Theresa May reveals her soft side and hubby Philip’s great eye for handbags in first interview in Downing Street flat
She may be labelled the new 'Iron Lady', but the PM seemed totally at ease in her Downing Street apartment
HER appearance was as cosy and warm as the soft furnishings surrounding her.
She might well be labelled the new “Iron Lady”, but Prime Minister Theresa May was keen to present a far gentler image in her first “at home” interview since getting the keys to Downing Street.
No sooner had business-like photos been completed in the private office of her Downing Street flat than Mrs May was happy to ditch the smart dress and jacket.
She even kicked off her trademark kitten heels to offer a less burnished and more rustic look in coffee- coloured cashmere sweater, leather trousers and Burberry trainers.
It wasn’t exactly the uniform of your typical “JAM” — but she was Just About Managing to look relaxed.
After nearly 140 days in office, Mrs May had invited the Sunday Times magazine “behind the scenes” and into her apartment at Downing Street.
Out of the sight of the media scrum, piles of pictures were still waiting to be put up on the mostly bare walls.
They were proof of the haste with which Mrs May and husband Philip were installed in Downing Street in the summer because of the truncated nature of the Tory leadership election.
Nor has she had time to install anything to rival the 100 cookbooks she owns at their home in her constituency of Maidenhead, Berks.
But there is little doubt that, just as she has done at the head of the Government, she has wasted no time in getting her feet under the table and making immediate changes.
Out have gone David Cameron’s leather sofas, more typical of a gentleman’s club. In has come a softer three-seater in rich red fabric with brown patterned throw cushions.
The coffee table in front of the marble fireplace is a no-nonsense glass-topped affair, but bears copies of World of Interiors.
And the room is softened with vases of fresh white hydrangeas and rose-scented candles.
A £100 Zachery chrome table lamp from John Lewis casts a warm light across a room seemingly devoid of even a hint of cold Conservative blue.
Mrs May and her husband have had to hurriedly buy more furniture, she confessed, since the apartment is bigger than their old London flat.
But fixing up the flat is not the sort of thing to keep Mrs May awake at night.
Brexit negotiations might, but not curtain choices.
“Well, it is a moment of change,” she told the magazine, chatting about Brexit rather than decorating. “It is a hugely challenging time.
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“And we need to get on with the deal in terms of Brexit. And I am very conscious of that.
“I want to make sure that everything we do ensures Britain is a country that works for everyone. And that we really get out there and forge a new role in the world post-Brexit.
“We can make a success of it, we will make a success of it. But these are really complex issues.”
“Chillaxing” at the flat, as David Cameron liked to do, is not something she regards as a complex issue at all.
The ex-Home Secretary admitted she might occasionally unwind, after going through the red boxes of paperwork, by sitting down to watch episodes of the American TV crime show NCIS with banker husband Philip.
Picking her immaculate and much-commented-upon outfits is something she keeps simple as well.
He’s good at accessories too, particularly good at choosing handbags and bracelets for presents
She doesn’t rely on a stylist, she said, but she does rely on advice from Philip, who regularly accompanies her on trips to the shops. He is not only very patient, she says, but good at giving her a “yes” or “no” on any outfit she tries on.
She said: “He’s good at accessories too, particularly good at choosing handbags and bracelets for presents, and good at flowers.”
Mrs May noticeably relaxed more when talking about Philip than when talking about herself, which she is famously reticent to do.
The couple were introduced at an Oxford University Conservative Association party by the future prime minster of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, who was a student there at the time. They married in 1980.
Mrs May said: “Philip is a huge support for me. He really is. He very much takes the view that he supports me in everything that I do, but he also understands, when it comes to aspects of the job, it’s for me to get on with and I have advisers and people around me.”
And she hasn’t changed her famous work ethic just because of the extra demands of her job, she said. She still likes to be in control of every decision.
Mrs May explained: “Process is important, ensuring that when you take a decision, you’ve done it on the best possible information.”
Getting used to the celebrity status that goes with being PM, you suspect, is much harder to get used to.
She said: “It’s important when you’re in a position like this not to get too carried away with that side of it.” But she added: “I did do my first wedding video the other day.
“I came out of a shop on to the street and there was a smart young man and he said, ‘My friends are getting married today — will you do a wedding video for them?’
It’s taken a bit of adjusting for him to see people writing about what he wears and taking selfies with him
“It was sort of like a selfie, but I had to say, ‘Hello James and Sarah, happy wedding day!’”
Philip is also coming to terms with the sudden and major change in lifestyle.
She said: “It’s taken a bit of adjusting for him to see people writing about what he wears and taking selfies with him, but he’s getting used to it!
“He’s been surprised by how much interest he’s had. Philip always says he gets 90 per cent of the fun for only ten per cent of the effort.”