Friday 24th May 2019, Theresa May made an emotional announcement that she would resign as Prime Minister for Britain on Friday the 7th June 2019. She’s the second female Prime Minister and inherited the turmoil of Brexit and charged with the responsibility of upholding the wishes of the nation to negotiate the exit from Europe. After three attempts, she found herself in a difficult position where neither her party or any of the opposing parties were willing to support her in her endeavour to bring closure to this difficult journey. Her departing speech, whilst anticipated, was not necessarily expected on this day.
As she delivered her final speech, she relayed her honour, commitment, and immense gratitude to have served her country. At the end of her speech, she was clearly overcome with tears and abruptly departed from the podium.
The successor of the office now has free reign to campaign for the office of Prime Minister. Some of her colleagues have previously supported her and others have made it clear of their intention to pursue her office, as they felt she lacked the confidence, ability and credibility the position required.
Britain continues to be in a rather tumultuous situation and the continued uncertainty leaves the country in a divisive position. Brexiteers and Remainers – both inside and out of the political arena – are both, dare I say, entrenched in their views, with very little or no space for compromise.
In the Prime Ministers most recent speech, she referred to a conversation with the great humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton – who saved the lives of hundreds of children by arranging their evacuation from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia through the Kindertransport – was my constituent in Maidenhead.
At another time of political controversy, a few years before his death, he took me to one side at a local event and gave me a piece of advice.
He said, ‘Never forget that compromise is not a dirty word. Life depends on compromise.’ He was right.
There are times in our lives when we need to make a decision and stick to it and there will be times to stick with our gut feeling or instinct.
If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing. ~ Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister. Compromise may well have its place, one just needs to know when and where.
The Bible tells us, To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1. May God grant unto us and our leaders an understanding of the season in which we now live.