The Economist has published its first cover on Theresa May’s premiership - and it’s not very flattering.
In a leader and a briefing on her first six months in power, the paper lists her ditherings and backtracking and calls her record disappointing.
The cover image got some attention on Twitter, with Conservative heavyweight Tim Montgomerie calling May “our Grand Old Duke of York” and author and former political columnist Robert Harris comparing it to the infamous Telegraph attacks on former Prime Minister Anthony Eden.
One insider at the paper told Huff Post UK he suspected Downing Street would “go apeshit” over the piece.
“They are going to hate it. They really don’t like us. We were more popular with Cameron and Osborne”, he said, but added that the paper had been tougher on Gordon Brown.
“We were very taken with Cameron, we were very disappointed with Brown. Theresa May is in the middle.”
This is unlikely to soothe former Brown spin doctor Charlie Whelan, who got into a Twitter spat with the Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow over Thursday’s cover.
As Guido points out, the paper was much kinder to David Cameron, a few months in to his premiership:
But here’s the Economist take on Brown:
And here’s their cover on a newly elected Tony Blair:
