Theresa May – a situation update

 

By Laura Bohnert

There’s nothing like the topic of terrorism to distort the polls—although Trump might be a close runner up. Both seem to be working to UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s advantage, though.

Theresa May has been experiencing a trending drop in the polls of late, spurred on by the mass registration of new young voters who seem to favour Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and again suggested by a rather destructive interview with BBC’s Andrew Neil, wherein she was unable to explain the sudden withdrawal of what has been deemed rather a harsh political measure that would leave thousands of older Britons attempting to fund their own care at home. According to The Times, these instances have contributed to a trend that has seen the Tory lead drop to just five points. But one horrifying moment may have disrupted that pattern. May’s waning momentum may have been saved—not by the Manchester attack directly, but by her response to it.

The attack that resulted in the loss of 22 lives, in all its horror, may have given May the connection to the people she needed to demonstrate her “strong and stable leadership.” Her presence on-scene in Manchester, combined with a statement defying the cowardice of the attackers with Manchester’s bravery, and again combined with her proactive stance on state security (doubly reinforced by her public reprimand of Trump) and her deployment of troops to protect the streets has allowed her to become a comfort in the face of the terrorist threat—and that may very well save her political career.

May’s response comes across as almost heroic as her nation reels from its trauma, but it can’t be denied that the terrorist card is an increasingly common one for politicians to pull. Terrorism was a keyword in Harper’s campaign—and Trump’s extremist anti-terrorism vocabulary certainly secured him a few votes; however, there is one other card that is being pulled right now: if heroism in the face of terrorism isn’t going to work for May, then playing the Trump card just might.

Many are calling her public attack on Trump’s inability to keep state secrets curiously overstated. Granted, he is a giant security issue, and plenty more than just the UK are experiencing concern over whether or not the US government can be trusted with vital intelligence. However, it is also a pretty interesting (read entertaining) coincidence that playing the Trump card seems to be the way to generate support, whether you are in the political sector or simply looking to drum up your TV ratings.

In fact, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, who is quick to admit that airing an interview in which he playfully tousled Trump’s hair was a mistake, agrees that taking a neutral stance to Trump offers a quick trip to plunging ratings. Fallon has since been offering more quips about the now-president in an attempt to restore ratings, and he has also issued an apology for letting his fans down, stating that he never intended to “humanize” Trump with the bit, but to minimalize him.

In other words, minimalizing Trump is key to any campaign right now, and that, essentially, is what May has succeeded in accomplishing through the success of her public reprimand of Trump’s (and his cabinet’s) behaviour.

Who’d have thought that a man who could win his platform by playing the anti-terrorism card so strongly could become so repugnant as to be likened to terrorism in the political campaign-ground? It would be almost amusing—if it wasn’t so darn frightening.