As we come to the end of Theresa May’s first full week as Prime Minister, she hasn’t quite been the Prime Minister Westminster was expecting. As I say in The Sun today, even her supporters thought that she would be solid, dependable but a bit dull—as befits someone whose sporting hero is Geoffrey Boycott.
But May has shown quite a bit of flair in the last few days. She swept Jeremy Corbyn for six at PMQs on Wednesday; demonstrating a comic timing that we hadn’t seen from her before. On her European tour this week, she confidently showed off her language skills.
So, what’s going on? Well, those who have worked with her for a long time says that becoming PM has given her confidence and brought her out of her shell. ‘She has had perfectly reasonable ambitions for some time. Now she’s got the top job, she can show the full range of her personality and approach’ says one Cabinet Minister who has worked with her for years.
Now, none of this means that May is going to be a successful Prime Minister. She hasn’t yet had to make any of the tough calls on Brexit that are facing her.
‘There are lots of big decisions to come. But because they haven’t been made yet, everyone is on side’ warns one Minister.
But we can say that May is relishing the job, rather than being consumed by it as Gordon Brown was.
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