Leadership

The chattering classes are beginning to recognise their problem with President Trump. He talks and tweets as a fool; but [mostly] he acts as a wise man who takes good counsel. He leaves the major departmental heads to do the talking in their respective areas of responsibility, and publicly defers to their judgement most of the time. Now he has convened the whole Senate to come to the White House, to be briefed by his colleagues [under his aegis] on the Korea problem. Those who write him off are in danger of writing themselves off.

Meanwhile, Mrs May increasingly shows signs of lack of principle, weak grasp of the law, and lack of economic understanding; yet all that is combined with a determination to be top dog and final decision-taker. She seems to want to be arch-Brexiteer, without understanding what is involved. Meanwhile Corbyn increasingly shows himself to be a 'sixties schoolboy-socialist, even when reading formal speeches produced by a team of intelligent, despairing party officials: surely nobody can trust his maturity or fitness to rule. Farron's party will attract votes, and may gain seats, simply by default of the other parties: the Liberal leader will carry no conviction even as a coalition partner [which he says he will not be, when he has no chance on offer]. Ms Davidson will gain the Tories a small clutch of seats in Scotland; which may compensate for the Tory seats that will fall to the Liberals and to apathy of old Tories [and Remoaners] in reaction to Mrs May's dull and pusillanimous performances.

In France, the totally untested Macron faces up to lePen, who is surely seen as un-electable by a majority of her fellow citizens, even though they are acutely concerned about immigration and the fecklessness of Merkel's minions in Brussels  in the face of terror. Merkel is not a leader; as befits her upbringing in a parsonage in East Germany, she is a power broker and dispenser of patronage: her only memorable statements are those on mass immigration that have rent the EU quite significantly, and taught her that it is better not to sound off.

So, all in all, this is not a good time to be a follower [or just an ordinary voter]: there is less quality up for election than ever before: except in the USA?