Lady May, as the 67-year-old former prime minister, will now be known, occupied Downing Street from 2016 to 2019, a period of extraordinary tumult in British politics in the wake of the Brexit vote. When she entered No 10 in 2016, Lady May was seen as the “safe pair of hands”, expected to successfully negotiate a departure agreement with the European Union. Steely and principled with the brisk, no-nonsense air of a school headmistress, she had already survived six years as home secretary, the longest holder in more than 60 years of an office traditionally regarded as a political graveyard.
Branded a “bloody difficult woman” by her former cabinet colleague Ken Clarke, she embraced the jibe saying that was exactly what the country needed as it entered talks with Brussels. However, she proved unable to bridge the bitter divisions opened up within the Conservative Party and in the country at large by the referendum. Having supported Remain – albeit with little visible enthusiasm – she was never fully trusted by Brexit ultras.
In Europe, her perceived intransigence and lack of “soft” diplomatic skills meant she struggled to build the kind of alliances which might have smoothed the UK’s departure. After seeing her proposed withdrawal agreement with the EU roundly defeated three times in the Commons, she finally announced she was quitting in a tearful statement on the steps of Downing Street. “I have done my best,” she said, but admitted it had not been enough.
.