Theresa May might have just had the worst day any politician has had on the campaign trail. Ever.

Theresa May didn’t have a good day on 2 May. She started it off by making national headlines for locking local journalists in a room and not allowing them to film her. Then she visited a Cornish seaside town and even managed an Ed Miliband moment while eating chips.

And she topped it all off by visiting Bristol to speak to the party faithful. But while journalists were allowed to attend, May only allowed three questions, which were picked in advance.

You what?

Yes. The Prime Minister of this country is too afraid to take unfiltered questions from the press. She is controlling her message so tightly that she is only taking pre-agreed questions. Her answers can, therefore, be tightly scripted. And she knows there are no nasty questions lurking about nurses using foodbanks or school funding being decimated.

So what were the questions?

So out of all the major issues facing the UK and May’s government, what were the three questions that the Prime Minister picked to answer?

The first, from Heart FM, asked about Diane Abbott’s pledge for Labour to put more police officers on the streets. May’s response predictably involved the phrases “strong and stable” and “coalition of chaos”.

The second question wasn’t much harder. BuzzFeed asked about George Osborne’s new job as editor of The Evening Standard, referencing his comments that Brexit was a historic mistake and May had nothing but “slogans”. The Prime Minister wished Osborne luck in his new job. And she then parroted “strong and stable” and “coalition of chaos” again.

Lastly, The Daily Mail asked:

Does Mrs May fear there could be interference by Vladimir Putin’s Russia in the general election – and if there was a cyber act, would she consider it an act of war?

To which she replied with a bland answer about the government working to ensure no one can intervene in the election. At least there was no talk of a pre-emptive nuclear strike, though.

What would you ask Theresa May?

The Bristol Post took aim at May for ignoring local issues. It said:

there were obvious questions to be asked about Bristol East – and if the Tories have the confidence to retake the seat from Labour’s Kerry McCarthy, who has been MP since 2005. She could also have been fielded questions about funding cuts to Bristol’s schools – among the worst in the UK. Or maybe even questions about foodbanks, and the increased use by children in Bristol… How about the housing crisis… homelessness… cuts to councils’ budgets? Or the universal credit, or poverty? All major issues in Bristol.

And there’s a real pattern of May avoiding the questions we’d all like to ask. Liz Williams, one resident in Cornwall who would have liked to have seen May on 2 May, told The Canary she would have asked the following questions:

But given that May doesn’t want to speak to ordinary people, or even independent journalists, it’s very unlikely that we’ll get any answers.

A shambolic event

In short, this was yet another shambolic and patronising event. And according to Twitter users, local people were once again kept away:

Theresa May speaks to Tory supporters at Bristol social club – its secretary says the people who usually socialise there not invited pic.twitter.com/nb115ieoh6

— Rowena Mason (@rowenamason) May 2, 2017

And her speech was full of her usual soundbites:

https://twitter.com/AdrianBlount1/status/859466597123141633

Even The Bristol Post couldn’t contain its sarcasm regarding May’s catchphrases. By the end of the second question, its live blog stated:

You’ll be able to remember them in your sleep by now…

From bad to worse…

And if Theresa May’s day hadn’t been bad enough already, the careful planning all went wrong, with ordinary local people booing her away:

In short, 2 May was a disastrous day for the Prime Minister. She might have a very carefully scripted and stage-managed programme. But by ignoring local journalists and locking them in rooms, she’s scoring a massive own goal. Because they’re turning against her. And what could have been puff pieces are turning into sarcastic criticism.

Meanwhile, Corbyn is out meeting the public, answering questions, getting standing ovations from headteachers, and generally showing Theresa May what a “strong” leader should look like.

May apparently hopes that, if she says the same three phrases over and over again, that the British public will eventually submit and agree. It’s down to all of us to show her that we’re not that gullible.

Get Involved!

– Register to vote in the 8 June general election. If you don’t have a national insurance number, a 5 minute phone call on 0300 200 3500 will get it sent to you in ten days.

– Discuss the key policy issues with family members, colleagues and neighbours. And organise! Join (and participate in the activities of) a union, an activist group, and/or a political party.

– Also read more Canary articles on the 2017 general election.

Featured image via Flickr