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Karla Adam
London correspondent covering the United Kingdom
BIRMINGHAM, England – The British Prime Minister took the stage on Wednesday at the Conservative Party conference, dancing in her inimitable style of Theresa May – that's stiff, awkward, but enthusiastic – of the song "Dancing Queen" of Abba in 1976
That's the way May said she would not back down – not to her former foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, who had flung his schemes to Brexit the day before; nor the Labor Party opponent Jeremy Corbyn, whom she accused of hating Britain; nor the stubborn negotiators in Brussels who call for his proposals to leave the European Union unenforceable.
In the conference room in Birmingham, many conservatives said that they were now hoping that May could rally the party behind her and avoid a disastrous exit from the European bloc.
"I feel inspired," said Jayne Rear, a Conservative Party member on the Lancashire Local Government Board. "Theresa May is back in top form."
On social media, some articles praised the 62 – year – old prime minister for her self – conscious humor (she had mocked her after making a few moves during a recent trip to Africa. ), while others have lamented that Abba is now ruined. for them.
Abba's single "SOS" might have been a better choice, joked the critics. The liberal democrats tweeted: "When Brexit is in chaos but your only answer is Dancing Queen."
At the Conservative Party's annual conference, we wondered if May could face a leadership challenge. Rumors swirl daily of plots to replace her. But it does not seem that there is still a challenger to the courage and support to overthrow May during a vote of no confidence.
Many now believe that Wednesday's May speech will help him stay in office – at least for the next six months.
On Tuesday, Johnson – who remains a Conservative MP and is widely believed to aspire to become prime minister one day – lamented the May Brexit compromise proposal, which aims to preserve trade with Europe in Europe. aligning Britain with EU rules and regulations. Johnson described his approach as sad, bad, weak, dangerous and "cheat" against the millions of Britons who voted for the continent's divorce.
He urged May to "chuck Checkers," his plan dubbed the name of the Prime Minister's country mansion, and instead attempt to enter into a free trade agreement modeled on the pact recently negotiated between Canada and the United States. ;European Union.
After Johnson's speech – which was applauded by the other conservatives – May confessed to the BBC that she was "angry" with her colleague. She had it clearly in mind, although she never mentioned it by name, when she had her turn to the rostrum.
"If we all go in different directions in search of our own vision of the perfect Brexit, we risk not having a Brexit," she told the conference.
May warned: "We are entering the most difficult phase of negotiations."
She said: "What we are proposing is very difficult for the EU."
May has also prepared his party and the country for the possibility that Britain will leave the bloc in March 2019 without any agreement – a "catastrophic scenario" for many businesses that depend on trade with the continent.
"No one wants more than me. But that never meant getting an agreement at any cost, "said May. "Britain is not afraid to leave without agreement if we have to do it. But we must be honest about it. Leaving without an agreement – introducing expensive tariffs and controls at the border – would be a bad result for the UK and the US. "
May promised that Britain would leave the union next year and she expressed contempt for her opponents of the Labor Party who called for a second referendum on Brexit.
"They call it a" vote of the people ". But we had the people's vote. People voted to leave, "said May. "A second referendum would be a politician vote: politicians will tell people that they were wrong the first time and that they should try again."
Closing the conservative conference, May sought to reassure Britain of her progress.
"A decade after the financial crash, people need to know that the austerity that it has achieved is over and that their hard work has paid off," said May, promising to help strengthen the park. housing, improve care in overcrowded hospitals, and train traffic. on time.
"I thought it was absolutely great," BBC health advisor Matt Hancock told the BBC. "From the moment she went to dance, you could see that she had mojo, and the speech was made about it."
Jon Tonge, a professor of politics at the University of Liverpool, said it was an "8 out of 10" speech that was well received by Conservative Party members, who "can not make up their minds with Boris Johnson." ".
But there was a "huge omission," said the professor.
"There was no mention of the Checkers plan on Brexit, a huge omission, because if she can not sell this plan to her party, her leadership and the entire Brexit deal are in question," said Tonge.
"If you are trying to sell a plan and you really believe it, you will surely do it in your most important speech of the year," he said.
He added that May could move towards a Brexit model more popular with critics such as Johnson, partly to "usurp the threat that comes from him".
Adam brought back from London.
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