by Morakinyo Babajide
They are two names in the United Kingdom politics you cannot ignore. They are both females and powerful in their own rights. They are leaders who have tens of thousands of followers who have absolute belief in them and are ready to defend them, em … with their blood. They are both good looking and powerful (again) dresser who though, at advanced ages are still setting the trends in fashion.
I guess by now, you know the women I am going to be writing about. And if per chance you do not – they are – Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon. They are the ‘aces’ of the British politics right now. While the elderly Theresa has the larger responsibility of looking after the whole population of the UK, Nicola, has the enviable role of leading the northern population – Scotland to the Promised Land.
Apart from the similarities in their impeccable sense of fashion and choices of shoes (of matching colours), they cannot be described as the best of friends or enemies. Should you be saddled with the task of describing a chance meeting of these two gladiators, you will be pardoned if you deploy the word “awkward” in all your sentences. The few times they have met, they have come as being polite to each other, but their body languages had given away their thoughts on issues.
Sturgeon, as the First Minister of Scotland was sort of pushed into limelight immediately after the failed September 18, 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum when Alex Salmond, the former leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) resigned his post. To be fair, Nicola has always been prominent in Scottish politics, however, the large “frame” of Salmond had always kept her in check. I remember many times in the late 2000s admiring this fast spoken, impressive woman on television thinking she would one day become a voice to reckon with.
Just like Nicola, Theresa is a woman of destiny, as well. She was the Home Secretary in the first term of the coalition government of David Cameron. At the start of the second term, she was content with continuing in the same role. While Cameron was all over the places boasting about the Tory majority, he never gave the thought of early end to his premiership a consideration. To be honest, everything looked so good for this young man. And for Theresa, life went on normally in the Home Office.
But for these women, two events in the history of the United Kingdom played massive parts in their careers. For Nicola, it was the Scottish independence referendum. While for Theresa, the BREXIT which saw the premature exit of Cameron from 10, Downing Street cleared the premises for her to occupy. The quality of competition she had in the quest for this post was so feeble that it was a walk in the park for her. The rest is history.
Now these two are set on a collision course. Trouble is definitely brewing as Theresa, from the blues, called a SNAP election for June 8. It caught everyone. While Nicola was running around trying to garner support for a second independence referendum, and work out how Scotland can continue in the European Union, Theresa dropped the election bombshell.
Theresa has never hidden her opposition for another Scottish referendum. This she has said loud and clear many times in recent weeks. However, Nicola is not giving up and this is likely to cause rush of hot bloods in their veins soon. The odds are not in favour of Nicola, but just as the saying goes – never say never.
One can understand why Theresa has called an early election. There is no doubt that she and her team are struggling with these BREXIT plans, implementations and also negotiating the deals. Although the Tories have the majority right now, they have not been finding it easy pushing their wishes through. Political observers are reading Theresa loud and clear right now, and concluding that her plan is to win more seats so she can “ramrod” her BREXIT plans down the throats of citizens.
She can also be excused for taking advantage of the divisions and weakness in the camp of the opposition party – Labour – to call for this election. The Labour Party is in disarray under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. The possibility of Corbyn giving Theresa a run for her money in any election at this time is as unreal as Nigel Farage becoming the United States’ Ambassador to the UK. This is no secret to Labour stalwart such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said in a recent interview – “If the polls are right, we know who is going to be prime minister on June 9 – that’s not the issue. It’ll be Theresa May.”
You can therefore pardon Theresa for taking the bull by the horns. A win will give her an assured 5-year residency on Downing Street. She has also taken the battle to the Scottish cities, campaigning for the soul of Britain, She said today (April 29) “my message to the people of Scotland is clear – every vote for me and my team will strengthen my hand in the Brexit negotiations. That will strengthen the Union, strengthen the economy and the UK and Scotland together will flourish, because if Scotland is flourishing the rest of the United Kingdom is flourishing too.”
For Nicola, the crystal balls are cloudy. But observers are forecasting a very unsettled future for her in the quest to lead the people out of Britain and back into the EU. In response to Theresa’s rallying call, Nicola, East End Glasgw warned Scots: “Every Tory vote risks allowing them to impose deeper cuts, penalise the vulnerable and undermine the Scottish Parliament. So in this general election, we have the chance to say loudly and clearly that Scotland will not let the Tories drag Scotland backwards.”
Who wins the battle? It is hard to predict, but one thing is sure, the stage is set for interesting times ahead.
Only time will tell.
Photo Credit and Additional Reporting : BBC News
