Let’s whoop at the failure of May’s miserabilism. Optimism trumped austerity
Theresa May’s visionless, empty negativism deserved to fail. This signals a monumental shift in what is to come
POLLY TOYNBEE
The earthquake shock of the exit poll will be forever a “where were you?” memory. Defying all prediction Theresa May was trounced and “Jez we can” was no wishful fantasy. Listen to the sound this morning of the eating of hats and the munch, munch of humble pie from those of us who worried he could never get anywhere near success.
But if this feels like another crashing through the barriers of the known electoral world, remember this: the result follows some good old tried and tested ancient election lores that May and her failed svengali Lynton Crosby ignored at their peril.
Second lore of elections: hope beats fear. Optimism trumped May’s grim finger-wagging warnings of “chaos”. Her manifesto offered austerity forever: that’s no exaggeration. Her budget planned to shrink the state permanently to a size so small it would change the nature of Britain.
