Theresa May At QUB: Compromises Vs. Easy Answers In Politics

By Daniel Rankin

The biggest guest “since 1957” was the description by Literific President Dermot Hamill of the visit of Theresa May to Riddel Hall last Thursday. The noon event was one of the debating society’s LitTalk series – initiated in 2020 – whereby public figures speak and engage with students’ questions.

That 1957 guest was Éamon de Valera, when the society was in its height of attendance and public involvement. [1] 68 years later, and across a four-decade hiatus until 2011, the society has redeveloped to bring yet another massively influential figure and head of government. Theresa May, whose premiership was entirely bestrided by Brexit, proposed a Brexit deal that was contrary to the hardline of her party, drafted the withdrawal agreement, and also established a confidence-and-supply agreement with the DUP following the 2017 General Election, in which the Tories lost their majority.

The event, which took place at QUB’s Riddel Hall, began with introductory remarks from Vice-Chancellor Sir Ian Greer, who, before Baroness May’s entry, ended with:

“Today the focus is on our distinguished guest… we are privileged to hear [May’s] reflections on politics, leadership, and her many contributions to our society.”

In opening, “the benefits of having a conversation, rather than just a speech” mentioned May, speaking with journalist Claire Dickson. She began by describing both her journey throughout politics, and the changes she had seen throughout the political world.

May, having wanted to be an MP from the age of “about 12”, described her early career path from a family of public service, to studying Geography at Oxford, to the Bank of England, and then working on payment systems; her speciality of money transmission. She stressed a career path outside politics before becoming an MP:

“In politics, it is better to have someone elected who has had some experience outside the political field… the skills you would have learned, in project management perhaps, or land management, and other fields… Sadly today a significant proportion of those coming into Parliament today are those who have only had a career in politics, such as a researcher for a party, or an MP’s office, or special advisor… I think you need that world experience“

May’s Big Issues In Modern Politics

“I worry about politics today, that it has become a bit more of a celebrity world…”, which May contributed partly to the vast rise of the social media and populism. Social media, May said, “is a different environment… faster speed in which you operate”. May likewise contributes the lack of speed of delivery of governance to greater social discontent.

On populism,

“The growth of those types of politicians who will give the easy answer – and it’s very appealing if you’re fed up; it’s easy to be attracted… but actually, in fact, government is hard. Government is about making tough descisions, and government is about having to think politically all around, and not just about a particular part of the community. That means government often involves compromise…”

On Northern Ireland during Brexit,

“I was trying to look at the whole picture on Northern Ireland, rather than what some of my colleagues were looking at, which was invoking ideological purity of their sensibilities… What is the right thing to do… to improve the lives of most people? But critically, will it work?“

On democracy,

“I worry about democracy. I think democracy is under threat. I don’t agree with JD Vance’s portrayal of the problems within European countries… an increasing amount of young people seem to think that democracy is not the way to run a government… is that a lack of support for democracy itself, or a lack of support for a democracy that doesn’t deliver for them?“

May concluded her introductory speech by saying, “public service is pretty simple – it’s about public service – it’s in the words -, and our governments and politicians need to remember that.”

May in Conversation

Claire Dickson: “Do you find it strange the many Northern Irish unionists who put their support behind Brexit when it was obvious there was going to be a border somewhere?”

“I cannot get behind there was that sense or feeling that what would be better for Northern Ireland would be Brexit… Obviously, I was a remainer and I campaigned for remain and thought that would be the best for the United Kingdom. But I think it means that sort of sense that came through which appealed to some of the people who voted for Brexit was that somehow we were being done to by Brussels constantly and having just to accept what was being done to us.

“In terms of the deal that I was pressing, it would have ensured that you would have continued to have no border between Northern Ireland and the Republic and you would have no border down the Irish Sea. That is what I was trying to achieve in my deal, so Northern Ireland still had peace and stability that had been brought about as a result of the Good Friday Agreement I happen to believe that that seamless border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is an unwritten but key part of that agreement. What has developed since, and we wanted to keep Northern Ireland plainly in the United Kingdom, so it was important not to have a border down the Irish Sea.”

May made further comments on unionism:

“I am a very strong unionist and I believe absolutely that we are stronger together. Sometimes you have people in England who say “it doesn’t matter – let them go on their way” but they don’t think through what it would mean for the United Kingdomm and I think it is better for every constituent part of the United Kingdom to be together, to have that strength together, to value what each part of the Union brings to that United Kingdom and it matters for our positon on the world stage aswell. The United Kingdom is a member of NATO, the United Kingdom has a seat on the UN Security Council, would England and Wales have a seat on the Security Council of the United Nations?

“[Securing the union] is about delivery. It is about making sure that the circumstances of people living in Northern Ireland, that the economy develops, and that the people see a brighter future. I think that one of the reasons why there has been a renewed interest in what is happening in the Republic is particularly because, in more recent years, people see a more socially liberal Republic now than it was previously and also a Republic with an economy that has been doing well.”

From the audience, Luke Collins: “My question is about the future of the Conservative Party. Obviously they were blown away at the last election. My question to you is, what do you think the future of the Conservative Party is, to combat both Labour and Reform and gain the trust of people again?”

“A comment on the House of Commons today… my advice to the Conservative Party is to not obsess about Reform. I think only about 30 or 40 percent of voters actually came from the Conservatives; there were a lot of Labour voters who actually voted Reform as well, and you will see that Labour is beginning to recognise the position of Reform. As a Conservative, if you look at the election, which party took more seats from the Conservative Party, in terms of the other opposition parties? It wasn’t Reform; it was the Liberal Democrats. The other element of our vote… was just Conservative voters staying at home. So my recommendation to the party is to not obsess about Reform, and we shouldn’t try to turn our policies into something that would appeal to Reform voters; we should stand by our basic principles as a centre-right party, and create our policies accordingly.”

After about an hour of speech and conversation, closing remarks were heard, followed by photographs and autographs to the audience. If there was one word repeated throughout the talk – and it is one that May is known for -, it was “deliver”. May’s success as premier is obviously subject to debate but it was undoubtedly a massive event for the Literific and Queen’s as a whole last week.

References

[1] Literific, https://literific.org/about/historyoftheliterific/

Credit: All Images Literific https://literific.org/