Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Theresa May’s first Cabinet meeting gives us a glimpse of her leadership style

Theresa May’s first Cabinet meeting wasn’t accompanied by the kind of eye-catching announcement you would have expected from Tony Blair or David Cameron. Instead, the big news is that the new Prime Minister will chair three Cabinet committees on the economy and industrial strategy, exiting the European Union, international trade and social reform. This does rather underline her reputation for being someone who doesn’t like delegating, as well as her interest in the serious machinery of government, rather than media gimmicks. She then underlined her serious reputation further by welcoming colleagues to the coffin-shaped table in Downing Street by saying the following:

‘When I launched my leadership campaign, I said that politics is not a game. The decisions that we take around this table affect people’s day-to-day lives and we must do the right thing.’

Perhaps the ‘not a game’ line was directed at Boris Johnson, who was sitting next to her.

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