How will history record 3 Tory PM's?

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 The Lemming 29 Aug 2019

The winners get to write the history books.

So how will history  portray Cameron, May and Johnson?

1
 Dax H 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

All depends who wins. 

 Yanis Nayu 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

Very, very badly. I don’t think the winners do write the history books anymore. 

 EddInaBox 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

Cameron's reputation is poor and will not change much over time, the general opinion of Theresa May will improve but she will always be compared to and overshadowed by Thatcher.  My prediction is that Johnson will go down as the shortest holder of the office ever.

1
 subtle 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

Cameron did ok, until he allowed the referendum

May was always going to be on a sticky wicket but was weak

Boris was always going to be bullish, however to what extent was never known, until now

Who will be next though is the more pertinent question if the motion of no confidence goes through and a general election held

 earlsdonwhu 29 Aug 2019
In reply to subtle:

I fear it will be Boris again as Corbyn is perceived as weak and useless or a dangerous Marxist or both.

Nempnett Thrubwell 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

In 30 years time I think both Cameron and May will be obscurities - with a few statistical nods - such as 2nd Female PM, and coalition with the Lib Dems their only mentions. Johnson will feature more as the presiding PM for Brexit, I also think that Johnson - whatever happens is a life long politician who will feature in public life whatever happens, Whilst Cameron and May are unlikely to return.

 subtle 29 Aug 2019
In reply to earlsdonwhu:

I'm kind of hoping Corbyn stands aside so the other parties get behind the no confidence, then the labour party realise that they could be on to a winner and install someone else as leader - then they stand a chance of winning the general election and cancelling Brexit.

But then I am a dreamer

In reply to The Lemming:

> So how will history  portray Cameron, May and Johnson?

Dumb, glum and dumber.

 BFG 29 Aug 2019
In reply to EddInaBox:

The shortest holder of the office technically lasted two days; though he failed to form a government. The shortest caretaker administration was 25 days and he's already beaten that too.

Shortest actual term of office was 96 days; If a snap election is called on the first day of parliament (and the usual 6 week lead in time is observed) he will have held the office for 94 days, but I'm unsure how likely that'll be.

The next marker is 363 days (shortest post-war term of service); tomorrow's hard enough without worrying about next year.

Post edited at 14:35
 Hat Dude 29 Aug 2019
In reply to earlsdonwhu:

> I fear it will be Boris again as Corbyn is weak and useless and is perceived a dangerous Marxist.

FTFY

 EddInaBox 29 Aug 2019
In reply to BFG:

> The shortest holder of the office technically lasted two days; though he failed to form a government. The shortest caretaker administration was 25 days and he's already beaten that too.

Depends whether you apply the title retrospectively, it was only given official recognition in 1905.

> Shortest actual term of office was 96 days

That was Rockingham's second term, he held the premiership previously so in total well over a year.

 Iamgregp 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

Bad, worse and a total c*nt?

Aside, Cameron will never be viewed well.  He'll always be seen as the man who solved the divisions of in his party by err... spreading it to the rest of the country.

May was dealt a poor hand and played it badly.  No personal touch or empathy.  A poor politician masquerading as a mediocre one.

Johnson.  Well where to begin?  A man who has no interests or principles other than his own self interest.  He's still in office so we'll see how he does, but as far as I can see he has none of the qualities that are required for high office.

1
 The New NickB 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

Each will be viewed through the prism of Brexit.

I think that Cameron will be viewed as a political lightweight, a PR man. He no doubt saw the pledge to hold a referendum on Brexit as an essential part of the job of stemming the flow of votes from the right of the party to UKIP. However, I don't think it was a vote that he thought he would lose. Perhaps he didn't appreciate the impact of his austerity policies, perhaps he underestimated the weakness of his campaigning or the strength of tactics (admittedly sometimes illegal tactics) of the Leave campaign.

Not thinking he could lose was ultimately wrong and a sign of arrogance, which meant that he did not plan for losing, which left a huge question mark after the referendum. A Brexit that wouldn't create massive divisions in society was possibly still possible then, but it needed someone to take the reigns and ultimately he ran away from the challenge.

May was desperate to be Prime Minister and secure her place in history. Her fatal mistake was pushing through the Article 50 agreement without proper dialogue will all of the parties (including her own) that had said that they would deliver the outcome of the referendum. She strikes me as a very poor communicator and as Ken Clarke described her a bloody difficult woman, but not in a positive way. This opened a door for the ERG and Farage to define what Brexit was, that being no deal rather than one of range of options with SM and CU arrangements at one end and WTO and no deal at the other, dismissing the softer options without serious consultation and rightly seeing WTO / no deal as catastrophic, ultimately gave her a position that couldn't be supported by a majority in parliament. Her days were numbered from this point.

The story hasn't played out with Johnson yet of course, he will fail if he does not deliver no deal Brexit by the end of the year; if he does deliver that, the impact on the country will be catastrophic and I suspect that his longer term legacy will be even worse, particularly if it results in a partial break-up of the union. I suspect that either outcome will result in a very severe weakening of the Conservative Party. I also think that history will roundly condemn his attempts to subvert democracy through the use of the prorogue.

Edit: The chances of Johnson coming to an agreement with the EU are so vanishingly slim that I have not even considered it an option.

Post edited at 16:37
In reply to The Lemming:

There's going to be more than one set of history books.   English history books will be written by Brexiteers and Scottish ones by Nationalists.

Johnson could well be famous as the last Prime Minister of the UK.

2
Removed User 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

> So how will history  portray Cameron, May and Johnson?

Possibly as the three leaders who destroyed the United Kingdom.

Optimistically though, there'll still be a general election leading to the tories losing power, and a confirmatory referendum that results in us staying in the EU and hence the United Kingdom remaining united.

1
 DerwentDiluted 29 Aug 2019
In reply to The Lemming:

In 400 years time, kids will not know Cameron or May, but they will, every 31st October, be asking for a 'penny for the Boris'.


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