Nothing about life or politics is inevitable, but sometimes it seems so to those of us who have been here before, who have witnessed the death by a thousand cuts of a Conservative prime minister: “It was plain that her authority was draining away ... There was a mounting climate of fear, especially among Tory MPs in vulnerable constituencies, that the party faced certain defeat at the next general election under her leadership”. Those words were not written yesterday, or about Theresa May, who is now assured of spending at least one more Christmas at Chequers. I wrote them almost three decades ago, having as editor of The Daily Telegraph held a ringside seat for Margaret Thatcher’s long descent and fall. Then, as now, Conservative…

Source: The Times December 12, 2018 17:07 UTC