When Theresa May walked off stage after her speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham last week, her young speechwriter Keelan Carr entered the green room where her senior aides were gathered. “There was a huge cheer,” said one of those present. Moments later May herself appeared. “There was an even bigger cheer.”

After the farcical drama of her speech at conference the year before, this was an outpouring of relief from the prime minister’s team, one that quickly strengthened their desire to stick to their guns in the Brexit negotiations.

An hour after shimmying on stage to the strains of Abba, May’s performance ensured that she was queen of the Conservatives again.

The prime minister’s team might not have been so sanguine, however,