If past form is anything to go by, Prime Minister Theresa May is unlikely to bow to political expedience in Brexit negotiations but will make up her own mind about what she believes is best and refuse to give ground.
May, who backed the campaign to stay in the European Union in last June's referendum, will have to carry or quell the euroskeptics 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.