May’s successor will run into the same Brexit problems – but would hope to not be as incompetent as her

She lost a Tory majority, and has refused to compromise during the withdrawal process. The conditions weren’t favourable to her though – and neither will they be to whoever comes next

When David Cameron announced a referendum on European Union membership in 2013, he said: “It is time to settle this European question in British politics.” Almost three years after the UK voted to leave, the question is not even close to being settled.

Brexit has now wrecked the careers of two prime ministers. Cameron, who promised to lance the boil of the poisonous Europe debate, resigned on the morning after the 2016 referendum – a year after winning the Tories’ first overall majority since 1992.

Now Theresa May has reluctantly admitted failure too. She struck a withdrawal agreement with the EU but united her domestic opponents against her: for Eurosceptics, it was not pure Brexit; for pro-Europeans, it was much worse than the status quo. For such an inflexible leader, the die was probably cast when she needlessly threw away the Tories’ majority by calling the 2017 general election.