Few commentators would have expected the Conservative Party to rally so quickly behind a new leader in the aftermath of the EU referendum campaign, but Theresa May’s position as Prime Minister now looks exceptionally strong, with Labour offering little electoral challenge and Number 10 looking determined to manage policy firmly from the centre. It’s already clear that May will not take the ‘chairman’ approach to leadership preferred by her predecessor.
As Home Secretary May was feared and loathed by universities thanks to her dogged determination to restrict international student recruitment and her zealous implementation of anti-terror legislation. Her new government shows every indication of going even further than she was able under the last and May has previously declared her pride in standing up to university lobbyists on these matters. The PM and her team are also leading on fresh policy that could have far-reaching consequences for the sector such as the reintroduction of grammar schools. The new Prime Minister’s leadership will define the terms of Brexit and by extension the climate in which higher education institutions will have to learn to operate. The decisions required of her during the coming years will dominate the nation’s and the sector’s agenda in a way that few of her predecessors have had the reach or capital to influence.
Last year’s number one has fallen off the Power List completely. Find out why.