The tributes are pouring in for Theresa May after the former prime minister announced that she will be stepping down at the next election. In a statement in the Maidenhead Advertiser, her local paper, May reiterated her support for Rishi Sunak and said she was leaving to spend more time on ‘causes close to my heart’ such as the fight against modern slavery. Sunak has in turn praised her as a ‘relentless campaigner’. May’s former chief of staff Gavin Barwell has said that future prime ministers should follow her example by remaining in parliament for a time as a backbencher following a period in No. 10.

May’s decision to step down adds to a growing sense that the party is bracing for defeat

As we discuss on the latest Coffee House Shots podcast, May has handled her post-prime ministerial career better than some of her predecessors – particularly David Cameron. Cameron is now attempting a reset of his post-No. 10 career with a stint in the Foreign Office. He floundered on first leaving the Commons, getting tangled up in a lobbying scandal. By contrast, May is often cited as a former prime minister focussed on public service while still managing to make millions on the post-PM speaking circuit.

As for her legacy, Andrew Gimson makes the point on ConservativeHome that the public often finds it easier to praise politicians after they have left office. He is referring to the current Prime Minister, arguing that ‘voters may soon lament that we no longer have at the head of affairs a man with a transcendent ability to master any complicated subject, and to work out the least bad way to proceed’.

Given the current polling, such a sentiment may be hard to believe. But Theresa May is evidence that reputations can improve after leaving frontline politics. She spent most of her premiership being viewed as weak. Now she’s talked up as a feminist icon. There’s a growing narrative that Brexit meant she was doomed from the beginning as there was no way to satisfy her divided party. However, she can’t escape some culpability for how things turned out. The 2017 election was at a time of her choosing and with a campaign she agreed to. It could have all been rather different if she had managed to secure the large majority her party expected – and had the authority to push a plan through.

As for what her departure means for the Tories, May’s decision to step down adds to a growing sense that the party is bracing for defeat. She is one of 64 MP elected as Tories who have announced they will quit – with more expected to follow. Despite one poll today putting the Conservatives on just 18 per cent and on course for a wipeout (it’s worth pointing out that other polls this week actually show the Tories narrowing the gap with Labour), many of these MPs are not quitting over a fear of losing their seat personally but instead because they believe the party is going into Opposition and don’t much fancy being around for it. It means the Tory parliamentary party after the election will look very different, not just because it will be smaller. There will also be plenty of new faces replacing those who have dominated over the past 14 years.

Listen to Katy Balls, James Heale and Isabel Hardman discuss Theresa May’s departure on Coffee House Shots: