Statecraft

"Theresa May's short-lived Premiership is a cautionary tale for politicians. These authoritative and compelling essays provide fascinating insights into why it unfolded and ended as it did, while also pinpointing May's strengths and achievements as a political leader as well as her weaknesses and failures. It is an important addition to our understanding of this Prime Minister and the contemporary Conservative party."

-Andrew Gamble, Professor and Chair in Politics, University of Sheffield, UK

"This important volume brings together senior and emerging scholars to provide a critical and comprehensive evaluation of Theresa May's premiership. Highly readable, engaging, informative and comprehensive, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary political history and learning more about a prime minister who was frequently misunderstood."

-Rainbow Murray, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London, UK

This book examines the statecraft of former UK Prime Minister, Theresa May as a means of deconstructing her leadership of the United Kingdom. Alongside the inescapable issue of Brexit that dominated her Premiership, it takes a wider view of her record in government by looking at how and why she stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party; scrutinizes her approach to economic, social, and foreign policy; interrogates her attitudes towards Northern Ireland and the DUP; and her longstanding records on race relations, LGBT+ issues, and feminism, as well as more traditional concerns such as faith, constitution, and Britishness. This volume is the first of its kind to adopt such a systematic approach in its evaluation of May's leadership.

Andrew S. Roe-Crines is Senior lecturer in British Politics in the Department of Politics at the University of Liverpool, UK, and the author of several academic journal articles on political rhetoric/oratory, alongside his most recent books Corbynism in Perspective: The Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn (2021) and (with P. Dorey & A. Denham) Choosing Party Leaders: Conservative and Labour Party Compared (2020).

David Jeffery is Senior Lecturer in British Politics in the Department of Politics at the University of Liverpool, UK, and is the co-editor (with S. Farrall and A. Mullen) of Thatcherism in the 21st Century: The Social and Cultural Legacy (Palgrave, 2020). He is the author of Whatever Happened to Tory Liverpool? (2023), as well as the author of several journal articles in leading academic journals