Unlike Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May leaves without legacy

As she steps down as leader of the Conservative Party and sets in motion the process to select a new prime minister, it is timely to look at Theresa May’s legacy. Does she really have one? Sadly, the answer must be no. Her most ardent supporters insist that she has many fine qualities, among them the ability to get things done.

The facts do not bear this out. Shortly after she became prime minister, she insisted that ‘Brexit means Brexit’, a slogan that became a mantra to dispel doubts that she could deliver on the 2016 referendum result. It was within her gift to deliver Brexit but not within her ability. She failed. Her friends regard her as a principled and upstanding democrat.