytime in the near future. Furthermore, the innumerable newspaper columns and blogs gleefully prophesying the early end of his Presidency now appear woefully ill-informed, out of date and out of touch. About as reliable in fact as Nostradamus predicting the end of the world.
From the firing of James Comey as the head of the FBI and the renegotiation of The North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) to the Stormy Daniels affair (which could so easily not have blown over) to the investigation of Russian collusion in his election victory, the leader of the free world has so far managed to weather them all. He has even pledged not to shut down the Robert Mueller investigation, due no doubt to rumours that Mueller may no longer be going after him for Obstruction of Justice.
Together with his triumph over the recent confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Trump is buoyed by his apparent good fortune (rather than a field of wheat, perhaps he once ran through one filled with 5-leaf Clovers) and he goes into November’s mid-term elections with a degree of confidence that would have been totally unthinkable only a few months ago.
If by another stroke of luck, and don’t bet against it, the Republicans avoid losing seats and actually win them, thereby strengthening their hold over both the House and the Senate, Donald will have achieved something practically all of his Presidential predecessors failed to do. This will not only cement his position, but additionally make him an almost dead cert for re-election in 2020.
Should this momentous event occur, we in Britain can rest assured that when our Prime Minister calls to congratulate him, one thing’s for certain. It won’t be Theresa May’s voice he hears on the other end of the telephone.