A VERY genteel coup d’état took place yesterday as Theresa May won the Tory leadership election, with less than 200 Tory MPs selecting the next Prime Minister of the UK.

No tanks in the streets, not even the members of the Tory party were invited to select the single candidate. Vladimir Putin, ‘Bob’ Mugabe and Kim Jong Il would be impressed I’m sure to see a contest decided in the best traditions of a ‘banana republic’.

TIMOTHY J OATES Peter’s Road, Abingdon