Really?
I think this is wildly overrating what was basically a slick opposition performance dressed up as statesmanship.
Being good at PMQs, delivering rehearsed lines with confidence, and generating viral clips for supporters online is not evidence of the judgement, seriousness, or competence needed to run a country. Modern politics rewards performance over substance, and far too many people confuse sounding forceful with actually being right.
“The government had no comeback” usually just means her side enjoyed the clip. Parliament is full of politicians landing theatrical one liners while avoiding the difficult detail underneath. It is entertainment for politically engaged social media users far more than it is proof of intellectual depth.
Opposition politicians nearly always look more impressive than they really are because they never have to deal with consequences. You can promise everything, simplify every problem, and sneer at every compromise when you are not the one responsible for making the machinery of government actually work. Governing means trade offs, constraints, crises, and decisions that upset your own supporters. It is easy to sound uncompromising when you never have to implement anything.
The idea the Conservatives would simply have flourished under figures like Kemi Badenoch instead of people like Boris Johnson also feels deeply naive. The party’s problems were structural, ideological, and largely self inflicted. Brexit divisions, economic incoherence, constant factionalism, culture war obsession, collapsing public trust after years of chaos and scandal. One polished communicator was never going to magically fix all that.
There is also something politically jarring about the way she talks about immigration and national identity. She personally benefited from Britain’s relatively open citizenship rules and immigration system, yet now often speaks in a way that suggests deep suspicion towards modern immigration and multiculturalism. People can legitimately support tighter immigration controls without being hypocrites, but critics are entitled to question whether she sometimes sounds like someone pulling the ladder up behind her.
And honestly, comments about how “fantastic” she looks or how “fun” she must be at parties just underline how celebrity driven politics has become. People talk about politicians like they are media personalities rather than people who might one day have responsibility for the economy, public services, national security, and foreign policy.
Yes, she is articulate and media trained. Plenty of politicians are. That still does not prove she has the depth, discipline, judgement, or credibility to be a genuinely effective national leader rather than simply an effective political performer.