Going into her first PMQs as Prime Minister on Wednesday, Theresa May faced the same struggles as a female stand-up comic. Taking the reins in an overwhelmingly male world, as only the second ever female PM and the most visible of the 29 per cent of female MPs, it was imperative that she appeared confident and in control. One tremor, pause or sign of uncertainty and, like a comedy club audience, the braying MPs would have taken the opportunity to jeer, laugh or heckle – and that’s before the press got stuck in.
Fortunately for May, she looked like a natural, and appeared to have nerves of steel. Though eight years younger and six centimetres shorter than Jeremy Corbyn, she seemed more self-possessed and at ease than the Leader of the Opposition. While he grumbled, she smirked; while he peered over his glasses, she leaned smugly on the lectern; and while he railed against injustice, she delivered a string of smart witticisms aimed squarely at both Jezza and the Labour Party.
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