How Does He Survive? The Curious Case of 'Failing Grayling'

[T_i_B]

You know things are bad when an article like this gets in the New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/world/europe/grayling-ferries-uk.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

While the trials, tribulations and humiliations of Prime Minister Theresa May have occupied center stage in the carnival of British politics, Chris Grayling has starred in a black comedy sideshow of his own. He has bumbled his way from one government post to another, accused of making a hash of each, and becoming a byword for haplessness in a golden age of political blundering in Britain.

While Mr. Grayling’s survival in the leadership has baffled many Britons, the reason, analysts say, is simple: Brexit. He is a rare breed of Conservative politician, one who is both a loyalist of Prime Minister Theresa May and a strongly pro-Brexit campaigner, but without the ideological baggage of the far right. Until Brexit happens, the combination makes him virtually impossible to fire.

“The lot of Brexiteers who are willing to work with Theresa May and aren’t bonkers is quite small,” said Rob Ford, a politics professor at the University of Manchester. “And one can argue he’s incompetent, but he’s not a flaming ideologue.”

Naming Mr. Grayling the transport secretary helped resolve one of her main preoccupations as prime minister, former advisers said: having an even balance of pro- and anti-Brexit ministers in her cabinet. Other Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab quit their high-profile posts, but Mr. Grayling remained a stalwart supporter.