Bill Carmichael: Theresa May has earned my respect '“ weaker leaders would have buckled

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 de facto deputy and most trusted confidante, is the third Cabinet minister to have fallen by the wayside in two months.

As each setback followed on the heels of another, the pundits were quick to write Mrs May’s political obituaries. One shrewd political friend, whose judgment I trust above any other, told me after the conference debacle: “She’s finished – once people start feeling sorry for her, there’s no way back.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was even boasting back at the Glastonbury festival in June that he would be installed in Number 10 by Christmas. Having been proved wrong, he is now bragging he’ll be Prime Minister by Christmas 2018. Such hubris may prove to be his undoing.

But instead of collapsing under the pressure of such misfortunes, something quite remarkable has happened to the 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 Noddy stories, every time she gets knocked flat, she bounces back up again.

And let’s not forget this is a 61-year-old 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 old fashioned politician, stiff with that peculiar middle class English reserve that makes her ill-suited to the touchy-feely 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 fulfill 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 The Yorkshire Post – a peaceful and restorative Christmas.