It’s looking to be four women

As Britain’s political parties, with the exception of the strong Scottish National Party, lie in tatters – the governing Conservative Party and the Opposition Labour Party as a consequence of the referendum; the Liberal Party as a consequence of the last general election; and a veil best drawn over the UK Independence Party – it looks increasingly likely that four women will now be in charge.

Scotland’s First Minister and Northern Ireland’s First Minister are women already: Nicola Sturgeon and Arlene Foster. Angela Eagle is set to overthrow Jeremy Corbyn and steam-roll him into the wet tarmac, becoming Opposition leader. And the two most likely contenders for the Conservative Party leadership, and therefore to replace Cameron as Prime Minister, are Theresa May and (the ghastly) Andrea Leadsom.

As one political commentator after another has said on the British news channels, there is one thing which unites Remain and Leave voters, and that is the now universal contempt for the politicians who brought this about. And because almost all those politicians are men, and the only politician showing steady leadership in this terrible crisis is Nicola Sturgeon, the inevitable psychological fall-out is going to be a switch to women, I rather suspect. The fact that the available options are the worst kinds of women – the sugar-coated barbed wire Leadsom, the vacillating May and 1970s East Berlin camp-guard lookalike Eagle – isn’t particularly enthralling.

Angela Eagle – set to overthrow Jeremy Corbyn to become Opposition leader

Andrea Leadsom – main contender to replace David Cameron as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister

Theresa May – strongest rival candidate standing against Andrea Leadsom

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon

Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Arlene Foster