May at 10

by Anthony Seldon, Raymond Newell

Theresa May has presided over the most dramatic and historic peacetime premiership for a century. Written by one of Britain’s leading political and social commentators, May at 10 describes how Theresa May arrived in Downing Street with the clearest, yet toughest, agenda of any Prime Minister since the Second World delivering Brexit. What follows defies belief or historical precedent.

Genres: Politics, Biography, Nonfiction, History, British Literature

706 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2019

About the author

Sir Anthony Francis Seldon, FRSA, FRHistS, FKC, is a British educator and contemporary historian. He was the 13th Master (headmaster) of Wellington College, one of Britain's co-educational independent boarding schools. In 2009, he set up The Wellington Academy, the first state school to carry the name of its founding independent school. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham from 2015 to 2020. Seldon was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to education and modern political history.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not convinced that my dear goodreads friends are especially interested in the minutiae of British politics so I will try to be brief.
You might have been thinking that Boris Johnson was surely the worst British prime minister in living memory, but whilst he may have been an egregious selfserving wide boy who thought no rule ever applied to him, and has been quite rightfully booted out, Theresa May was much worse. This was because she didn’t have any of the qualities required to be a PM. None! She hated speaking in public. She hated being interviewed. She hated meeting the public. She hated most of her own MPs. She hated trying to persuade people to vote for her. It’s strange she didn’t ever notice that you had to do all these things when you are PM.



Why would she ever have wanted a job she was so profoundly incapable of doing? This is a mystery this nearly 700 page (small type!) book does not try to answer.

For political geeks like myself Theresa was endlessly entertaining with her perpetually collapsing government and her stupendously cringemaking moments, such as sashaying onto the stage at the Conservative Party conference in 2018 to the sounds of Abba’s Dancing Queen – my eyes! My eyes! Not all the therapists in the world could help me to suppress that ghastly memory.

[Jacob Stelling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another strong and fair appraisal of an outgoing British Prime Minister, one whose analysis will stand the test of time. As the author noted, Theresa May’s legacy is becoming more respected as time goes on - comparing her to a vintage wine - and this is something which comes across in the book.

Overall, well-written with convincing and balanced analysis which has given me a new-found respect for TM.

[Loz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thoroughly engaging analysis of May’s time in office. I found Seldon’s account well researched, extremely detailed, balanced and told in a way which brought me on a very human journey. It’s clear that a significant number of people with a variety of perspectives were consulted, making it a rich and trustworthy tale, albeit, despite having watched it unfold through the media from afar, genuinely unbelievable at times with some of the decisions taken by May and her team!

This book could also be read as a handbook for those who are new to management or negotiation, there are genuine lessons to take from how May handled any number of situations. I for one will be taking a wealth of advice from it into my (non political) professional life!

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t get into this one. The author writes quite pompously. His account of May herself felt rather flat and superficial, like the author didn’t have any real proximity to his subject. Definitely not worth the nearly 700 page tome that this is. I look forward to finding and reading a more illuminating biography of Britain’s second female prime minister that has a bit less of the author’s personality bleeding through its pages.

[Andy Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Seldon is quite well known for his commentary on former British PMs, and as usual, does an excellent job at delivering an insightful look into May's premiership.

Seldon highlights just how ill-prepared Theresa May was for her role as Prime Minister, especially given the fact that she had no prior leadership experience within the Conservative Party apart from her time in the Home Office.

May is portrayed as an introvert who was unable to establish any meaningful professional and personal relationship with any other leader within the European Union. This gave her a strong disadvantage when it came to negotiating Britain's position during Brexit negotiations. Some of her social policies were seen as very unpopular by the British public, and she was strongly criticized for her initial response to the Grenfell Towers fire that left over 70 people dead.

Overall, Seldon gives an informative commentary on May's premiership that does a good job at getting the reader caught up on events relevant during her incumbency.

