Because she has never been elected to anything, was never a particularly senior or influential politician in the UK, has barely had 12 months taking over an existing brief and mandate as a trade negotiator on behalf of the EU - has she changed anything, achieved anything on a European scale?  The brief was for a nominally leftist women to balance male right wingers in all the other EU leadership positions.  In the end it had to be a Brit to get Brown to back off Blair.  There wasn't anyone else left...

notes from no w here