Theresa May stays on point.
Theresa May’s conference speech was remarkable. It was remarkable in comparison to all the other conference speeches as Conservative Party Conference. The most remarkable thing about the speech – Theresa May stays on point. This may sound strange but cast your mind back to all the other speeches. How many discussed the economic recovery, deficit reduction, campaign strategy or Ed Miliband’s speech? How many cabinet members talked about subjects which are not in their brief? How many minister’s use their conference speech as an opportunity to get on their soap box and give their piece about a whole host of issues? Theresa May did not do this. She discussed what she was there to talk about – Home affairs. She talked about security, terrorism and crime and did not waste time discussing other departments and other minister’s work.
By doing this Theresa May shows that she is leadership material – she can show that she will get down and do the job she is given, no point scoring or petty party politics, just hard work and a commitment to getting the job done. May probably did not go out to give a leader’s speech, but by delivering a speech that stayed on point, she was able to sound even more like the next Tory leader than the rest.
Of course, she has given a far more wide-ranging speech before at the ConHome conference a few years back. But this speech was all about showing how good she is, how competent our Home Office Minister has been. This position is normally a poison chalice. A terrible job concerned with terrible issues. She has performed well and has probably been in the job for as long as anyone else – ever. Her reputation is better 4 years after getting than the job than when she was appointed. Theresa May is not flash and funny like Boris. But she is competent. Which Angela Merkel has shown is a positive attribute amongst voters.