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Simon Heffer is a journalist, author and political commentator, who has worked for long stretches at the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail. He has written biographies of Thomas Carlyle, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Enoch Powell, and reviews and writes on politics for the New Statesman.
Nearly 180 years ago Thomas Carlyle’s Chartism asked the “condition of England question”. A pessimist and authoritarian, Carlyle also understood that when disconnected elites rule only in their own interests, radical change will follow. The vote for Brexit taught David Cameron this painful lesson.
There are plenty available to replace her: Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Boris Johnson, Cameroon dark horse Jeremy Hunt and grass roots’ favourite Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The Home Secretary is disengaged, with a lack of drive and an inability to grasp a real political problem.
Brexit points a dagger at the Conservatives that only a leader of above May’s ability can deflect
The Prime Minister can only blame herself for a cabinet stuffed with mediocrities.
Less than 18 months into her premiership, Theresa May presides over a lethally divided cabinet. Can anything restore her authority?
But a contest, when it happens, must be swift.
Her weary “Boris is Boris” remark after his intervention suggests she couldn’t care less.
Her departure is unlikely to occur at a time of her choosing.
It is time to reverse the damage done by Richard Beeching in the 1960s and reopen many of the branch lines that were foolishly closed.
