Corbyn and May in the Central Lobby of Westminster before Queen’s speech (Picture: SWNS)

Theresa May might technically be the one currently attempting to form a government, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that Corbyn’s really calling the shots.

The body language of the two leaders as they entered Parliament for the Queen’s Speech couldn’t have been more different.

May looked defeated and awkward, desperate to avoid eye contact and to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Corbyn, in contrast, looked confident and proud.


A hint of a smirk played across his face as he strode along in the procession.

The Queen’s Speech itself was basically an admission of defeat.



Missing from it were many key elements of the policy agenda laid out in the Conservative manifesto.

No grammar schools. No fox hunting. No cuts to free school meals. No hated ‘dementia tax’ – though admittedly they’d already u-turned on that before the election even took place.

The focus was almost entirely on exiting the EU, which itself feels like something of a farce.

After all, the pretence given for calling an election in the first place was that it would strengthen May’s Brexit negotiating hand.

Now she’s stuck between the various pro and anti-EU factions of her party, with the additional demands of the hardline DUP to placate.

The DUP, for their part, seem to be going out of their way to humiliate May at every opportunity.

They repeatedly publicly contradicted her after she prematurely announced a deal had been struck, and told journalists they were ‘surprised at the [low] level of negotiating experience’ in May’s government.

This fits with early reports from the ongoing Brexit negotiations, which suggest our country’s contingent is at risk of being eaten for breakfast.

The UK had failed to submit positioning papers days before talks were due to start, and caved on paying a divorce bill before proceedings had even formally begun.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and Theresa May last year (Picture: PA)

As unstable as all this seems, though, there’s no guarantee we’ll get another election anytime soon.

For there to be a vote of no confidence in May’s government, the DUP would have to abstain and a couple of Tory MPs would need to rebel.

A few fortunate by-elections could also tip things in Labour’s favour, but it’s also possible we’ll be forced to wait the full five years the Fixed-term Parliaments Act mandates.

Still, Corbyn is looking more and more like a Prime Minister in waiting with every day that passes.

Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy noted on Twitter that as the Labour leader spoke in Parliament this afternoon, a couple of Tory MPs asked him questions as if he was already in charge.

Two questions now from Tory MPs to Corbyn posed as if he is the Prime Minister – all a bit odd — Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@krishgm) June 21, 2017

His expression was that of a man who knows that everything is going his way, and suspects it’s only a matter of time before his party commands a commons majority itself – no dodgy deals with the DUP required.



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