May and Trump: The new Thatcher and Reagan?

Is Britain’s new prime minister, Theresa May, the next Margaret Thatcher? There are similarities.

May is certainly as tough as the Iron Lady. As home secretary for longer than any of her predecessors, she has strongly opposed uncontrolled immigration. The Home Office introduced visa restrictions that require non–European Union immigrants living in Britain for fewer than 10 years to minimally earn the equivalent of about US$47,000, so as not to be a drain on social welfare programs. With Britain’s planned exit from the European Union, that policy could be broadened to include all immigrants.

In a speech to her Conservative Party last year and in more recent remarks, May has struck a chord with British citizens who feel they are losing their country and its unique characteristics to foreigners who refuse to assimilate. “When immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it’s impossible to build a cohesive society,” she told fellow party members.

And while announcing her candidacy for prime minister last month, she added, “There are millions of people in poorer countries who would love to live in Britain. And there is a limit to the amount of immigration any country can and should take.”

This has driven the left nuts. They have accused her of everything, except being a lady. It seems the last thing the British and American left want is a cohesive society, because such a society would not allow them to pit groups against each other, dividing and conquering at the ballot box.

Here’s something else that should appeal to average British citizens, at least the older ones, who are mostly more reserved than Americans and younger Brits. Says May, “I’m not a showy politician. I don’t tour the television studios. I don’t gossip over lunch. I don’t drink in Parliament’s bars. I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me.”

That two women competed to replace David Cameron ought to have delighted feminists. Not so. For the left, it isn’t really about electing more women to political office; it’s about electing more liberals, some of whom can be women.

History doesn’t always repeat, but the political stars seem to be aligning over London and Washington for a possible sequel to what happened with Thatcher’s election win in 1979. Ronald Reagan’s victory followed a year later.

While May is ideologically closer to Thatcher than Trump is to Reagan, Trump has picked up on a theme that worked for both Reagan and Nixon. Following the Dallas ambush and the protests that have exploded in major cities, Trump has styled himself as the law-and-order candidate. That this is occurring in an election year should be no surprise, but just as riots in the streets contributed to Republican victories in 1968, the political fallout this year might repeat.

In a recent speech in Virginia Beach, Va., Trump said: “We must maintain law and order at the highest level, or we will cease to have a country ... I am the law and order candidate.”

Britain and the United States are experiencing social and political turmoil. Both nations are perceived by many to have weak leaders. Trump and May display strength, and in troubled times British and American voters have demonstrated that they prefer strength to weakness.

© 2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.