The Prisoner

An audience member on Question Time has pointed out that although Mrs May has had to field a lot of flak for her conference speech, it is the party which is the real shambles.

The woman noted that the calamitous Tory conference did not even attempt to address "the key issues that are facing us today. Which is serious underfunding in the police, in education and in our health service. And the other defining issue of our century – which is how on earth we are going to enact this ridiculous decision to leave the European union... it isn’t just the Prime Minister, it’s the shambolic lot behind her who are pretending they know what they are doing when they clearly don’t.”

Mrs May wants to make Britain a fairer place, to reduce inequality and give everyone a chance. Consider her attempted policies, such as helping the 'Just About Managing', putting workers on company boards, capping energy prices, making it easier to buy a starter home.

The policies are socialist rather than capitalist - many have been borrowed from the Labour Party. They are not a good fit for a party aiming to turn us into a global trade centre, a Singapore-upon-Thames. So why is Mrs May allowed to announce them, and why are they discarded within weeks?

It could be that they are poorly thought through and in the light of day they show their weaknesses. It could be that Mrs May is ADD and can't stick to one thing for long. Or it could be that the party powerful allow her to announce these policies for the publicity value, for the voter appeal, but then force her to drop them once the news value is spent.

Mrs May took on the leadership of a disunited party committed to a Brexit many of its MPs would prefer to disown. Her own cabinet vie for her job, her MPs threaten to remove her. She is nominally the party leader, but her power is illusory, she is frustrated in any change she attempts and has no idea whom she can trust. She is Number Six in The Prisoner.

Mrs May will not be able to achieve anything. Her goals are not shared by her party, she does not share her party's goals. She has no support, she has no power. It is time for her to go.