[David Margetts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent record of the short but historical tenure of Theresa May as PM. The account in many ways inspires sympathy for the plight and circumstances May found herself in, following an unexpected and largely uncontested leadership election in the wake of the referendum. With little time for preparation and planning and under immense pressure from the party, electorate, and the media, May was thrown into the maelstrom of 'getting Brexit done!'. So what is the verdict on May as PM and how will history judge her premiership. In some ways once could suggest that this is the classic 'Peter Principle' in action, a promotion too far, however given the enormity of the task and the extreme situation of a divided electorate, parliament and party, that would seem unreasonable, indeed not since WWII has the country been faced with such historical challenges to be overcome by a new leader. It has to be acknowledged that 'Europe' has been a thorn in the side of many prime ministers, and influential in bringing down Thatcher, Major and Cameron. In addressing the challenge it must be said that difficulties of Brexit had been underestimated or ignored by the Brexiteers, 'populists' and most of the media - and were far more difficult than virtually anyone imagined. That, and a well disciplined, effective and strong EU 'fighting their corner' and putting the EU and it's structure / principles 'first' (understandably) made the role even more demanding. Cameron had failed to get much from the EU, so they were not going to 'roll over' to a country leaving the club, in spite of how easy people like Farage and the Leave campaign claimed it would be. Furthermore, the splits in her own party and the lack of loyal friends further exacerbated the task for May. Let's remember that May was a seasoned, experienced and able politician who had done a very good job in the Home Office, with significant talents. She is undoubtedly very strong, disciplined, determined, driven, conscientious, hard working and a woman of values and integrity - wonderful qualities you might say. But given the circumstances, these strengths and virtues whilst admirable, proved not to be enough in the role and under the extreme circumstances she found herself. So what went wrong? Her first 10 months were a 'honeymoon' where most things actually went right, but instead of using this time to forge effective relationships with her cabinet and MP's, reach out across parties and listen to the electorate in order to formulate a 'winnable' Brexit which would enable us to leave but also took into consideration the 48% and 'business', she was insular, independent and reliant on a small group of close advisors, not least Timothy and Hill. Their advice led to so many strategic errors in revoking Article 50 too soon, setting out too many 'red lines' to early and failing to involve and gain consensus behind a clear strategy and set of tactics. These factors were to cause significant issues going forward, but the biggest errors were to come, notably calling an election, but more fundamental, setting out an unpopular and complex manifesto that was conceived behind 'closed doors'. Of course the election proved a disaster given the approach, which instead of 'Get Brexit Done!' tried to introduce policies and approaches where buy in was extremely low, and in many cases attacked her base (Triple Lock / Winter Fuel / Bus Passes / Grammar Schools / Social Care) This with the added issue of a very poor 'campaigner', wooden, robotic, lacking the charisma of a Blair or Cameron produced the disastrous election result which delivered power not to May, but to the DUP and the ERG (and to the Remainers). After the election, a further opportunity to 'reach out' and 'involve' and allow 'cross party' talks was missed. The outcome was the abject failure of the 'meaningful votes' on the doomed Chequers deal, and of course the inability to get Brexit done. So for me, the failure of May as PM in achieving her main objectives, was not so simple as her 'personality' or lack of 'emotional intelligence' as so many are wont to allege, but actually a string of disastrous mistakes in strategy and tactics. So who would have done a better job? The irony is that Johnson would certainly have more charisma, charm and personality than May. He would have possibly been better at building support across his party, and no doubt his 'election' would have been more successful under the guidance of Cummings. On the other hand, the EU would have hardly been less intransigent, probably more if anything, and the challenges would have been just as great in negotiating a 'deal', with a high risk of a 'no deal' outcome. Of course, had Boris been leader, gone to the country and won a large majority (as he has) in 2017, he would have had the power that May so earnestly craved, to get Brexit done by 29th March (as he has now done in Jan 2020). The big question about Boris however, is what type of Brexit would it have been, and importantly what sort of trade deal will he get? The jury has decided largely on May, and for me, if I am being kind, she remains a talented, principled and honest individual facing up to extreme circumstances, who in other times and with a little more luck, would have been a good PM with a good 'One Nation' set of policies. Now we can watch how Boris does in similar circumstances but with the 'power' to do his 'own thing'. Yes we are 'out', but how will he fare in negotiating a trade deal not only with the EU, but also with the USA and other countries, and what will be the long term results for the country, the Union and the people.....on that the Jury is still very much out! I hope for the country and not least the 'poorer' areas that voted Leave that it works out, but I would not 'bet the house' on it!!

