"Strong and stable" or "strong and stable leadership" was a phrase often used by the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

in the run up to the 2017 general election. The slogan was criticised often by opponents of May, for its perceived robotic delivery and contradictory nature, also becoming an

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

Origins

According to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', the phrase may have originated from former Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

's resignation speech after the UK voted to leave the European Union: "stability ... strong, determined and committed leadership". David Cutts, professor of political science at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, has described the phrase as an example of compressing information to provide helpful cues to voters and reduce the time needed to acquire information.

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

used "strong and stable" in his resignation speech in 2010. David Cameron said the

Cameron–Clegg coalition The Cameron–Clegg coalition was formed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when Cameron was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government, following the resignation of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010, after the general el ...

would provide "strong and stable" leadership.

Use by Theresa May and others

"Strong and stable" was described as a

cliché A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...

and led to criticism that May was an ineffective political campaigner who could only talk in slogans. In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, May was stopped after saying "strong and stable" in the first 30 seconds, and was asked to not use

sound bite A sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full-length piece. In the context of journalism, a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence ...

s. During a

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

debate, Labour MP Paul Flynn sarcastically asked the chamber, through Speaker John Bercow, if a microchip had been planted in

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MPs' heads to repeat "strong and stable" every 18 seconds. Artist

Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...

designed a poster parodying the phrase and mocking the government's Brexit process. At a press conference during the election campaign, a reporter suggested that May was "weak and wobbly" rather than "strong and stable". This was repeated by other news outlets. At another point in the election campaign, a man presented opposition leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

with two bananas, one bearing the word "strong" and the other with the word "stable." Corbyn found the incident amusing even though the man had intended to suggest that his politics were bananas. After the election, May reportedly wanted to drop her "strong and stable" slogan because she felt it was making her look "stupid", and it was widely considered that the phrase had been overused and was becoming ever less effective.

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium from 2009 until 2024. He was a me ...

, the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

's coordinator for Brexit-related affairs, parodied the phrase by saying "Any Brexit deal requires a strong and stable understanding of the complex issues involved".

Later use

The phrase was still being associated with May in 2019, the year of her resignation as prime minister. ''The Guardian'' quipped, on a book collecting a few years of John Crace's politics sketches:

Bibliography

References

{{Theresa May, state=collapsed 2017 neologisms 2017 quotations British political phrases (2000–present) Internet memes introduced in 2017 Political Internet memes Political quotes Premiership of Theresa May Conservative Party (UK) terms 2017 United Kingdom general election