Political popularity appears to be broad and sustained but, when eventually it is exhausted, the falling away of support is dramatic.
The front-runner to succeed Merkel has perfected the art of making not having a row, indeed not making a decision, sound reasonable.
Specifically for anti-Brexit politicians, the path to creating such a party lies firmly on what we think of as the Left;
Because the Chancellor’s coalition its riven by internal disputes, she has lost the authority to knock heads together on Brexit.
The German Chancellor faces a rebellion from her Bavarian allies on the question of immigration – and is pleading for more time before the EU summit.
Merkel has appalled her own followers by making sweeping concessions to the Social Democrats.
The German consensus which placed no significant party to the right of the CDU, thus bolstering it as a governing force, is breaking down.
Other than saying, “the state should stay out of things”, they haven’t had much to say. This must change. They need to set out how they’d do things better.
May’s manifesto is real politics – that’s to say, a serious attempt to prepare Britain for the post-Brexit challenges of the future.
The MP for Enfield Southgate helped to sink tax credit and Sunday Trading changes – and now has eye on the Government’s housing benefit plans for young people.
Tim Montgomerie’s capitalist ideal has a continental underpinning.