[Terry Neaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cometh the hour cometh the woman and disaster ensues. The book lays bare in nearly 700 pages how ill suited to the role Mrs May was. Every failure detailed every misjudgment not to mention every treachery laid bare. Even more scary that many of the chief antagonists are still governing us. And yet you cannot but admire her courage at the helm of Titanic UK steering it towards the iceberg and determined to go down with it until that was even wrenched away from her.

[Răzvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Este clar că amenințarea rusă nu respectă granițele și, într-adevăr, incidentul de la Salisbury face parte dintr-un model de agresiune rusească împotriva Europei și a vecinilor săi apropiați. ” Anthony Seldon & Raymond Newell, „Theresa May- Un prim-ministru pentru Brexit”, traducere de Cristina Manolachi”, Publisol.ro, 2022
„Trump i-a promis lui May că va adopta o atitudine fermă față de Putin când îl va întâlni.”
„Când Camera Comunelor a votat pentru măsurile necesare atunci când Vladimir Putin a comis un act de terorism pe teritoriul nostru, mulți deputați laburiști s-au ridicat să sprijine ceea ce făceam noi, dar nu și șeful opoziției.”
Uite că poți să găsești și momentul exact în care Vladimir Putin s-a transformat din politician în simbol al agresiunii. Volumul “Theresa May- Un prim-ministru pentru Brexit”, spune poveste ultimului șef de guvern britanic dinaintea pandemiei. Dar punctează chiar traseul care l-a dus rapid pe liderul de la Kremlin din postura de interlocutor recomandat pentru echilibrarea influenței în lume, la persoana cu care nu vrei să ai de-a face. Iar otrăvirile foștilor agenți secreți ruși refugiați în Marea Britanie, are multe de-a face cu acest traseu. Dar cartea îți arată cât de greu își găsesc poziția corectă statele occidentale când e vorba despre amenințarea democrației, fie ea și liberală. Dar și cât de mare e surpriza când liderii vestici care de multe ori pornesc în direcții opuse se regăsesc alături.
„May l-a pus la punct, spunându-i că nu va exista niciodată o normalizare a relațiilor dintre Marea Britanie și Rusia până când Moscova nu-și va opri activitatea iresponsabilă și destabilizatoare desfășurată în lume.”
„Din cauza temerilor serioase că Putin avea acum în vedere invadarea statelor baltice.” Anthony Seldon & Raymond Newell, „Theresa May- Un prim-ministru pentru Brexit”, traducere de Cristina Manolachi”, Publisol.ro, 2022 @editurapublisol1623
martie, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAt4p...

[Mr John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interest, some concern

Beautifully written, much detail. However I found the uncritical praise of the late Sir Jeremy Haywood curious as he had weaknesses such as failures to see the gross weaknesses in the Civil Contingency Plans, the ignoring or ignorance of the appalling record of the NHS in as examples lack of compatibility of patient records between Trusts such that a patient might be taken to A&E in the nearest such but that hospital can’t access said Patient’s records at a different Trust, and pretty much worst outcomes from the worst killer diseases in the whole of Europe in part due to the arrogance of assuming a few clever Brits can do better than many foreign health services, plus his naivety over the scandalous Greensill. Spoils an otherwise rather interesting book

[Paul Renwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Seldon is the master when it comes to biographies on UK Prime Ministers. Once again he does not disappoint with this biography of Theresa May’s three years in power.

