Mrs May is the third Tory leader to call - and lose - a snap election, as Alistair Lexden explained in a letter published in The Times on June 10.
Sir, Two previous Tory prime ministers called snap elections. Both Stanley Baldwin in December 1923 and Ted Heath in February 1974 lost, but both survived as Tory leaders.
Heath was well entrenched after nine years in firm command of his party. It took another election defeat to undermine his authority fatally.
Like Mrs May, Baldwin had only been in Downing Street for a few months. Like her, he had sought a clear mandate for a highly divisive policy, in his case the introduction of economic protection. Furious colleagues wanted to oust him as leader. He hung on because none of the party’s big beasts could mount an effective challenge after years in coalition with the discredited Lloyd George. Baldwin swiftly ditched the policy that had led to catastrophe, an option not open to Mrs May, who will have to persevere with Brexit. She may not remain long at the head of her ruthless party.
Lord Lexden
Official historian, Conservative Party