Here's a test for you: what was the last interesting thing the Prime Minister said? The thing we noticed, that stood out, that took a stand and risked controversy in pursuit of a cause?
The answer is: you can’t recall. Since the general election debacle earlier this year she has been largely irrelevant to the political conversation in this country.
That is because she lost her authority when she lost her majority. So instead of doing things, things are done to her. That now includes the composition of her Cabinet.
The loss of two Cabinet ministers, Sir Michael Fallon and Priti Patel, in one week confirms the old rule in politics that when it rains it usually pours.
They could be followed out of the door by Damian Green if the Cabinet Office inquiry finds against Mrs May’s deputy, or —just possibly — Boris Johnson, if the situation facing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran materially deteriorates as a result of the Foreign Secretary’s incompetence.
As we report today, and contrary to Johnson’s claims to Parliament, his remarks are being used by the Iranian regime to justify its imprisonment of this British citizen.
Precarious situation
But what is more revealing is the inability of the Prime Minister to use these Cabinet departures for a wider reshuffling of her team. For the clue to reshuffles is not who’s arriving but who’s leaving.
The new appointments, beaming as they walk up Downing Street in the gaze of the cameras, generate all the excitement on the day.
But it’s the disappointed, queuing up outside the Prime Minister’s parliamentary office to be fired in private the night before, who generate all the trouble.
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Strong premiers take that in their stride — being willing to be a good “butcher” is required by the job. Weak prime ministers don’t have the option. They’re stuck with the team they’ve got.
At present there’s lots of breathless commentary about promoting the stars of recent Tory intakes — and it is right that there is considerable talent there. Some of it has already been put to service in the front line.
Those who call for the advancement of the 2010 intake seem to have forgotten that the Home Secretary, Communities Secretary, Defence Secretary, Culture Secretary, Welsh Secretary, Chief Secretary and Chief Whip were all elected in 2010 — as was the outgoing International Development Secretary, Ms Patel.
Yes, it would be good to see more now of the 2015 intake and, in time, the 2017 cohort.
But the arrival of one or two fresh faces into the junior ministerial ranks isn’t going to change the ailing fortunes of the Government.
For every new arrival there has to be a departure. And the truth is that Mrs May simply cannot get away with firing a load of existing ministers.
If she does, they may turn around and fire her instead. Such is the precariousness of her situation. That’s what happens when you have — as the Evening Standard pointed out first in June — a Prime Minister in office but not in power.
There’s only one kind of reshuffle that will change that.
Time to remember
Big Ben has been silent for almost three months for repairs but it will chime again at 11 o’clock on Saturday for Armistice Day — the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — the time at which hostilities ceased in the Great War, in 1918.
It was the end of that historic carnage, but not, alas, the last of the casualties visited on British and other troops in wars since.
Today, Prince Harry visits the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey to lay a cross of remembrance at the graves of unknown soldiers from the world wars; after that he meets more recent veterans.
Remembering the sacrifice of soldiers in war is a task for each new generation, now as much as ever.
