They weren’t, and in the cases of May and Major, it undid them, as plenty of their ministers and MPs did, and it’s hard for someone who hasn’t been through that particular wringer to understand and therefore work with the mindset. Also, people who went through it will invariably look down at people who did not, as those who did not have no idea what it is to suffer, to stand utterly alone — always — and therefore their judgment cannot be trusted, as it is clouded by softness and emotion.