‘The grown-ups are back in charge’
I think she’s the right person for the job. In general terms the mood has changed: it feels like the grown-ups are back in charge. It also helps that May has a hinterland, has experienced life outside Westminster and is interested in policy. It no longer feels as if decisions are being made as part of some game.
Brexit is a key issue but it cannot dominate the whole of the government’s agenda. We need to address insecurity: we should channel money and resources to the regions and trust in the sense of local institutions to spend it wisely.
James, 34, Devon
‘The Leave campaign played on people’s intolerance’
I hope the Tories under May continue to support economic growth, and work towards a budget surplus to pay off national debt.
I was very disappointed with how the referendum was conducted. The Leave campaign played on people’s intolerance and stoked xenophobic attitudes. May needs to help make Brexit as painless as possible.
Tomos Evans, 26, north Wales
‘This is more Ukip than Tories’
I really dislike the direction May is taking. It’s too right wing, not representative of the political centre ground. This is more Ukip and less Tories.
The referendum did not give them the mandate to change the country so radically. They have total disregard of the 48% who voted to Remain.
The party needs to focus on the economy, in particular continue with the liberalising agenda under which they were elected last year. I voted for them for their business friendly agenda and their “good for the economy” card. I feel betrayed and let down: for the first time in my life I would not vote for the Tories if a general election was held now.
Anonymous, 35, London
‘May has inherited a complete political mess’
May is a strong leader, but has inherited a complete political mess. The parties are splitting, parliament is broken, and I think they have lost their way.
They are pandering to the right wing too much. Where is the pull to the centre ground? Something is structurally wrong here.
People want to have their voices heard and to be represented in parliament. That’s what the referendum result has showed us. The answer is proportional representation.
Gary Michael, 37, London
‘May has moved away from the buddy politics of Cameron and Osborne’
The signs are promising. Theresa May has been given a very poor deck of cards but seems to be making the most of them.
I like how she has handled the big egos of the Brexit mob by giving them the opportunity to live or die by their own words. I’m sure one or two of them will be found out.
She has a brilliant grasp on the policy process from her time at the home office and seems to be moving away from the irksome buddy politics of Cameron and Osborne.
Anonymous, 25, Leicester
‘May needs to step out of Cameron’s shadow’
It seems a bit too similar to David Cameron’s leadership, she needs to step out of his shadow with some credible policies of her own.
They should have categorically stated the boundaries between the ministry for Brexit and the foreign ministry from the beginning. It just looks a mess right now. We need trade agreements with countries and entities that have established or rapidly developing economies, including the EU.
Aaron Roberts, 27, Manchester
‘I am not sure what she believes in’
She is the best of a very bad bunch, now all the centrists have been purged. I am not sure what she believes in, other than juggling interest groups to remain in power
The country is now being led by an unelected right-wing cabal, pursuing an agenda that has nothing to do with the Tory election manifesto of 2015. They seem intent on absorbing the policies of and therefore neutralising UKIP.
We have had a right wing coup in the country in the last six months, with nothing we can do about it for four years. How can this happen in the world’s oldest democracy?
Richard White, Scotland, 52
‘We need to get out of the EU as soon as possible’
May seems to know what she wants, more than can be said for the last incumbent. She is playing her cards close to her chest, but at least the old school tie brigade has gone.
Given the financial difficulties faced by Italy and Germany with their banks, the UK would be well to get out of the EU as soon as possible, so her “hard Brexit” is the correct option, because it means we are not left holding the baby, paying to bail out all the rest of the countries in the EU when the euro collapses.
We must make good our escape, because when one of their banks needs help they all will, without state intervention it would be the end of a number of them, the end of the Euro, and the end of the EU.
This could happen tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year, but it will happen, and when it happens 19 countries will have no currency one morning.
Chris Gott, 54, Rossendale
‘It seems May was a closet Eurosceptic’
The first few days were promising - I was heartened that she’d campaigned (albeit half-heartedly) for Remain. It now seems that she is a closet Eurosceptic.
The party is heading towards a “hard Brexit”, against its 2015 manifesto promises to remain in the single market. It has also decided that immigration was the main issue in the referendum. Whether this is a cynical ploy to attract Ukip voters is moot, as it is already damaging our reputation as an outward-facing, tolerant society and will surely impact on the efficiency of the NHS over time, not to mention British businesses.
The party seems to be willing to commit economic suicide in the name of a misguided appeal to “sovereignty”. My Conservative MP who campaigned for Remain is now toeing the party line and will evidently vote with them and against the interests of both his constituents who voted Remain and the country as a whole.
Louise T, 44, Surrey
‘She has no mandate for anything she is doing’
May doesn’t appear interested in communicating with the public. She was not elected as Prime Minister, and the policies she appears to be championing did not appear in the Conservative party manifesto, which suggests that she has no mandate for anything she is doing.
After the lies that were told prior to the vote, there should be some form of honest fact-based appraisal of the cost - and benefit - of Brexit. I fear that this is going to drive the country into a long decline, when the party should be sorting the budget defecit and ensuring economic stability.
Anonymous, 40, Berkshire
