It was never going to be an easy job being the prime minister responsible for taking the UK out of the European Union. There’s always that one issue that becomes a real sticking point for anyone in the top job – a point where troublesome backbenchers, ministerial resignations and tense parliamentary votes combine.

Tony Blair had the Iraq invasion, Gordon Brown had the 10p tax and the financial crisis. David Cameron had not one but two referendums and a tuition fees policy which caused tensions with his coalition partners. Theresa May has just suffered another withering defeat, by 149 votes, on her Brexit deal after last-minute assurances from the EU failed to convince Brexiteers and the DUP.

The relationship between a prime minister and their party is always a fluid one, and the relationship between a prime minister and parliament is equally so. Theresa May knew that Brexit would be her prime ministerial inheritance and that her success or failure would be inextricably bound up with the Brexit deal. Yet she declared herself ready for the challenge.

At the start of her term, the relationship seemed to be one of prime ministerial dominance or control of parliament, but over the past four months this has increasingly turned on its axis.

May has shown a resilience and commitment during the Brexit process which far outweigh those of her immediate predecessors. She has now weathered defeats of a size not seen in modern parliamentary politics and survived a no-confidence vote. She has battled on throughout, as emphasised by her valiant effort in the Commons today as she fought a throat infection.

‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Show all 20 1 /20 ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies The Beatles "Brexit is like Liverpool trashing all its links to The Beatles and spending all its time and energy building Esther McVey World." Shutterstock / terry bouch ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies The number seven "Trying to understand Brexit is like trying to figure out what colour the letter seven smells like." Shutterstock / jgl247 ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Pilots "Brexit is like being in a plane hurtling towards the ground with the pilot and co-pilot arguing over who would crash it better." Shutterstock / View Apart ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Operation "Brexit is like going to the doctor, being told you need an operation, agreeing to it, then finding out they are going to cut off your cock & sew it to your forhead... ...but refusing to get a 2nd opinion." Shutterstock / Dmytro Zinkevych ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Wall "My mentions have taught me that Brexit is like Trump’s wall. For its devoted fans it has a symbolic value totally unrelated to its workability, its true cost or the glaring self-interest of its proposers, whereas non-believers see nothing but a deranged and costly vanity project." Shutterstock / Tony Craddock ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Skydive "brexit is like a sitcom where at the start of the episode the main character tells a casual lie about being able to skydive to impress someone and now they're at the end of the episode in a plane about to jump" Shutterstock / Mauricio Graiki ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Crumble "Brexit is like if Farage & Johnson said “May we make you an *amazing* apple crumble?” & then 18 months later handed you a leaking bag of maggots & offal. You shouldn’t have to eat it." Shutterstock / CKP1001 ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Punch "‘Asking me to support Brexit is like asking me to punch my constituents in the face,’ said Anna Turley, the Labour MP for Redcar, which voted 66:34 to leave. ‘It doesn’t make it easier if you tell me my constituents want to be punched.’" Shutterstock / ZoneCreative ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Fire "Watching this government deal with Brexit is like being locked outside your house while you can see people inside setting fire to the furniture as the law’s telling you you can’t go in and stop them." Shutterstock / Gorb Andrii ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Villains "Brexit is like living in a superhero movie that has no heroes, just loads of incompetent villains fighting over who is more evil." Shutterstock / Aisyaqilumaranas ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Book "Brexit is like a bad novel. You are so far into it you just want to skip to the end to see if it ended as badly as it had begun. (You throw the book at the wall when you realise it is the first book in a trilogy)." Shutterstock / Stokkete ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Cricket "Watching Brexit is like trying to reverse engineer the rules of cricket by listening to the radio. I have absolutely no idea what is going on." Shutterstock / ChrisVanLennepPhoto ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Car "Brexit is like the UK took a motorway exit, then found the road turning into a rutted grassy track, and now the car's stuck in a muddy field, there's no help in sight, it's getting dark, everyone's shouting at the driver, and the passengers are beginning to worry about food." Shutterstock / Kolbakova Olga ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Cable "Watching Brexit is like watching someone try and plug a coaxial aerial cable into a HDMI port. There is a lot of anger, a lot of swearing, and a lot of remarks about how this used to work before." Shutterstock / Elnur ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Windows "#Brexit is like going back to Windows 3.1" ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Liars "I'm sure most people remember a kid at school who just lied constantly? Who refused to back down, however outlandish the lie, and however it was disproven? Brexit is like all of those kids from every school have got together, and are now running the country." Shutterstock / chairavee laphom ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Donors "Trying to extricate ourselves from the EU, and Brexit, is like a multiple transplant patient attempting to give all the donated organs back." Shutterstock / Luuuusa ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Electricity "Paying my taxes to pay for Brexit is like asking a guy on death row if he has any change to put in the meter for the electric chair." Shutterstock / Fer Gregory ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Bandersnatch "Brexit is like watching Bandersnatch with your bae where bae is 70,000 Conservative party members hogging the PlayStation controller & choosing the most WTF option every time.! Shutterstock / George Dolgikh ‘Brexit is like...’ The Top 20 Twitter analogies Constipation "Brexit is like the shit that never comes. Total constitutional constipation. Ironically Brexit also sounds like a constipation relief medicine." Shutterstock / sasha2109

But the way in which this stoicism has transferred into her discussions with parliament, endlessly repeating the line that the only way to avoid no deal is to vote for her deal – even in the face of defeat – has not served her parliamentary authority well.

When David Cameron was defeated in the House of Commons over military action in Syria, he not only said that he respected the wishes of parliament, but he acted on their wishes too. It was clear to all that MPs had been heard. When Theresa May lost the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal, she responded immediately that the government would “listen”. But her actions towards parliament proved otherwise.

Over the past couple of months the prime minister has overseen a lack of transparency and clarity on everything from if and when votes will go ahead to the content of the “alternative arrangements” for the Irish backstop. The strategy seems to be only to give the appearance of listening to parliament.

She has met with her own MPs and with the leaders of the other opposition parties, but no tangible changes followed. Her last-minute dash to Strasbourg last night was indicative of this approach, a press statement coming so late in the evening that MPs were left hanging until lunchtime today to hear the attorney general’s verdict on the new backstop arrangements, and even longer to hear further details from the prime minister herself.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Such was the lack of clarity that the Commons speaker, John Bercow, said he would accept last-minute manuscript amendments to tonight’s motion as MPs waited for further details (though no amendments would ultimately be selected for debate). It’s no surprise at all then that the reaction of the House of Commons since December has been to try to take back control of not just the content of the Brexit deal but also the timetable and process by which it is finalised.

With the prime minister talking at MPs rather than with them, she has lost the parliamentary authority she once had, boxing herself into a corner with no wriggle room and increasingly testing everyone’s patience.

The government’s second massive defeat in the Commons comes as no surprise. If MPs vote to extend the Article 50 process on Thursday, as they seem almost certain to do, it will present a final opportunity for the prime minister to not only listen to the House of Commons but to demonstrate that she has actually heard it too. This is the only way in which a Brexit deal can be reached now.