If you thInk you’ve had a hard day at the office, then thank your lucky stars you’re not Theresa May. Last week, the Prime Minister suffered the biggest defeat in parliamentary history over her Brexit deal, before fighting off a vote of no confidence in her ability to lead the country less than 24 hours later. It doesn’t really get worse than this for a Prime Minister, with MPs queuing up to pour scorn on her efforts. Yet May has betrayed not a flicker of emotion in circumstances that would reduce most of us to a sobbing heap.
And that will be true even behind closed doors, says her former press secretary Katie Perrior. ‘Things don’t really get to her in the way they get to other people,’ she says. ‘She doesn’t seek the approval of others when she feels she’s doing something for the common good. Her attitude is, “Right, it’s my job to be businesslike about this.” I’ve never seen her crumple in a heap, she’d just brush it off and say, “That’s politics.” She’ll regroup very quickly.’ Indeed, May’s one indulgence after a tough day is whisky, usually poured by her husband Philip, who was watching protectively over her from the Commons gallery during the Brexit vote.
But while we know May can do strong, the question is whether she can do flexible. Could the refusal to crumble under pressure that has got her through the last two years now be stopping her from finding a Brexit compromiseeveryone can live with? As the Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson put it, nobody doubts her determination, but too much of it’s a bad thing: ‘She’s too set in her ways, too aloof to lead. She lacks the imagination and agility to bring people with her.’
Friends say what’s driving May forward, even when the situation looks hopeless, is that she doesn’t see anyone capable of doing better. ‘She’ll feel there’s nobody around she really wants to hand the baton over to,’ says one. ‘She sees it as her duty to find a way through.’
To help cope with the stress, she blocks out time each week in her diary for the gym – she has a trainer who focuses on weights and heavy resistance, as if she hasn’t had enough of the latter in politics – and for church on Sundays. Perrior says sticking to the routine no matter what is as much about steadying the nation’s nerves as her own: ‘It’s about showing that she’s keeping the show on the road.’
But all that will be for nothing if May can’t urgently find a deal on Brexit. Talking a Parliament full of sworn political enemies into swallowing their collective pride and compromising is a big ask, especially after Jeremy Corbyn asked Labour MPs not to negotiate with her unless she rules out a ‘no deal’ exit from the EU. But it’s perhaps especially tough for a woman who famously doesn’t have great people skills, and plays her cards so close to her chest that even her Cabinet sometimes aren’t sure what she wants.
Theresa May has battled this far against the odds but if she wants to get through this latest crisis, then ironically she might have to be a bit less ‘Theresa May’ about it.
And what was last week like in Parliament for other female MPs?
'It's A Strange Time To Be An MP' - Jess Philips - Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley
Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, voted Remain in the referendum and last week voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal. ‘Before the 8pm vote, my youngest son, who’s 10, kicked up a real fuss about me going back to Westminster. He’s not normally like that, but he kept saying he didn’t want me to go. I think he’s picked up on the fact that tensions are high around Brexit and I’ve been in London more than usual.
‘Everyone was interested in the vote. I had a lot of friends and even people I haven’t spoken to for years texting saying “good luck” and “it’s not easy”. After the vote, the atmosphere inside Parliament felt heightened and frenetic, with every corridor full. I went for dinner that evening with seven MPs in the Parliament restaurant so we could relax a bit before heading out into the protests. We’ve all got wildly differing views, but we sat around discussing everything civilly. We need to put an end to people getting their points across by slagging each other off – everyone needs to learn to listen.
‘What should happen now is for literally every member of Parliament to clear their diaries and sit down with people with different opinions to them, so we can try and thrash out a solution. If I was Theresa May, I would cancel all the business of the House for the week. It’s the only way to move forward and I’ve no idea why it hasn’t happened yet. 'It's a strange time to be an MP'.
‘Parliament Felt Hostile And Toxic’ - Priti Patel, Conservative MP for Witham
Priti Patel is the Conservative MP for Witham. She voted Leave in the referendum and against the Government withdrawal agreement. ‘The atmosphere was tense and distressing last week. It felt hostile and toxic; disappointment was certainly in the air. Conservative MPs who are very loyal felt torn about being put in this awful position of having to vote against their Government.
‘Parliament was a complete circus on Tuesday: you couldn’t move for TV crews and people doing interviews. It was quite unpleasant, almost like being surrounded by white noise. I was in the Brexit debate in Parliament until 1.45am the night before so I was desperate to get home and left around 10pm. I had a bath and went to bed; the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the TV. ‘The weeks leading up to this vote have been absolutely awful. I join many in despairing that my own Conservative Government has got itself into this shambolic position. It makes me feel distraught to see the inept way in which we are still in this situation after two years of supposed negotiation. This could have been avoided if we had a Government that could listen and engage. As for Corbyn, he needs to have the maturity to be a responsible player in terms of opening up a dialogue with our Prime Minister.
‘My family are very robust and always say to me, “You do what you think is right.” I’ve had a lot of friends getting in touch with messages of support – people recognise it’s very difficult to vote against your party, but I’m taking a position I feel strongly about. ‘Two years ago, 498 MPs voted to trigger Article 50 on 29 March. Now the Government needs to up its game and make sure that happens.'