Theresa May called an early general election in the expectation of achieving the first Conservative landslide majority since 1987. An inept campaign left her humiliated, and her tenuous hold on power dependent on the support of the unpleasantly reactionary Democratic Unionist Party. The Tories were deservedly punished by the electorate for their failures in office and for their joyless, arrogant campaign.
After seven years of austerity economics, they could not explain how they would improve public services or return hope to the British people. Mrs May’s encouraging early positioning – and her vow to remake conservatism, as well as her desire to eradicate “burning injustice” – was never developed.
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