100 days in: Headmistress Theresa May is firmly in charge

In another life, Theresa May would have been the headmistress of an independent girls' school.

If she has an air about her, it is one of disapproval, in varying degrees, from slight, to mild, to severe. Behind the warm smiles you sense there is a lurking frost. Can you imagine being called in to her office for a dressing down?

All this, you might say, equips her rather well for that political St Trinian's which is the House of Commons.

But as she has been in Prime Ministerial office relatively briefly, MPs, and the country more widely, are only just really getting to know her. There's a problem with that. She hasn't shown any appetite for letting us get to know her. She'll be our chum, saying she's going to stand up for the have-nots and all that, but that chumminess only goes so far. For her, this is a business arrangement.

Not like call-me-Dave or call-me-Tony. She has no time for all that showmanship and sales stuff. And have pity on her spin doctor as she gives him or her a withering look.

Those who have done the digging into her past have found no interesting initiation rites or rock band days, rather a quiet and studious young Theresa, with a vague air of disapproval, even then.

Businesslike and boring, that's her style. The teams at No 10 and No 11 bring you shades of grey, but they'll never run to 50.

That is not to say that there is no sense of humour. How she must have chuckled as she drew up her Cabinet and inked in the names of the three swashbuckling Brexiteers and charged them with plotting Britain's path to a smooth departure from the EU, ideally without killing each other in the process.

This is what you wanted – you do the sorting out. All the naughty boys kept together, with a smacked wrist not far away if they step out of line.

Boris said in one of his many loose moments that he thought that Britain would trigger Article 50 in the early part of 2017. No sooner had he said it than he had the See Me message from the boss. The curious thing about this episode is that what he said was not really new, and that it was completely accurate in terms of the Government's policy. Theresa May presumably saw it as a matter of protocol and class discipline.

Comparisons with Margaret Thatcher are inevitable. Mmm . . . Various male politicians with a heavy dose of charm, like Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, got on with Maggie strikingly well. We await to see whether in the forthcoming Brexit talks the male-dominated EU venture a charm offensive tactic. Mrs May might find it simply offensive.

Ken Clarke did her no harm during the leadership battle when he described her as a "bloody difficult woman," although the fact that he went on to say he got on with her has somehow been lost.

Mrs May has embraced this in the same way as Margaret Thatcher adopted the mantle of the Iron Lady given to her by the Soviets. Mrs May said that Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, would soon learn exactly how difficult she was.

Tory MPs seem happy with her. It is as if call-me-Dave was an interlude until a real Tory came along to lead them, like a pair of ill-fitting shoes that do the job but do not satisfy.

Talking of shoes, it is an area of unexpected May flamboyance, which has had photographers at her feet ever since she was a junior minister. While we're on such matters, there are also those necklaces.

During PMQs yesterday she was wearing one that looked like a polished anchor chain. Previously she has worn pearls as big as tennis balls.

For all the comparisons that may be made with Mrs Thatcher, these are different times.

Politically, the luck has been going her way. David Cameron gambled and lost on the referendum and Mrs May's support for Remain was so tepid that it has not undermined her credibility as a Leave leader of the UK.

Labour has barely enough loyal-to-the-leader MPs to fill a Cabinet, the Lib Dems have barely enough MPs to fill a shoe box, and Ukip is in fighting form – not a good thing, as it turns out. However, by the political inverse time law, while the first 100 days is too short a time for a new Prime Minister to achieve much beyond changing the mood music, 100 days is a long time in which things can go wrong. It is a unit of political time which might be called a "Gordon", after the last PM to take office without a general election mandate.

The first "Gordon" of Mr Brown's premiership went so well that he was urged to call a snap general election because he was bound to win. He didn't, so didn't. In the second 100 days, there were signs of a global financial crisis. And by the third "Gordon", the dreams of a glorious tenure in Number 10 were turning to ashes.

The lesson for Mrs May is that it is not the last 100 days that matters, but the next 100 days, and then the 100 days after that.

Or, in the words of Slade: Look to the future now. It's only just begun.

County MPs unite to heap praise on our PM

It certainly isn't one of the easiest of jobs to settle into. But according to Shropshire's MPs, it appears Theresa May has been doing a good job as Prime Minster.

Today marks 100 days since Mrs May took up her position in Downing Street.

Despite admitting she faces many challenges ahead, including implementing Brexit, MPs have been quick to praise her "strong" leadership.

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, said: "I think you get a sense of a Prime Minister very early on and I feel the way she is going about things, the way she is managing the parliamentary party with a small majority, the way that she is managing the cabinet, she could be one of the best Prime Ministers we have had since Winston Churchill.

"I am really really impressed with her, she is a strong individual with a clear vision.

"Although she campaigned for Remain she understands that the British people voted for Brexit and she understands it is the biggest issue facing this country for a generation.

"Her reputation and that of her government will be reflected by how well she manages to negotiate with the EU and all the early signs are very positive.

"I am hearing from European capitals that she is proving a very good negotiator already, and what we need is someone with the ability to negotiate this labyrinth negotiating process, which is one of the most intense and complex we have ever been through."

Mrs May outmanoeuvred all other contenders to the position of the leader of the ruling Conservative Party, simply by outlasting rivals as they imploded around her in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the EU – including former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who led the Brexit campaign, as well as his one-time Brexit ally, Justice Secretary Michael Gove.

North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson said: "I am pleased she has settled in so quickly and with her determination to begin the process of enforcing the EU referendum result by triggering Article 50 early next year."

Mark Pritchard, MP for the Wrekin, added: "The Prime Minister is doing a good job, domestically and on international issues. There are many challenges ahead, but she is the right person to lead the Conservative Party and the United Kingdom at this important time of transition."

The Prime Minister has suggested Britain may miss the previously expected March 2019 deadline for leaving the European Union.

She said negotiations could take more than two years – the length of time prescribed under the EU's Article 50.

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies had a private meeting with the PM yesterday.

He said: "I think she has done a very good job. Regarding Brexit, although she was not in favour of it and I was, I feel she has taken on board the public referendum vote to leave with a determination to deliver it even though many of her own MPs are not in favour of leaving. I wish her well.

"Her personal style is very different; she doesn't discuss conversations, she does everything privately and behaves like a Prime Minister should behave."