Theresa may

Sometimes as an investor, you wish your Prime Minister or President would keep their thoughts to themselves. Perhaps hold off on that keynote speech about Brexit? Brush over that State of the Union address? Why? You may ask. Because it plays havoc with your investment strategy, that’s why. And I don’t think the likes of Theresa May and Donald Trump realise what they might be doing to someone’s investment portfolio. The research from spread-betting firm ETX Capital shows that large fluctuations in the value of the pound can be seen after Mrs May’s speeches. Source: ETX Capital Last year, the pound was weak against a basket of currencies, including the

When David Cameron and George Osborne were in government, the pair heralded a new ‘golden era’ where the UK would be China’s ‘best partner in the West’. However, since Theresa May moved into No 10, questions have been raised about the health of this partnership. Osborne ally Lord O’Neill has criticised May for a focus on New Zealand when the priority should be China. Meanwhile, just last week Osborne appeared underwhelmed by May’s trip to China – telling the Today programme that she needed ‘a plan to engage with the rest of the world like China’. Further still, the paper Osborne edits – the Evening Standard – claimed that May had held a

Theresa May’s MPs are now constantly pressuring her to come up with a ‘vision’ of what she wants to do, whether it be on Brexit or on the domestic front. Those who are more sympathetic to the Prime Minister’s caution, though, argue that her vision is constrained by the parliamentary arithmetic. Why try something that just isn’t going to get through the House of Commons? One answer would be that May wouldn’t lose all that much by trying and failing than she thinks. As I wrote last week, she is currently more in danger of weakening her authority by not trying at all. But another is that the Prime Minister

At political Cabinet this week, the chief whip warned ministers how difficult it was to hold the Tory party together, I write in The Sun this morning. Julian Smith warned them that noises off from the Cabinet made it even more of a struggle to maintain unity. Smith is right. The Tory party is dangerously divided, a split is a real possibility. He’s also right that ministers sounding off over Brexit heighten these tensions. But what he didn’t mention is the most important thing, the need for leadership. Ministers are putting forward their views on Brexit so publicly because there isn’t a clear government position. They think everything is still

It’s not a good sign when a party finishes the week with MPs making the same complaints as they did at the start. Yet that is where the Conservatives are now, with the malcontents still fretting that there is no sense of vision or authority from the leadership. One thing that has changed is that the Tory party now seems rather more noticeably split over how MPs should be behaving. There is the camp who say, either privately or publicly, that Theresa May should go because things are only going to get worse under her leadership. But then there are others who are furious with anyone agitating for a change

Despite having to answer questions about whether or not she is a ‘quitter’, Theresa May must be reasonably glad that she’s got a few days’ escape from her domestic agenda while she is visiting China. But being away does mean that she has left her party to stew without her, and it’s not clear that those around her are doing much to calm things down. Over the past few days, I’ve spoken to a range of Conservative backbenchers and ministers who either privately or publicly hold concerns about the way May is leading (or isn’t, as the case may be). All agree that things are rather critical for the Prime

Oh dear. Theresa May’s bad week just got worse. On top of Tory MPs taking to social media, the airwaves and the papers to criticise her, it now seems that Conservative peers are going public with their grievances. In the new issue of Tatler magazine, Baroness Trumpington – who retired from the Lords last year – offers a rather frank assessment of the Prime Minister. When asked about May, the 95-year-old Lords stalwart and former land girl offers a trade mark V-sign to the interviewer: ‘As I ask a question about Theresa May, Lady Trumpington flicks her fingers at me from across the table in her Chelsea care home, making the

Can Theresa May really solve the latest crisis affecting her leadership? Previously, her survival owed a great deal to Conservative backbenchers, who vowed to protect her against a badly-behaved Cabinet, but everyone is restless now. So what can she do? The Prime Minister isn’t going to have a personality transplant, but this doesn’t mean that she is destined to continue doing absolutely nothing. She may never be able to conjure up small talk with her own MPs, but she has in the past shown that she can make bold decisions (the snap election was, admittedly, a bad example of this) and have a reforming zeal. The absence of any activity

How much trouble is Theresa May in? Just three weeks ago, it looked as though the Prime Minister was at her strongest point since the disastrous snap election. Now, the BBC 10 o’clock news is leading on questions about her survival – with reports of irrepairable drift, Brexit rifts. The Sunday papers are filled with a deluge of negative headlines depicting a party out of control – including on-the-record criticism from Conservative MPs. Former minister Theresa Villiers has gone on the airwaves to warn that the Prime Minister could be about to sell a lie on Brexit. What’s more, reports claim that the influx of letters to Graham Brady continues to

It’s no great secret that Davos isn’t Theresa May’s natural habitat. Whether it’s eschewing meetings with businessmen to have a private fondue or giving speeches warning the guests at the event, the Prime Minister isn’t a natural at the flashy meeting of the global elite. So, reports that May spoke to a half-empty crowd yesterday have been quick to do the rounds on social media, with users joking that the one thing May and Trump have in common is an inability to pull in a crowd (as with his inauguration).  Politico report that the crowd’s reaction ‘was extremely muted’ – and that Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, ‘chose to join

Donald Trump is in love again. Theresa May can’t guarantee Trump an effusive welcome if he visits Great Britain and they don’t appear to have held hands. But Trump seemed to indicate that the rough patch in their relationship is over. Meeting with May today at Davos, Trump declared, `We love your country.’ He thereby welcomed May back to what amounts to his personal Presidents Club. For May, Trump’s amorous avowal must come as a big relief. She was the first foreign leader to visit the White House in January 2017. But French president Emmanuel Macron has now upstaged her by becoming the first to receive a state visit. Macron,