LONDON: Theresa May’s decision to resign over her failure to resolve the Brexit crisis makes her the fourth British prime minister to fall foul of the European curse.

The issue is a particular problem for the Conservative Party, pitting its traditional, eurosceptic wing against its more pro-EU modernisers, and all four victims have been Tory leaders.

Here is the trail of British premiers taken down by the Europe issue:

Margaret Thatcher

The Iron Lady was already weakened by the disastrous roll-out of her “poll tax”, but it was Britain’s relationship with the nascent European Union that delivered the coup de grace.

She had long wrestled with whether Britain should join the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), a forerunner of the euro, deciding to do so in 1990 — but not before losing trusted finance minister Nigel Lawson.

Keen to bolster her credentials among eurosceptics, she then made a famous speech against European federalism.

Its tone was too much for some members of her government, with deputy prime minister Geoffrey Howe’s subsequent resignation triggering a rebellion that saw Thatcher herself quit three weeks later.

John Major

Major took over from Lawson as Thatcher’s finance minister, overseeing Britain’s doomed entry into the ERM, and replaced Thatcher after her reluctant departure.

But his government also oversaw Britain’s humiliating exit from the ERM on “Black Wednesday”, when Britain was no longer able to keep the pound above its agreed lower limit.

Major then negotiated the Maastricht Treaty that furthered political integration and founded the European Union despite bitter opposition from many in his own party.

He was caught on a hot mic calling three rebels “bastards” and survived one leadership attempt.

But he was politically wounded going into the 1997 general election against Labour’s rising star Tony Blair and went down in a record defeat.

David Cameron

Political calm on the European front under Blair was shattered when Conservative Party leader David Cameron promised a referendum on Britain’s membership in 2016.

He was trying to head off the rise of the stridently eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP), whose leader Nigel Farage had capitalised on growing voter anger with the EU to pose a genuine electoral threat Cameron hoped to gain meaningful concessions on immigration to sell Britain’s EU membership, but failed and was left stunned when the country voted by 52 percent to 48 percent to leave.

He ended his six-year tenure hours later, saying the country “requires fresh leadership” to manage the departure.

Theresa May

Interior minister Theresa May, who supported Remain but kept a low profile during campaigning, took over from Cameron after infighting took out the party’s big-hitting pro-Brexit candidates.

She rebranded herself as an enthusiastic supporter of leaving, setting out red lines on quitting all the EU’s institutions.

But she was fatally weakened by her hapless performance in a snap election, called in a bid to bolster her majority and pass the required legislation in a parliament dominated by Remain supporting MPs.

Surviving as leader only through a pact with Northern Ireland party the DUP, much of May’s authority slipped away to MPs and her ministers Nearly two years of talks yielded May’s Withdrawal Agreement, but it was immediately attacked from both sides and rejected by parliament on three occasions.

Hoping to win its approval on a fourth and final attempt next month, May made concessions that ended up upsetting most of her party and bringing no converts to her side.

Facing the threat of being ousted from power by her own party, May decided to step down before she was pushed out.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2019