Could Brexit-hit May's June exit be any less august?

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Could Brexit-hit Mays June exit be any less august?

May's tears showed her human side and were proof of her total investment to the cause of an orderly Brexit, one she failed to deliver.

By Vicky Kapur (From the Executive Editor's Desk)

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Published: Mon 27 May 2019, 10:24 PM

Did she have to cry? Arguably one of the most powerful women in the world, British prime minister Theresa May's speech on Thursday to announce her imminent resignation started with conviction but ended in tears. Much like her premiership, which began with a lot of promise but has nothing much to show as far as hard, cold deliverables are concerned. She did a good maintenance job while in office - all three years of it - but failed to deliver what she had to. Now don't get me wrong - May had an impossible task at hand from the word go. She took over from the battered Tory leader David Cameron, who had to step aside posthaste after the British public rejected his solicitation and voted to exit the European Union (EU).
The Brexit vote was unexpected and the margin underwhelming. Interestingly, May was on the 'stay' side of the argument, too, but she quickly changed tacks when asked to lead her country out of the EU in an orderly manner. Since she took office on July 13, 2016, things have been anything but orderly. The in-fighting within her Conservative party notwithstanding, May committed some blunders of her own.
Losing her Commons majority in the 2017 'snap' general elections was a self-inflicted wound that never really stopped bleeding. That 'unforced error' of hers is only matched in size and scope by the triggering of Article 50, giving the UK a two-year deadline to exit the EU, deal or no deal. Without even a semblance of an agreement, that turned out to be a big mistake, too.
But even as things remained in a turmoil during most of her tenure, a steely May endured it all with a 'bring it on' attitude. Impossible demands, trust deficit, loss of confidence in her leadership... she withstood all with resilience. Even as comparisons with the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, were obvious, May's tears showed her human side and were a proof of her total investment to the cause of an orderly Brexit, one she failed to deliver. That, indeed, is a crying shame.


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