Theresa May, Britain's prime minister in waiting, has already given some hints about what her policies might be when she steps in -- and a bigger role for the state in the economy could be on the cards.
The country's interior minister since Prime Minister David Cameron was first elected in 2010, May is something of an unknown quantity on matters that fall outside of her Home Office brief.
Brexit will be the government's top priority but May has made clear that she is interpreting the results of last month's referendum as indicative of wider disenchantment and inequality within British society.
"The referendum was a vote to leave the European Union, but it was also a vote for serious change," she said this week in a speech that heavily criticised her own government's economic policies.
"This is a different kind of Conservatism," she said.
Some commentators said her policies sounded similar to some put forward by the left-of-centre opposition Labour party, while others said they ironically resembled European corporate practices.
Here is a summary of her pledges so far:
- Curbing corporate excess -
May has said she wants to be tough on "irresponsible behaviour in big business" and wants shareholder votes on corporate pay to be binding, not just advisory.
She has also called for greater transparency on bonuses and a system to ensure that "bosses' incentives are better aligned with the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders".
May also said she wants changes to competition law to prevent big utility firms and retail banks from "abusing their roles in highly-consolidated markets", as well as making comments about cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion that are typical of British Prime Ministers.
- Power to the workers? -
One of May's most important policy ideas so far has been a proposal to include consumers and employees on company boards as part of a series of measures she said would help "put people back in control".
The pledge is similar to corporate governance rules in Germany under which labour representatives hold half of the seats on the supervisory boards of any company with 2,000 or more workers.
The principle of "Mitbestimmung" -- "co-determination" -- was seen as instrumental in Germany's post-war economic boom but has been criticised by free-market thinkers and industry lobbyists for being too costly, slowing down decision-making and deterring foreign investors.
The Financial Times newspaper commented that May's policy announcements "may be a tactic to appeal to disaffected Tories and to capture the political centre ground when the Labour party remains in thrall to a hard-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn".
- Industrial policy? -
May criticised the near sale of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to Pfizer two years ago, saying the buyers would have been "transient shareholders" and had "a track record of asset stripping".
"A proper industrial strategy wouldn't automatically stop the sale of British firms to foreign ones, but it should be capable of stepping in to defend a sector that is as important as pharmaceuticals is to Britain," she said.
"We don't hate the state, we value the role that only the state can play," she said, adding that government should not be about "just the privileged few".
The Guardian newspaper's associate editor Martin Kettle said implementing these policies would be a "fascinating test" but warned she faced an uphill struggle against Britain's "anti-state" capitalism.
- Tough on immigration -
May will be expected to act decisively on curbing immigration -- a key demand from victorious Brexit campaigners who complained that hundreds of thousands of EU workers arriving every year drives down local wages and overburdens public services.
She has said there needs to be "control" on freedom of movement into Britain but has not spelled out what this might mean. More controversially, she has also said the status of the three million EU nationals already living in Britain should be up for negotiation.
In her six years at the Home Office, she cut down on the numbers of immigrants arriving from outside the EU, including a controversial policy of income limits for British citizens seeking to bring their foreign spouses or children into Britain.
Theresa May, Britain’s prime minister in waiting, has already given some hints about what her policies might be when she steps in — and a bigger role for the state in the economy could be on the cards.
The country’s interior minister since Prime Minister David Cameron was first elected in 2010, May is something of an unknown quantity on matters that fall outside of her Home Office brief.
Brexit will be the government’s top priority but May has made clear that she is interpreting the results of last month’s referendum as indicative of wider disenchantment and inequality within British society.
“The referendum was a vote to leave the European Union, but it was also a vote for serious change,” she said this week in a speech that heavily criticised her own government’s economic policies.
“This is a different kind of Conservatism,” she said.
Some commentators said her policies sounded similar to some put forward by the left-of-centre opposition Labour party, while others said they ironically resembled European corporate practices.
Here is a summary of her pledges so far:
– Curbing corporate excess –
May has said she wants to be tough on “irresponsible behaviour in big business” and wants shareholder votes on corporate pay to be binding, not just advisory.
She has also called for greater transparency on bonuses and a system to ensure that “bosses’ incentives are better aligned with the long-term interests of the company and its shareholders”.
May also said she wants changes to competition law to prevent big utility firms and retail banks from “abusing their roles in highly-consolidated markets”, as well as making comments about cracking down on tax avoidance and evasion that are typical of British Prime Ministers.
– Power to the workers? –
One of May’s most important policy ideas so far has been a proposal to include consumers and employees on company boards as part of a series of measures she said would help “put people back in control”.
The pledge is similar to corporate governance rules in Germany under which labour representatives hold half of the seats on the supervisory boards of any company with 2,000 or more workers.
The principle of “Mitbestimmung” — “co-determination” — was seen as instrumental in Germany’s post-war economic boom but has been criticised by free-market thinkers and industry lobbyists for being too costly, slowing down decision-making and deterring foreign investors.
The Financial Times newspaper commented that May’s policy announcements “may be a tactic to appeal to disaffected Tories and to capture the political centre ground when the Labour party remains in thrall to a hard-left leader, Jeremy Corbyn”.
– Industrial policy? –
May criticised the near sale of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to Pfizer two years ago, saying the buyers would have been “transient shareholders” and had “a track record of asset stripping”.
“A proper industrial strategy wouldn’t automatically stop the sale of British firms to foreign ones, but it should be capable of stepping in to defend a sector that is as important as pharmaceuticals is to Britain,” she said.
“We don’t hate the state, we value the role that only the state can play,” she said, adding that government should not be about “just the privileged few”.
The Guardian newspaper’s associate editor Martin Kettle said implementing these policies would be a “fascinating test” but warned she faced an uphill struggle against Britain’s “anti-state” capitalism.
– Tough on immigration –
May will be expected to act decisively on curbing immigration — a key demand from victorious Brexit campaigners who complained that hundreds of thousands of EU workers arriving every year drives down local wages and overburdens public services.
She has said there needs to be “control” on freedom of movement into Britain but has not spelled out what this might mean. More controversially, she has also said the status of the three million EU nationals already living in Britain should be up for negotiation.
In her six years at the Home Office, she cut down on the numbers of immigrants arriving from outside the EU, including a controversial policy of income limits for British citizens seeking to bring their foreign spouses or children into Britain.
