May, who
backed the campaign to stay in the European Union in last June's referendum,
will have to carry or quell the eurosceptics in her ruling Conservative Party
as she formulates her negotiating priorities and strategy.
The
60-year-old - often described as "sphinx-like" in the British press -
has revealed little in her first eight months as leader about how she will
approach divorce talks with Brussels, perhaps wary of weakening her hand.
But her
previous experience of trying to win the support of the eurosceptics who drove
Brexit could offer some clues about her modus operandi: two years ago when as
interior minister she sought to opt back into the European Arrest Warrant
against the wishes of many in her party.
May got her
way in the end after a bruising encounter over the warrant, which speeds
extradition between member states. She did not backtrack an inch and forced it
through parliament.
Her conduct
and strategy present a picture of a stubborn negotiator who sticks as firmly as
possible to what she believes is in Britain's best interests.
Several
government aides and a lawyer with knowledge of the matter said she was driven
by a conviction she was right - that Britain needed to adopt the warrant and
other EU justice measures - and, while acknowledging their shortcomings, would
not let anything stand in her way.
Supporters say
her ultimate success offer evidence of her political steel, know-how and
negotiating skills. Critics say the self-belief that drove her to open a rift
in her party and face down a rebellion could be a weakness if it becomes
inflexibility that hinders Britain striking winning the best deal.
"If you
believe in what you're doing, that's key. If you do believe you're doing the
right thing, that gives you resilience," May told the BBC's Desert Island
Discs program less than two weeks after the fight.
She
steadfastly refused to allow lawmakers a vote on the arrest warrant which she
said was in "our national interest", reneging on a pledge to the
outrage of the eurosceptics, instead offering only a vote on a broader package
of justice measures.
In a rare
admission that her strategy may have been misjudged, she added in the BBC
interview: "If I was starting it again now, would I do it in a different
way? Given the understanding of how parliament felt then, perhaps I
would."
'NOT SHOWY'
May spent six
years as home secretary, or interior minister, before taking over from David
Cameron as prime minister last year following the June 23 referendum when
Britons backed leaving the EU by 52 percent to 48 percent.
The premier,
who describes herself as "not a showy politician", is something of an
anomaly in a porous political scene rife with secret press briefings.
Her closest
aides, loyal since she became home secretary in 2010, ensure very little leaks.
One government aide called her team "one of the most effective in
Westminster".
She has said
she will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, launching two years of
divorce talks, by the end of this month. Parliament is expected to approve
legislation to start the negotiations by mid-March.
She will enter
the EU negotiations with a long and broad wish list - wanting the closest
possible trading conditions, maintaining security cooperation, regaining
control over immigration and restoring sovereignty over British laws.
It is an
opening negotiating stance - one British government source, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, asked why would anyone start talks with anything less.
Another British official said any strategy would evolve, depending on what the
EU came up with and how the other 27 member states approached the talks.
But with EU
officials balking at granting her a good deal, fearing other European countries
might follow suit, May will have to find a path to compromise.
'STEEL
YOURSELF'
The so-called
Brexiteers, or eurosceptic lawmakers in her party, will watch her every step
closely as Britain negotiates a deal, to make sure they have scrutiny of all
aspects. May will work hard to keep them on side.
"At the
moment we have just been negotiating with ourselves," said a veteran
politician now in the upper house of parliament. Once Britain starts
negotiating with the EU, he said, the "very dysfunctions Brexiteers
complained about are the same dysfunctions allowing them or not to arrive at a
deal".
When May first
disclosed her plans to opt into 35 EU justice measures including the arrest
warrant in 2012, they met little outcry in parliament. The recommendations
coincided with her announcement that she had dropped a bid to extradite computer
hacker Gary McKinnon to the United States, which delighted many in her party
who regarded the UK-U.S. extradition as imbalanced.
But the issue
blew up two years later when she sought to force the measures through
parliament. May initially misjudged the level of protest but successfully faced
down the rebels, and later said: "I wasn't trying smoke and mirrors."
But for many
Conservatives and members of opposition parties, her behavior left a bad taste.
"It's not
so much about how do you steel yourself, it's about, 'Are you doing the right
thing?'" May told the Sunday Times late last year.
"If you
know you are doing the right thing, you have the confidence, the energy to go
and deliver that right message."
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