Bernard Ingham: Theresa May will need the strength of the Iron Lady

Now is the time for all good men to get used to the idea that by tonight we shall have another woman Prime Minister. She is called 'the Ice Maiden' who won an unsolicited testimonial from Kenneth Clarke. Theresa May, he said, is 'difficult' '“ like Margaret Thatcher.
Theresa May, pictured on Tuesday, heading to a cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)Theresa May, pictured on Tuesday, heading to a cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Theresa May, pictured on Tuesday, heading to a cabinet meeting. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Splendid. The Tory Party and David Cameron have commendably not stood on ceremony. Given that May will have the “coronation” she never wanted, they have recognised the need to fill the power vacuum.

As Andrea Leadsom said, in withdrawing her candidature, the country’s interests are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well supported Prime Minister. Mrs Leadsom showed more maturity in withdrawing than in some of her campaign remarks. With more experience, her time may yet come.

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It may well be that I shall be accused of inconsistency or even hypocrisy in hailing the annointing of a new leader who voted, however reluctantly, to remain in the EU.

Others may say it is my nostalgia, as Thatcher’s Press secretary, for the swing of the handbag, the twirl of the rolling pin or a well-aimed court shoe up the backside of government.

In my experience, all these will be necessary in the coming months But I did in fact plump not for a new dominatrix but for experience over inexperience long before Mrs Leadsom chucked in the towel. After all, May has said “Brexit means Brexit”. And May is straight.

That is the answer to the real hypocrites – Labour and Liberal Democrats – who are calling for a general election. Their aim is not to form a government – as if they could – but somehow to keep us in the failing EU.

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There will be too many unreconstructed Europhiles trying to thwart the public’s will. May’s task is to stare them out and cast them down.

This presents a singular challenge to the Tory Party. Are they irrevocably split over Europe or do they have a real sense of national responsibility to carry an independent Britain to greater things? Nobody else can. We shall see whether they can rise to the occasion.

May thinks she can re-unite her party. She had better do so. Certainly she knows it well and is more politically experienced than Thatcher on entering No 10, though neither with much grounding in foreign affairs.

She has not only spent the last six years in the gruelling post of Home Secretary, simultaneously for a time as Minister forWomen and Equalities. She is also a former chairman of the Conservative Party and has held a wide range of Shadow portfolios – Leader of the Commons, work and pensions, education, environment, transport and media and culture.

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Leave aside her shoes, she is not flashy and has a reputation for getting on with it.

She has a lot to be getting on with. Brexit has tended to obscure the size of the task she faces. It is arguably as tough as Clement Attlee’s in leading us out of the Second World War and Thatcher’s in ending the destruction of the economy by rampant trade union barons abusing their power.

She has not only to extricate us from an ailing Europe – and prevent unreconstructed Europhiles from blocking exit – but also resolutely to face the threats from Vladimir Putin and murderous terrorists; repair government finances and reduce public debt; promote growth; seriously curb immigration, hold the UK together in the face of the SNP crackpots; and raise standards in education, health care, welfare and crime control.

May won’t get any help from the Opposition. There isn’t any. This will require stern Prime Ministerial discipline to keep lazy Ministerial backsliders up to scratch.

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She will be better able to achieve her aims if she does not think it is her job to fill radio and TV air time and tomorrow’s newspapers. There is reason to hope that she can kill the governmental media obsession of the last 20 years: she is not from the PR industry.

She needs to establish a more wholesome style of government by breaking the hold by spin doctors on No 10. Since May 2, 1997, when Labour last came in, Tory and Labour governments have seemed more concerned with what it looks like rather than what it is.

She should keep Parliament closely informed about what it is and outside speak only when she has something to say. That will bring a welcome change of style and credibility.

May God go with you Mrs May. Britain’s fate is in your hands.