MORE than three years ago, Theresa May stood outside Downing Street and insisted her government would build a better Britain.
She pledged to put ordinary, “just managing” families at its heart, and to fight burning injustices.
“If you’re one of those families, if you’re just managing, I want to address you directly,” she said.
“I know you’re working around the clock, I know you’re doing your best, and I know that sometimes life can be a struggle.
“The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours.”
It was stirring stuff.
But as Mrs May handed over the keys to Number 10 yesterday, it was clear her legacy will be defined by one thing and one thing only: Brexit.
The UK’s failure to leave the EU has engulfed her time in office. Her attempts to force her Brexit deal through the House of Commons came to define her premiership.
If she hoped to leave a legacy of tackling injustices, this was torpedoed by forces let loose following the 2016 referendum.
The daughter of a Church of England vicar, Mrs May was often hailed for her sense of duty and determination.
After all, she survived three years of political chaos, at the head of a party riven with division.
But in the end, many believe her stubbornness and inflexibility simply made matters worse.
Meaningless slogans such as “Brexit means Brexit” didn’t help, either.
The humiliations came thick and fast, from 2017's botched snap election to the infamous coughing fit at the Tory conference later that year.
Earlier this month, Mrs May hailed the value of compromise in a speech on the state of politics.
She said: “Today an inability to combine principles with pragmatism and make a compromise when required seems to have driven our whole political discourse down the wrong path.
“It has led to what is in effect a form of ‘absolutism’ – one which believes that if you simply assert your view loud enough and long enough you will get your way in the end.”
For Mrs May’s critics, some of this might equally have applied to her doomed Brexit policy. Her deal was defeated three times before she gave up.
In her resignation speech in May, the former prime minister attempted to focus on her achievements over the last three years.
She listed successes such as reducing the deficit, bringing down national debt and calling an end to austerity.
She also highlighted moves to protect the environment by “eliminating plastic waste, tackling climate change and improving air quality”.
Mrs May insisted the "unique privilege of this office is to use this platform to give a voice to the voiceless, to fight the burning injustices that still scar our society".
She added: “That is why I put proper funding for mental health at the heart of our NHS long-term plan. It is why I am ending the postcode lottery for survivors of domestic abuse.
“It is why the Race Disparity Audit and gender pay reporting are shining a light on inequality, so it has nowhere to hide.
"And that is why I set up the independent public inquiry into the tragedy at Grenfell Tower – to search for the truth, so nothing like it can ever happen again, and so the people who lost their lives that night are never forgotten.”
Perhaps history will be kinder to Mrs May than many of her colleagues.
All the same, it must have stung a little when she saw the recent front cover of Private Eye.
Publishing its “Theresa May memorial issue” at the beginning of June, the satirical magazine used its front page to list her legacy in full.
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