This wasn’t the way Theresa May wanted it. The trials of Gordon Brown – anointed rather than elected as Prime Minister – are still fresh in the mind along Whitehall. May wanted an immediate mandate for her own leadership, not just from her MPs but from her party too. Of course her advisors harboured fears that Andrea Leadsom’s particular brand of home-spun, regressive Conservatism could post a threat to the heir apparent among the grassroots Brexiteers, even though the final bout in this long-running intrigue pitted a heavyweight champion against an amateur featherweight without the benefit of a decent press advisor. But May’s celebrations will be a shade more muted for her promotion going uncontested.

When party leaders fail after being chosen by a ballot of members, it is the fault of the grassroots in choosing a dead duck. When elected prime ministers fail at the job, the country backed the wrong horse. But when a PM-in-waiting is handed the job on a platter – even in the most spectacularly convoluted leadership contest modern politics has ever witnessed – and then fails, it is always the fault of the party. That is the lesson from the demise of Brown. So now there’s only one way Theresa May can get the mandate she craves and protect the party she has served: she must call an immediate general election.

By now the naysayers among you will be cautioning that this is not how parliamentary democracy works. We elect MPs, who then self-organise; we do not elect a president. Of course, that is literally the case, but in recent years the charisma and ability of individuals, rather than the collective power of the group, has come to define politics. How else to explain Boris Johnson and the core role he played in securing the vote in favour of Brexit? And cast your mind back (an almost incomprehensibly long way back now) to the success of the Liberal Democrats in forming a coalition after the 2010 general election: that was all about Nick Clegg and "Cleggmania".

May's Brexit vision

The old way of doing things, though it’s written in statute, no longer reflects the way we actually behave as voters. So if she wants to know her country is behind her, May will have to bite the ballot.

There are benefits to going early, not only for her party but for the country. A little Brexit fatigue may have set in, making a full general election campaign a lacklustre affair, but the rewards will be considerable when negotiations formally open over our departure from the European Union. Such delicate discussions require dedication and consistency; knowing that May will be leading them for a full five years will provide clarity, giving us the best chance of getting a decent deal out of the arrangement. She may have been a timid Remainer, but you can translate “Brexit means Brexit” as “business is business” – and she’s preparing to get down to it.

The markets, which reacted with predictable skittishness to the shock of Brexit, would settle in response to a five-year mandate for May’s Government, presuming she wins a comfortable majority.

That presumption is fair. While Andrea Leadsom, if she had gone the course, would have been a tough sell to the electorate, Theresa May would be a known quantity calling on her country for support at a time when they, too, are craving political stability. If she wants more than a few short years at the helm, she should go to the country early – before her own attempt at Cameron’s “hug-a-hoodie” politics has a chance to split her riven party further.

Going for a snap election has another benefit: it could kill off Ukip, and demolish the Labour party too. Angela Eagle’s ill-fated attempt to wrest back some control over what remains of an official opposition met a comic end when, after days of hesitation, a speech to launch her own leadership bid coincided almost to the second with the unexpected withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom from the Tory race. In a scene reminiscent of The Thick of It, she called on the ITV political journalist Robert Peston to address the room during the set-up of a choreographed joke – he, like most other senior lobby journalists, was not there. A classic lesson in doing your business or getting off the pan; May might learn from it.

Theresa May in quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Theresa May in quotes Theresa May in quotes On being described by the former chancellor Ken Clarke as “a bloody difficult woman”: “Politics could do with some Bloody Difficult Women actually” Rex Features Theresa May in quotes On keeping secrets even from her husband: “There are some things I am told that I am not able to confide in anybody” Rex Features Theresa May in quotes On the relentless focus on her appearance during a speech at the Women in the World summit: "I like clothes and I like shoes. One of the challenges for women in the workplace is to be ourselves and I say you can be clever and like clothes. You can have a career and like clothes” Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On comparisons to Margaret Thatcher: “I think there can only ever be one Margaret Thatcher. I’m not someone who naturally looks to role models. I’ve always, whatever job it is I’m doing at the time, given it my best shot. I put my all into it, and try to do the best job I can” AFP/Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On her rebelliousness, or lack of, as a teenager: “I probably was Goody Two Shoes at school” Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On being replaced as chairman by Lord Saatchi and Liam Fox in 2003: “Yes, it takes two men to step into the shoes of one woman” AFP/Getty Images Theresa May in quotes What Theresa May said when she was asked about her political ambitions during an interview with Miriam González Durántez, a lawyer married to Nick Clegg, in December: MD: "My very last question is: that little girl who is somewhere there, is she dreaming of becoming the next British Prime Minister?" TM: "She’s dreaming of carrying on doing a good job in the Home Office" Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On not being able to have children: “I like to keep my personal life personal. We couldn’t have children, we dealt with it and moved on. I hope nobody would think that mattered; I can still empathise, understand people and care about fairness and opportunity” Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On whether she can deliver the mandate of the EU referendum: “I think for party members and indeed for others, I would say look at my record. I think they can see that I’m somebody who gets on with the job, but I’m also somebody who says it as I see it and actually delivers on what I say” Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On the equally relentless obsession with her shoes: “As a woman I know you can be very serious about something and very soberly dressed add a little bit of interest with footwear. I always tell women ‘you have to be yourself, don’t assume you have to fit into a stereotype’ and if your personality is shown through your clothes or shoes, so be it” Getty Images

Tim Farron, whose Liberal Democrats are the only party who could feasibly benefit from an early vote, has already called on May to immediately announce the date of the next election. Whether she does so or not, it raises questions about taking the incoming PM at her word.

In her aborted campaign for the job, May said she would stick to a fixed-term parliament and wait until 2020 – although it's important to note that that was when she thought she would win a contest, rather than being handed the prime ministership on a plate.