North Shropshire

Just an old Prussian tradition So it’s auf wiedersehen to Angela Merkel who left office recently, she was Chancellor of Germany for 16 years. Back in 2005 it was a very different world, we had Tony Blair as our PM, in the USA George W Bush was President while Jacques Chirac held that role in France. Even so it’s worth looking at Merkel’s rise and departure and assessing her legacy. The latter is an unhealthy obsession with all leaders now and seems to dominate their time in office. We see this with Johnson on a regular basis during the two years he has been PM. With Merkel now gone from office we shall see if the eulogising of her continues and make no mistake here, for throughout her political life she could rely on a level of praise from the liberal left who adored her that came close to worship. It’s at this point we should note that this did not happen with Johnson, his rise to fame was very different. These people who praised Merkel did so not for what she did but for simply being the Chancellor of Germany. So will we see the adulation give way to a more critical analysis? Yes some people have been critical and their criticism goes back a long way, see HERE and HERE. Generally speaking she got an easy ride but did she deserve it?