LONDON — This was a disaster with political consequences. A symbol of a Britain in which something isn’t right.

For an extra £5,000 during recent refurbishments, it was claimed on the front page of the Times, the 24-story Grenfell Tower in west London could have been clad in fireproof panels. Instead, the contractors went for the cheaper option — a decision which may have contributed to the deaths of at least 30 people in Wednesday's deadly blaze and probably many more.

Five minutes walk away from the block of council flats, a five-bedroom, semi-detached family home is for sale. Asking price: £15 million.

Side by side, oligarchs and Uber drivers. One set living in the most expensive streets in Europe, the other in rented flats owned by the local council, which opted not to retrofit a sprinkler system in the homes of its poorest residents.

For many this contrast is now too stark. A symbol of a Britain with vast wealth and never-ending austerity and of a London where the rich who caused the economic crash carry on as if nothing happened, while everybody else picks up the bill.

Fair or not, this is the narrative gaining ground, and one which has found its voice in Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, suddenly appearing like a leader for our times.

Corbyn's response to the disaster has been praised from all quarters. On Thursday morning he showed up to meet the tower’s residents, offering comforting arms and compassion, populist solutions and righteous anger. He even called for the nearby empty homes of overseas investors to be requisitioned to house the victims of the inferno.

It was a call that resonated with protestors who stormed Kensington and Chelsea Council Friday carrying posters of those still missing and placards that read "Justice."

One woman told BBC News: "Why should they go outside London [to be rehoused]? They've been here for years. Loads of houses are empty. Rehouse all of these people now."

May, by contrast, at first offered an official inquiry. She visited the scene hours earlier but did not meet the victims, holding a private meeting with the emergency services instead. And on Friday, after meeting the survivors of the fire at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, she announced a £5 million fund to pay for emergency supplies and a commitment to re-home the residents of the tower within three weeks and as close as possible to the local services they already use. The package of measures goes a long way to addressing the practical demands of residents.

"The individual stories I heard this morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital were horrific," said May, "I spoke with people who ran from the fire in only the clothes they were wearing. They have been left with nothing — no bank cards, no money, no means of caring for their children or relatives. One woman told me she had escaped in only her top and underwear."

May's flawed response

The move may go some way to shoring up the political damage, but May's initially flat-footed response to the tragedy reminded critics of her performance in the election campaign. One senior Conservative campaign official watched with dismay as May imploded in the public glare in the run-up to the election. If the fire, and her response, had taken place before polling day, “she would have lost ... and Corbyn would have deserved it,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A backlash against May within her party — already furious over the botched election campaign — now appears positively dangerous for her short-term, let alone long-term, future.

The former Tory deputy leader Michael Portillo spoke for many in the ranks when he addressed the issue on the BBC Thursday night. “Mrs. May was what she has been for the last five or six weeks. She wanted an entirely controlled situation in which she didn’t use her humanity.

“She met in private with the emergency services, a good thing to do no doubt, but she should have been there with the residents, which is what Jeremy Corbyn was doing. The prime minister would have been shouted at by the residents, but she should have been willing to take that.”

Tobias Ellwood, the defense minister, told the BBC's Question Time that "security concerns" had prevented the prime minister from visiting survivors. Hours later the queen arrived to meet the survivors, making a mockery of the excuse.

For Corbyn, a man written off and ridiculed by his colleagues in parliament and much of the media, it may prove seminal — a moment when he represents the public mood, like Rudy Giuliani after 9/11. In contrast, it may prove to be his peak when viewed five years from now, when the next election is theoretically due.

But for May it risks becoming her Hurricane Katrina, as Nigel Farage said on LBC Thursday night; pushing ahead as if nothing has changed, while people’s homes are literally going up in flames.

The prime minister’s appointment of Gavin Barwell, the former housing minister accused of sitting on a long-awaited review of housing regulations, as her chief of staff just days before compounded her problems, entrenching public opinion against her government.

There is also a deeper concern among Conservative MPs. One government minister who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity said he had been shocked at how quickly the disaster had turned political — a sign, he said, of the growing divide in the country between left and right, which has been exacerbated by Brexit.

“I find it disturbing how the politics of it all have become so toxic so quickly. I’ve never known a tragedy turn so quickly. The discourse has become so poisoned, it’s going to get very ugly in the U.K. I fear that does not bode well for forging unity over Brexit. It’s very concerning.”

The minister said it was like Gordon Brown’s implosion from strong chancellor to ridiculed prime minister — an implosion which may yet cost May her job.

“She’s not out of the woods yet,” he said. “The Tory party will take its collective breath over the summer and then we’ll see.”