Sometimes when reading political biographies you feel that you are simply reading a rehash of stories that appeared in the media at the time. This is certainly not the case with Seldon’s book. He excels in going behind the scenes in the corridors of power. The level of detail he goes into around the relationships with the civil service and officials is remarkable.

At points the book reads less like a biography and more like a political thriller. You could really feel the sense of chaos oozing from the pages. There is certainly a case to be made that if this book could easily be serialised as a Netflix drama.

[Gabriel Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent -- harsh yet fair

This is a harsh description of Theresa May's Premiership. Unfortunately for her, it is also fair. She was dealt a difficult hand, but played it badly. Her strengths, which could in another setting have helped her, here turned to weaknesses. Whether spring or paying Brexit-- the defining issue of her term in office -- readers are likely to agree that she was one of the worst Prime Ministers in British history Seldon's book shows why and how it happened.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second Draft of History

An early assessment of the failed premiership of Mrs. May, this book provides a solid early assessment of where she went to comprehensively wrong, with many people speaking with a surprising frankness. The final assessment, of course, will have to wait some years yet, but this is a good start for anyone who wants to understand just what went wrong and, frankly, what was wrong with Theresa May - a nice-enough woman but a jumped-up hack with neither the vision nor the skills to succeed.

[Seb Carreer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read on the May years with a very close focus on Brexit in particular, and its implications for her premiership. Seldon's access to politicians and civil servants allows him to paint a very in depth and personal narratives of the events and people that made the May years what they were. He does sometimes work too hard to avoid memes, like with her running through fields of wheat (which he doesn't mention) or her dancing (which he only did briefly). Other than that it was a very good and engaging read!

[Aparna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brutal but truthful account of Mrs May's time in No 10. This book doesn't write off the premiership as a failure, nor does it sing May's praises. This book provided a lot of background to May's decisions during her time as PM and answered many questions I had about her leadership. It'll be interesting to see how this is recorded in history books, in the years to come.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable early draft of recent British political history. Messrs Seldon and Newell set out the jungle of Brexit-related negotiations, false dawns, political manoeuvring, prime ministerial shortcomings and errors of judgement (which, on this evidence, were legion) over the piece in a clear, even-handed and compelling manner. Highly recommended.

[Andrew Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admirable in its research and attention to detail, but creating such a dense book on the minutiae of Brexit was always going to be a challenge, and I'm afraid by the end I understood exactly why everyone became so exasperated with the whole process.

It goes without saying of course that it's a completely top-down, insider's draft of history.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

For its amazing depth of detail and the gripping account it gives of a short, but crucial, premiership, I normally would award this four stars.

What spoils it is some stunningly clumsy, even sloppy, writing and poor editing.

[David Highton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive account of the three years of May’s premiership, dominated by trying to get Brexit agreed and fatally damaged by a poor 2017 election campaign which worsened her position in Parliament.

[Little Davey Boy...... · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read on one of the most misunderstood PMs. A bit hard going with the BREXIT part but that is understandable.

[ROL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps too brutal in the verdict at the end, but an enjoyable and engaging read.

[Michael Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summary of the May years with a tough but fair opinion of her qualities as PM.

Struck the right balance between detail and not over-doing the length.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

The whole sorry episode of Brexit offers many life lessons both in personal and professional life.

