With the moving van standing outside 10 Downing Street and Theresa May the Prime Minister elect, political pundits are issuing doomsday prophecies about how Great Britain will never be as great as it once was after Brexit. This wave of pessimism might be a little premature however, because Ms May might just be the Iron Lady reborn, if some of her supporters are to believed.
Soon to be the second female Prime Minister of the UK, the comparisons with the first PM, Ms Margaret Thatcher were always expected, but not entirely unjustified, specifically because Ms May is known to be tough and unrelenting, much like her predecessor. What singles her out as the emerging leader from the mess that was Brexit, was that she saw which way the wind was blowing and went with it, instead of holding on to what was later revealed as a lost cause.
The speedy decision by the Conservatives to select a post-Brexit PM is admirable, but this is only one step in a long arduous process for one country to extricate itself from the EU. Theresa May will now be expected to conduct the early negotiations with the same speed that the conservatives displayed in appointing her.
However, immediate concerns are numerous, with the foremost among them being about how to go about negotiating with the EU, especially with there being strong vocal support for a “Brexit-light”, which would allow Northern Ireland and Scotland to keep themselves in both the European Union and the United Kingdom, if things go their way.
Of course, dealing with the EU, Scotland and Northern Ireland is only one of the challenges that Ms May faces. Unifying a party divided by the Brexit vote will be no easy task, nor will selecting a cabinet that will have to feature both remainers and leavers within the party. Britain is a completely independent nation for the first time in over 40 years, and the biggest change in the structure of the country will be primarily related to foreign relations, more specifically about the trade deals made with countries moving forward. Experts are predicting that negotiations with EU will not be the only focus, and setting the terms for a free trade agreement with the US will be central to any future progress for the UK.
At this point, wallowing in despair about what happened is absolutely pointless. In a few years, if all goes well, this will be water under the bridge and forgotten. For now, Britain should be thankful that they have a prospective PM that is willing to roll up her sleeves and get to work immediately.