May at the helm: Incompetent from the outset

Only the most fervent and forgiving of Ms May’s supporters will argue, even today, that her performance as Britain’s prime minister and her handling of the country’s Brexit challenge has been outstandingly excellent. It has, from her first days in office, been outstandingly incompetent.

Her gamble on a general election last year was unnecessary. Having called it, the campaign she led was laughably third-rate. It resulted in the loss of a good-enough majority in the House of Commons and its replacement, at a cost of £1bn, with a confidence and supply pact with Arlene Foster’s 10 Westminster MPs.