1. She was tribal Conservative. She rarely had worked on cross party issues and knew very few MPs. On her handling of Brexit, she decided come down on the side of the Brexiteers, instead of playing the unity card and saying she represented both the 48% and 52%. That way she would not have had create red lines and could have brought more people together.
2. She was suspicious of the Civil service, and only trusted at first her two chiefs of staff. She often relied upon her two closest aids Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy to be her wordsmiths or charmers, (Timothy wrote her flashy “burning injustices” speech after being appointed PM).
3. She was deeply ideological and petty. In the first couple of weeks hostile briefings about Cameron and Osborne’s time in power were released. Social media was stopped to differentiate herself from them (a move that backfired at Grenfell when she did not respond quick enough) and she mock his aided (Craig Oliver) in public when she won politician of the year. There was no grace/class/role model behaviour. Even her chiefs of staff, who disliked the cabinet, chose not to sit in Cabinet meetings!
4. She showed no intellectual humility. The first 10 months of Brexit were decided in her study as she cut out the foreign office, Treasury, civil service, DIT, and DExEU. At no point did she speak to her European ambassadors, leaders, past PMs to gauge how to negotiate with Europe. DExEU was at no point calling the shots on negotiations, it was N10 and Ollie Robins, begging the question why she created the department in the first place. She did not make preparing for No-Deal her first task - which would have been the best option 1) to please Brexiteers & 2) manage the worst-case scenario. The Treasury in the end proved the best negotiator, respected by the EU and managing to reduce our bill from $100bn to $37bn.
5. Lack of political instinct. Lyton Crosby, who created the campaign slogan strong and stable leadership should have known that putting May at the centre of the campaign would have been a mistake (that applies to any politician). She visited Tory HQ once during the campaign/never tried to charm journalists on the campaign bus, faffed in February when thinking about an election which made the campaign longer when it was called (it could have been a 3 week campaign), and when reflecting on the campaign could only say” I did was Lynton said”.
6. She did not re-evaluate her strategy after the GE. When the facts change - ask yourself - have you changed? In her defence, if she had opted for a harder Brexit, then the ERG might have pulled the trigger + it took 2 weeks to finalise the DUP deal, and then Grenfell tragedy occurred - there was no time.
7. She was unstatesmanlike like at times. After the MV2 was rejected by Parliament, she gave a pointless TV address from Downing Street attacking MPs for not voting for her Brexit deal. She could have been close to getting some of the Unions on board, but lost credibility thereafter. She also repeated that silly phrase, no deal is better than a bad deal - which she never meant. Her flipping flopping between deal/deal or deal/no deal stopped some more MPs coming on board.

Reflections
She had no time to prepare. Not only did the leadership campaign fail to flush out her weaknesses, it gave no time to test out ideas, and sound out potential cabinet ministers. For example, on her social policies, the only real action in her first couple of months was to push hard to increase the number of Grammar Schools, which alienated her from her education secretary. It also explains her rushed decision to appoint Philip Hammond as her Chancellor and struggled to find a chief of staff, which ultimately was left to Fiona and Nick who both failed.

All PMs learn on the job - there is no manual on being PM. To learn on the job and be thrust into Brexit was a near impossible challenge.

She lost Jeremy Haywood. 5 months into her Premiership and Jeremy was allowed into her inner circle (thanks to a bit of sucking up, and him going along with her planned strategy for Brexit, even if he knew it was wrong)- and proved indispensable. After the general election, there was no man more powerful and ultimately got May to avoid doing a coalition with the DUP (for constitutional reasons) and stick to a supply and confidence.

Remember Ivan Rogers. He was right, but in an Eyore type way (negative and without offering a solution). That is why he was eventually sacked.

Savagely but correctly - May was a decent person but just not up to the job.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, Seldon weaves the backstory in along the way, and arguably also gets the analysis right. My only real quibble with the entire work is that the premiership was presumed to have been doomed from the start. Difficult, certainly, but there are numerous junctions where someone more politically astute or more able to present abstract ideas to voters might well have changed the endgame entirely.

The converse, of course, is that different personalities and more approachable figures might have tilted the balance in favor of any of the actors. A more approachable ERG, or one led differently, might have cut the length of the process down, reducing the public’s fatigue over the ideas, and gaining wider acceptance. The same, of course, goes for some of the people May surrounded herself with.

Overall, an excellent and well told book that is also truly accessible with minimal background knowledge. This, of course, is all from the context and perspective of an American.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent analytical account of Theresa's May premiership, injected with authenticity thanks to the many interviews of those who stood by her, resigned or fought to bring her down. In fact, the only key voice missing is May's herself, though this does not detract for the quality of the book. Can't wait for 'Johnson at 10'!