Theresa May will not be in Downing Street for much longer. Talking to old friends and new colleagues over recent weeks for a Newsnight film on the character and beliefs of the prime minister, much about her remained unclear to me but what did emerge was a controlled person with a clear sense both of duty and of her own dignity. Though often vague about policy, she has an instinctive feeling for right and wrong.

Both instinct and logic will impel her to the conclusion that she must stay for as long as necessary to get the ship of state on to an even keel and to prepare the way for a new leadership election, but not a moment longer than that.

She will feel