One thing that has become clear during Theresa May's tenure as prime Minister is her innate inability to trust the people she has employed in cabinet.
The strength of a true leader is to first select people they can trust and then inspire them to do the best job they can. A true leader doesn't micro-manage, but instead has the confidence to let their team get one with the small stuff while the leader leads.
Insetad at Chequers we had a prime example why Theresa May is not a leader.
She set up the DexEU department with David Davis as head and set them the task of negotiating Brexit. Now a good leader would set clear general terms about the way they want the negotiations to go forward after forming a concensus with the wider team. David Davis and the DexEu team went forward with what they thought was the best plan to acheive Brexit; the so-called Canada+++ option, where the UK would pick out the best bits of trade agreements already negotiated with non-EU countries and use those agreements as a framework that best suits the UK. So frictionless trade subject to strict adherence to EU standards (but only for UK-EU trade, not the whole country).
The DexEU even went to the trouble and expense of producing a white paper outlining the framework they would be working to.
Cue the Chequers Friday and the neurotic response from May. Phones forbidden and official cars removed from those who didn't sign up to her totally different white paper. That's right: her and her staff in No.10 went to the trouble and expense of coming up with a totally separate white paper usurping the DexEU one.
The sign of a poor leader: micro-management, neuroses, mistrust and plain bad management.
That's why the government has been consumed with Brexit and cannot get on with doing any other government stuff: she is so neurotic that she has to micro-manage the outcome of Brexit. Some would say that she is being pushed by outside forces in Whitehall, the establishment and the civil service. Those pro-remainers that have her ear and work against those that want a true Brexit.
The same goes for the previous election, where she took poor advice and allowed the release of the "dementia tax" details, which alienated a huge swathe of Conservative voters and almost lost her the election. The election run-up was trip after trip, pratfall after pratfall... The Tory party appeared divided, chaotic, unled.
A good, true leader would be able to let go and allow the DexEU to work on it's own to get the best result for Britain whilst taking care of the big picture.
A good, strong leader would have assigned a cabinet team she could trust, rather than assigning one for political expediency.
A good leader would have not run for leader if they couldn't deliver true leadership. A poor leader runs for leadership to massage their ego, or to assuage their competitive nature.
I know which I think Theresa May is.
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