UK politics may be unpredictable, but Theresa May’s resignation was one outcome most voters could have foreseen.

May failed on several occasions to persuade MPs to back her Brexit withdrawal plan and she fast became a lame-duck leader.

Her hardline colleagues, who hated aspects of her Brexit proposal, refused to budge, while Labour saw the dangers of doing a deal with a political dodo. It’s amazing she lasted this long.

May’s departure looks like it will lead to Boris Johnson becoming Tory Prime Minister, a development that will please Conservative party members, but will doubtless leave many ordinary voters fearing for the future.

In interviews this week, Johnson put a no-deal Brexit firmly back on the table.

Though he (or whoever wins) will face the same Brexit problems as May in this paralysed parliament, and though we can be fairly hopeful that MPs will never endorse the sort of hard Brexit he has been talking about, it does stick in the throat that this power will be inherited by a politician whose mandate has gone untested before the electorate.

Theresa May was handed the premiership (though she did go to the country, for purely selfish reasons) and has led us to this point, stuck to her redlines, abandoned compromise and ignored the devolved nations.

Now, when Boris (or whoever wins) does walk into Number 10, it will be thanks to Tory members, not voters.

At this time in the Brexit process, when so much is at stake, this situation must surely not be tolerated again. Surely it is time to hold a General Election.

Whoever wins the Tory leadership contest should present their plans for the country – and for Brexit – and give the people their say.

Voters may be fatigued, but it is time for US to decide.