REINCARNATION OF THE IRON LADY

On July 13, the leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May (59) took charge of the office of the British prime minister after the Queen Elizabeth II invited her to form the government. This happened in a very dramatic period of time when the financial stability and the integrity of the country is thrown into question. A referendum nicknamed ‘Brexit’ and held just three weeks before, on June 23 to be precise, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union resulted in 51.9% of the population voting for the leave. The then Prime Minister David Cameron, who quite literally outsmarted himself trying to gain the sympathy of national eurosceptics and to secure additional preferences from Brussels, had to resign. The British, prepared for a tedious election of the new government, had a moment of relief when they have realized that there was no evidence of a tough struggle for leadership among the Tories. The nomination of Mrs. May was good enough for many – both for the supporters of the Brexit, and the opponents. The new prime minister has promised to restore the country's unity and to work hard for the benefit of ordinary Britons.

Theresa May is the second female politician heading the government of Albion, who clearly desires to resemble Margaret “The First Iron Lady” Thatcher. Thus, the users of social networks have noticed that she copies the gestures, facial expressions and even the intonation of the late Thatcher. They were convinced of May’s performance after her first speech at the parliament. The German newspapers, however, compare the new Tory leader with “the Iron Frau” calling her “the British Merkel” after the prime minister’s first foreign visit to Germany.

May has been in politics for quite a long time and her personal life is well known. She was born in a family of a priest and comes from the middle class – her both grandmothers worked as servants. She is married, has no children, suffers from an insulin-dependent diabetes, is a passionate fan of cricket also fond of cooking and mountain hiking, and is partial to clothes and leopard shoes. The friends from her alma mater, Oxford, remember that she had always had big ambitions dreaming to become the first female prime minister of the country. She came the second, which is also good. Before this highest career achievement, May was a bank employee and has dealt with issues related to education and housing. She has been a member of the House of Commons since 1997. For many years, she has been one of the few women leading the Conservative Party and has held various positions in the shadow cabinet. She was also the Home Secretary (the second woman in the British history holding this position) under the Cameron administration while at the same time fulfilling the duties of the Minister for Women and Equalities up until 2012.

Statistics show that despite a few problems and blunders, there have been no large-scale terrorist attacks since 2010 while, in general, the national crime rates decreased during May’s tenure as the Home Secretary. It seems that the new head of the British government is not afraid of making sideslips. Her colleagues find her quite competent while note her harsh working style (once she even has warned her party fellows that many voters saw the Conservatives as the “nasty party”), and lack of fear in conflict situations. That, however, has not stopped May from holding the chair of the Home Secretary longer than any of her predecessors for the last decade. Although the office of the Home Secretary is notorious for being the “career cemetery” since 1855, when none of its holders had not been able to succeed to prime ministership, she was lucky to avoid this curse. The Economist also praises the flexible character of the new prime minister describing her as a traditional conservative ready to change her views or to learn from the opponents in the Labour Party, particularly as regards the protection of the rights of ordinary workers.

Nevertheless, May is sticking to a very firm position concerning the immigration issues. Suffice to recall that it was she who has initiated the adoption of the law prohibiting the expatriate skilled personnel to remain in the UK with their families after the expiry of a work visa, if they earn less than £35,000 annually. Also, in 2015, she suggested an idea that would tighten the control over foreign students so that they cannot stay in the country illegally after graduation. In addition, she has supported the efforts that would help the Great Britain leave the European Convention on Human Rights, since its provisions prevented the extradition of undesirable foreign nationals from the country. May has recently announced her intention to reduce the migration to Britain to “sustainable levels”, which she claims to be “tens of thousands of people per year”. But the observers wonder how she is going to implement this in practice, as the campaign promise of the Tories made back in 2010 to reduce the number of migrants to 100 thousand is still merely a paper exercise.

While the Brexit was not a topic of the day in the past, it becomes clear now that it will be the main challenge of the newly elected prime minister. Same as Cameron, Theresa May was supporting Britain’s continued membership in the EU but unlike him, she was delicate enough to keep a low profile during the campaign and eluding the TV shows but mainly insisting on security issues. She has perceived the results of the referendum calmly, believing that it was not necessary to hamper the process of withdrawal or to go for another referendum. Neither is she rushing over to implement Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Instead, Mrs. May believes that her main task is to set a painless and a well-weighed process of withdrawal from the EU based on extremely favorable terms for the Great Britain. The most important issue is to guarantee the maximum access to the European common market. Despite Brussels’ declaration of impossibility of official preliminary negotiations, May, in fact, has begun bilateral consultations with the leading countries of the EU, making her first visit to Germany and France immediately after the elections. Following the meeting with Merkel, May has said that the aim of her country was to keep “close economic relations” with the European Union, and her visit to Berlin set a solid ground for future relations with the EU. Indeed, Germany is the second largest trading partner and investor in the British Isles. May also realizes that it is important to keep close relations with Brussels on security issues. This topic has been discussed in more detail in Paris during May’s meeting with the French President François Hollande, whose country had recently suffered from yet another bloody terrorist attack; this time in the quiet resort of Nice.

The social reforms aimed at supporting the most vulnerable segments of the population and reducing social inequalities, as well as the initiative to change the management of big business to ensure that the employees of large companies take seats on the board and to settle a number of other outstanding issues is among high priorities of the May administration. She will also try to attract investments into the national economy, which should result in creation of new jobs.

The current cabinet handpicked by Mrs. May is quite strong, though there are a few points of contention obviously including the former Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. An ardent supporter of the Brexit known for his straightforward and eccentric character (a kind of British Trump or Zhirinovsky) was trusted the chair of Foreign Secretary. It is still not clear how he will fulfill his new responsibilities, given that he has earned a reputation as Britain's most flamboyant politician both in Brussels and in the overseas. For example, Johnson (and the Foreign Office in general) is going to have a difficult task, if the next US president is Hillary Clinton, of whom he once wrote as “a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”. Also, while criticizing Obama, Johnson has recently recalled his “part-Kenyan heritage”. Apart from the controversial ex-mayor, there are many women politicians in the May government. One of the main supporters of the Brexit, Liam Fox, has become the Secretary of State for International Trade while David Davis has been appointed the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. They both along with Johnson will have to withdraw Britain from the EU and lead the country to a new future.

Incidentally, during her first days as a prime minister, May has made a few statements about the British foreign policy insisting that North Korea and Russia remain real threats to the UK. She further added that the national nuclear arsenal must be renewed, saying that she would push the nuclear button, if necessary, since this was “the whole point of a deterrent”. The renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, which includes four Vanguard-class submarines, comes with a price tag of £31 billion. Russia’s response to these statements was moderate, as if they “would not have it any other way”. The Russians even recalled the meme “the Englishwoman spoils” coined back in the 19^th century as an alleged reference to Queen Victoria and her implicit policies against Russia, which in this context sounds quite an ambiguous remark. However, only time can tell to what extent the relations between Moscow and London will develop. Currently, Britain is much more concerned about building a mutual understanding with the allies - the EU and the USA.

Thus, London is still on top of the situation. Thanks to May and her choice of candidates for the new government, it was possible to preserve the unity of the Conservative Party still embroiled with the Brexit. The problem, however, is that the country is split but the Conservatives do not have enough resources in the parliament while, on the other hand, steering the whole country is not the same as chairing a ministry. After all, the promises are easy to make but hard to deliver. The new prime minister has just stepped on a way full of challenges ahead – she has to do much more than any of her predecessors. The probability of failure is rather high, which elevates the risk of early elections.