Brexit’s Tragic Ensemble – Ellie Hewes
When David Cameron started campaigning for the EU Referendum in 2016, nobody (including himself) could foresee the fallout which would occur as a result of his decision. Moreover, the consequences of the result would not only affect his own career but those colleagues and parliamentarians around him; who would be met with internal and external conflicts on as a grand a scale as those experienced by characters the plays of the national bard himself, William Shakespeare…
Act 1: David Cameron:
Despite feeling confident that the result would work in his favour to remain and that he would continue to be the Prime Minister of the UK, he found himself standing on the steps of Downing Street, resigning the day after the referendum. He stated that he did not think that it would be in the country’s interest for him to lead negotiations with the EU. Very quickly, he moved from being the most senior politician in this country to now being a viewer outside (not even as a politician) without a voice. However, this character’s downfall was only the starting point of the tragedy…
Today, Cameron is director and president of various charities and councils (despite being one of the central starting antagonists to our plot). One of these charities is known as “One”. This is a non-profit organisation which campaigns to fight extreme poverty; particularly in Africa. Another one of the organisations which he directs is “Alzheimer’s UK”. This ultimately helps those who are suffering from this disease by actively looking for cures and medicines to treat those of the present and the future. David Cameron today is keeping out of the limelight (apart from the recent release of extracts from a potentially extremely lucrative memoir!) but continues to be of important influence in other sectors.
1.2: George Osborne
George Osborne had always worked closely with Cameron as one of his closest advisers as the Chancellor. In our plot, he could arguably be seen as the conspirator of our antagonist Cameron. He served among Cameron within Cameron’s premiership. As with Cameron, he had also campaigned for remain and soon found that he had lost his job when Teresa May succeeded Cameron as Prime Minister and elected Philip Hammond as the new Chancellor. He stayed on as a ‘backbench’ MP, but within a year, he had become the editor of the “London Evening Standard”. Here, he continued to voice his opinions about the matter that the country found itself in rather controversially. He still carries this on today and continues to hold down some high-profile non-executive posts. For example, he works for a company called “BlackRock” and can’t be that hard done by when he is earning £13,000 a day! His downfall therefore wasn’t too tragic…
Act 2: Theresa May
Teresa May had served in one of the other major offices in state as the Home Security and could have been named as the “hopeful heroine” in a bid to try and save the day. When Cameron resigned despite many initially showing interest (individuals such as Micheal Gove and Boris Johnson), only two people ran to replace him – one of those being Teresa May. Due to the experience Teresa May had, she prevailed as the winner; becoming the second female Prime Minister of the UK. Whilst she probably anticipated the difficulties that Brexit would raise, no experience could prepare her for the lengthy and political volcanoes that would erupt during her premiership that lasted two and a half long years… to say the least. She managed to negotiate a withdrawal agreement with the EU, but this was soon rejected three times in parliament. This proved to be the beginning of the end of her time as Prime Minister and soon, she had joined the list with Cameron of those who had a tragic downfall.
Today, after resigning in late June but continuing until early July, she continues to serve as a ‘backbench’ MP, but enjoys being out of the limelight. She certainly looks more relaxed now that the weight of previous occupation has been removed from her. She can now look forward to watching more cricket…
3: Jeremy Corbyn:
Jeremy Corbyn has been the Labour leader and leader of the opposition throughout this tumultuous time in British politics. He has had the battle of opposing the government and the Conservative ideals, whilst also upholding his Euro-sceptic aims. Whilst his party members are predominantly remain, he was predominantly leave. This caused a lot of tension within the opposing party at a time when they all needed to be united in one aim of challenging the Conservatives when they were negotiating Brexit. Ultimately, Corbyn has had his own intra-party battle with the ‘Capulets’ and the ‘Montagues’.
Today, he continues in post, but has now realised the need for this alignment between him and his party. He realised that this what is needed in order to oppose Boris Johnson and his government.
Act 4: Boris Johnson
With his two predecessors losing their jobs over Brexit, Boris Johnson became the third Prime Minister in three years to attempt to find the solution to Brexit. Johnson had proved to be a charismatic Mayor of London and entered into the debate surrounding Brexit. He had often earnt support for his charisma and his witty humour. However, usually this would get him into ‘hot water’.
Now, he would need to step up and take command. As at the time of writing, he continues to find a way to resolve the long-standing Brexit monologue and time will tell as to whether he succeeds. Will Brexit prove to be Boris’ hamartia? And will a no deal prove to be a Peripeteia? Will Boris prove to be our hero or our villain and will he be able to not give in to internal and external pressures which could potentially lead to his downfall? However, could Boris become our ‘deus eu machina’ and unexpectedly change the situation? Could a Shakespearean comedy instead prevail? Time will tell.
Act 5: Jo Swinson? John Bercow? Hilary Benn? Corbyn again? Who knows…
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