On July 13 Theresa May stood outside Downing Street as prime minister for the first time and vowed to make Britain “a country that works for everyone”. This is a theme that she has continued to push but has done little to bring about.
In some ways it has been a busy 100 days - announcing Brexit timing, all but confirming that Britain is leaving the single market and bringing back grammar schools. But, behind the rhetoric, there is much about Mrs May that we still do not know.
Her first couple of months in office have certainly been “May-full”. We may build a nuclear plant at Hinkley Point or we may not. We may build a third runway at Heathrow or we may not. We may trigger Article 50 without a parliamentary debate or we may not. Decisiveness does not appear to be a trait of Mrs May. Some Conservative MPs are becoming increasingly concerned that despite a strong centre of power in Downing Street - stronger than it ever was under David Cameron - the prime minister is not getting things done.
Colleagues of Mrs May continue to scratch their heads about what exactly is driving her policy agenda. The “country that works for everyone” is one of those soundbites that could be said by any politician from any party at any time. It does not actually mean anything. But there does seem to be a theme to her domestic actions: tackling public services that are failing ordinary people. On education, beefing up grammar schools is an attempt to fix an education system that lets down some families. The same goes for monetary policy, which she has argued is disproportionately benefiting the rich - or the historic child sex abuse inquiry.
But, however empowered her domestic agenda, her first 100 days have confirmed she will be a prime minister remembered for Brexit - how she manages it and whether it can be a success. It was fitting that this moment was spent in Brussels, enduring testy meetings with her continental counterparts about the mechanics of Brexit. There will be plenty more of these to come - and still no detail on what Brexit is going to look like, just hints and soothing words that everything is under control.
No matter how much she tries to get away from it, Europe is going to define Mrs May - just as it did Mr Cameron. If she is not careful, it may also inflict on her the same fate it did her predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and countless other Tories. The prime minister has been lucky that the Europe time bomb has not yet exploded. But it may well have done by the time her next big anniversary arrives next July
