The 13 times May failed to back Cameron
1 JAN 12
May is silent at a Cabinet Brexit showdown. ‘Her Sphinx-like approach is becoming difficult. It’s the biggest thing the PM has faced and he doesn’t even know if the Home Secretary is backing him.’
2 JAN 15
Cameron ‘frustrated’ when she ‘refused to come off the fence.’ 3 JAN 21 May is ‘playing games’, lunching publicly with leading Brexiteer Liam Fox at a Westminster restaurant.
4 JAN 29
She still won’t declare her support. A ‘wistful’ Cameron reflects on the defiance: ‘It may work for her. She could be PM in six months.’ (It took her five and a half months).
5 FEB 1
May snubs a plea to back him in EU talks. ‘She’s going away with [her husband] Philip that weekend!’ protests a May aide.
6 FEB 2
Cameron is ‘visibly wound up’ after May briefs the media that she could snub EU deal. He phones her from a train to protest and ‘hangs up’.
7 FEB 18
May is ‘unprepared to help’ over ‘crunch’ EU summit, claiming that new immigration figures make it ‘awkward’ for her.
8 MARCH 7
No10 tells May she is making it ‘look like Cameron is the only one fighting the campaign’. She offers to speak out ‘after Easter’ – three weeks later. Oliver writes: ‘It feels like an eternity.’
9 APRIL 21
She rats on pledge to back Cameron publicly, claiming she ‘hasn’t had time to think.’ Oliver sends a sarcastic email: ‘Shock News. She’s pulling back.’
10 APRIL 24
A Sunday, and Cameron is interrupted while mowing the lawn at his Oxfordshire home to be warned May plans to say the ‘sky won’t fall in’ if we leave EU. He protests – but she briefs it to press anyway.
11 JUNE 15
May rejects No10 order to scrap a BBC interview on the EU. Oliver: ‘She should stick to submarine strategy.’
12 JUNE 23
May ‘goes behind Cameron’s back’ to try to oust ultra-loyal Defence Secretary Michael Fallon from a BBC interview. ‘Having spent entire campaign avoiding media she wants high-profile slot once we know result.’
13 JUNE 27
May ‘notably’ fails to join Cabinet tributes to outgoing PM after referendum defeat.