Abstract
Over a period of less than five years, David Cameron renegotiated the UK’s relationship with the European Union, put it to a referendum, and lost; his strategy in ruins he resigned. Theresa May steadied the ship of state, set a course, lost her majority and led the UK into the withdrawal negotiations; insufficiently prepared, her government was out manoeuvred; she spent most of the next year of negotiations trying to undo the damage but failed. In consequence, she found that she had made an agreement she could neither pass through Parliament nor renegotiate. After six months of parliamentary deadlock, she was forced from office. Boris Johnson, in no better parliamentary position, renegotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol, making it subject to consent from the people of Northern Ireland. He managed to get a general election, won it and ratified the Withdrawal Agreement. Brexit was done—and largely on the terms set out by May.
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Crawford, R. (2023). Prime Ministerial Leadership in the Age of Brexit. In: Beech, M., Lee, S. (eds) Conservative Governments in the Age of Brexit. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21464-6_3
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