May Queens and Labouring Labour

While some of its members seem hell-bent on tearing the Labour Party apart with the grim relish of a ravenous lion, gorging on the corpse of a zebra, the Tories, by contrast, appear relatively content, so far, with their new leader Theresa May.
1995 library filer of Chris Moncrieff. Photo by Peter Smith/PA1995 library filer of Chris Moncrieff. Photo by Peter Smith/PA
1995 library filer of Chris Moncrieff. Photo by Peter Smith/PA

But the hard-as-nails European Union grandees will be looking forward with apprehension, not to say trepidation, to the forthcoming battles they will have with Theresa over Brexit. She is rated by an opinion poll as the most popular politician in the country.

She will not be as raucous as her predecessor Margaret Thatcher, but she will be just as stubborn and defiant. She will not wave her handbag around, yet she will be no less firm to ensure that Britain gets a fair deal.

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David Cameron used to return from negotiations in Brussels claiming all manner of concessions and triumphs, some of which were hard to identify.

British voters are hoping, indeed expecting, the outcome of the new rounds of talks to be less obscure.

Meanwhile, back to Labour’s chaotic position. With Jeremy Corbyn and his deputy Tom Watson metaphorically scratching each other’s eyes out, rank-and-file Labour Members must wonder where on earth the party is heading when their top brass are squabbling like school children. Some of its members have poured hundreds of pounds into the already bulging wallets of well-heeled lawyers, simply to obtain the original position of who is eligible or not to vote in their leadership election. No wonder you never see an underfed lawyer.

- If you thought Labour was making a dog’s breakfast over its leadership election, UKIP’s attempts to find a successor to Nigel Farage seem even more strewn with obstacles. Farage, now sporting a luxuriant moustache, has already resigned once, and was then brought back to the helm. Is the same going to happen again this time?

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Incidentally, Farage now claims to have wiped out the extreme right-wing parties from the British political landscape. Whether that boast is true or not, no one can judge for sure. But Farage certainly had the last laugh over David Cameron, who never expected this party of “fruitcakes” to achieve the impact it did on the EU referendum.