The book ‘May at 10’ is out next month, but an early-released extract serialised by The Times has revealed that Mrs May was “distraught” when the Leave vote won. Author Anthony Seldon wrote: “[Nick] Timothy immediately called May, who was so distraught she was in tears after the result. “He and [Fiona] Hill saw her cry only half a dozen times in their entire career together, and then it was mainly from frustration. But now there was sadness too.”

Nick Timothy is a political adviser who worked with Mrs May at the Home Office and later as her Chief of Staff at Number 10 – along with Fiona Hill – up until the disastrous snap general election in 2017. 

Mr Timothy, who himself voted to leave the EU, spoke to Mr Seldon about his former boss’ reaction to the result.

He claimed Mrs May said: “The ones who voted for Brexit will be the ones who suffer the most.”

Mr Timothy said he believes this was “the core of her entire belief on Brexit”.

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He added: “Ultimately, she saw Brexit as a damage-limitation exercise for those she thought would lose out, rather than what it could and should have been: a positive opportunity for a new start for Britain.”

Apparently, the one positive thing she saw about Brexit was that it would allow for greater control over immigration.

As Home Secretary, Mrs May was known for her hardline views on immigration, evening coining the phrase “hostile environment” according to a Telegraph article from 2012. 

She insisted from the very start of her premiership that Brexit must end freedom of movement.

Mrs May reportedly demanded this requirement to be added to the first page of the political declaration.

It was this possibility that appeared to comfort her after the result came in, with ‘May at 10’ claiming: “The one silver lining she saw that she relayed to him down the telephone line was the greater opportunity it would now give to control immigration.

“Timothy remembers being impatient with her on the phone, but had no doubts about her intention: she was going for the leadership.”

Despite her emotional reaction to the Leave vote, Mrs May had apparently wavered slightly when deciding which side to declare for in the referendum.

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Mr Seldon wrote: “As June 23 approached, Number 10 became increasingly anxious about how May would declare in this referendum.

“Although Cameron had said in public that he didn’t want anyone to declare until after his February 2016 renegotiation with the EU, May felt constant pressure behind the scenes from Number 10 to declare for Remain on the one side and from Timothy to declare for Leave from the other.

“She kept her intentions from her team, who thought her main concern was that not enough had been done to satisfy people’s concerns on immigration and taking back control of the borders; this worried her more than anything about the EU.

“Pressure from the Cameron camp almost tipped her into Leave, especially when a deeply frustrated George Osbourne put the boot into her during the campaign, with stories that she’d be sacked appearing in The Sun newspaper.

“With the atmosphere becoming very nasty, Team May blamed Osborne and his team for the threats.”

Mr Timothy was the most pro-Brexit of Mrs May’s supporters, yet it was he who wrote her speech coming out in support of Remain.

While supporting David Cameron’s pro-Remain position, her speech suggested “significant ambivalence” and established her as the most pro-Brexit of the Remainers in the Cabinet. 

She expressed her scepticism towards the European Court of Human Rights, suggesting that the UK should leave that organisation instead of the EU.

She also made the case for Turkey not to join the EU, despite initially telling her adviser she was concerned that this would strain relations.

She apparently said: “I don’t want to say that Turkey should not join,” believing its support against terrorism and the migrant crisis to be vital, but Mr Timothy “tersely” explained why she needed to say it. 

While clearly having misgivings about freedom of movement, Mrs May ended up a passionate Remainer, as evidenced by her tears at the final result.

Some of her critics have claimed that it is her Remain tendencies that meant she would never be the best candidate to negotiate Brexit.

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