With a playful grin and a confident air, the prime minister has not looked so cheerful in months. Unfortunately I am not referring to the real Theresa May but to the waxwork rendering of her that was unveiled yesterday by Madame Tussauds in London.

For the flesh and blood occupant of No 10, who to her great credit is now doing the job only out of duty, there is nothing whatsoever to smile about. Her cabinet appears to be disintegrating and rumours about her ministers continue to swirl. Meanwhile, the prime minister seems to have disappeared from view. “Is she still with us?” asks a Tory MP. “Really, where is she?”

In such fraught circumstances it might be thought brave or foolhardy to make the