Mrs May deserves her Christmas break

AS THE Christmas holidays approach, Prime Minister Theresa May must be breathing a sigh of relief – because she deserves a break from an absolutely horrible seven months that would have finished off many lesser politicians and weaker characters.

Some of her wounds were self-inflicted – not least the disastrous decision to call a General Election in June that triggered all the other problems. Mrs May is not a natural campaigner and her wooden style helped blow a 20-plus point opinion poll lead and lose her overall majority.

Some other problems arose because of sheer bad luck – for example the prolonged coughing fit that derailed her conference speech in October. No doubt she had conducted dozens of interviews with journalists – and then her voice gave out at precisely the wrong moment. It was a hard heart that did not pity her.

Then, of course, are the enemies in her own ranks – the fanatical Conservative Remainers who are so determined to sabotage any Brexit deal that they are prepared to stab their own Prime Minister in the back, as demonstrated by their Commons rebellion last week. Now Damian Green, her deputy and most trusted confidante, is the third Cabinet Minister to have fallen by the wayside in two months. redoubtable Mrs May. Rather than being weighed down by these troubles, she seems to gather strength from them. Like Mr Wobbly Man in Enid Blyton’s stories, every time she gets knocked flat, she bounces back up again.

And let’s not forget this is a 61-yearold woman who labours under a severe disability – she has to inject herself in the stomach four times a day to cope with type 1 diabetes.

Indeed I can honestly think of no other modern politician who would have taken the punishment of the last seven months and come up smiling, as Mrs May has.

Take for example the extraordinary events of earlier this month when Mrs May was apparently on the cusp of a deal with the EU to take the Brexit talks onto stage two, when Northern Ireland’s DUP pulled the plug at the last minute.

Chaos! Catastrophe! Nightmare! cried the Opposition and much of the press. Mrs May ignored the hysteria and worked quietly and tirelessly to sort the problems out, even travelling through the night for an early-morning meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker a few days later, before emerging triumphant with a done deal.

At this point the Conservatives began to inch ahead of Labour in the opinion polls for the first time since the election – that is until wreckers such as Ken Clarke and Anna Soubry stepped in to destroy any progress their party had made.

In many ways Mrs May is an oldfashioned politician, stiff with that peculiar middle-class English reserve that makes her ill-suited to the touchyfeely trend in British life. There is little in the way of wit or humour to take the cold edge off her frosty demeanour.

But despite reservations over style, and any disagreements over policy, I think few could disagree that what we see in Mrs May is a woman of quite remarkable resilience, determination and sheer bloody-minded courage.

I doubt she is without personal ambition – what politician isn’t? – but I suspect what really drives her is something that is absolutely fundamental to her character – a deep and abiding sense of duty.

She has made a solemn promise to deliver the Brexit the British people have voted for – and she will fulfil that promise come what may.

I say we are lucky to have her, and I wish her and her husband Philip – and all readers of – a peaceful and restorative Christmas.