16th May 2026 This was a week when we got to consider the office of Prime Minister, again. The current occupant has somehow, through a sequence of decisions and non-decisions, made themselves a lame duck – despite a thumping majority two years ago and three years of a parliamentary terms to go. It is quite an impressive under-achievement, given the powers and privileges a Prime Minister has at their disposal. But for a Prime Minister to be on their way out is, as this blog has stated before, not unusual. Since 1974 every single Prime Minister has come to office or left office between general elections, and recently both. The classic model of a Prime Minister coming and leaving power at a general elections has not happened in over fifty years. What, however, is becoming distinctive is the speed with which Prime Ministers come and go. Since 2016 the churn has been quite remarkable. The long terms of Thatcher (eleven years) and Blair (ten years) now seem form another age. Why? * Alan…
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