We’ve long ran out of words to be able to be able to describe the fatally wounded premiership of Theresa May. Had we known she would still be here, against all the odds, in May 2019, we would have perhaps saved up words like "hobbling" and "limping" for this point.

Depending on who you speak to, the fact that Mrs May still occupies Downing Street after facing historic defeats and electoral disasters is either a sign of her strength of character – or her tin-eared disregard for her party and the country.

Surely things can’t get much worse for Mrs May, given she has been limping, hobbling and staggering on in power for well over a year?

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It appears they can. A bombshell poll yesterday showed the Conservatives are heading for a drubbing in the upcoming European Union elections. The Opinium poll for the Observer showed that the Brexit Party is on course to get 34 per cent of the votes – more than Labour and Conservative combined. The Tories are sitting at fourth place, which – if realised – would be a devastating defeat for the party.

We shouldn’t forget David Cameron’s role in this very Tory psychodrama. His plan for calling a referendum on our membership of the EU was to neutralise the threat of Ukip and Nigel Farage. Yet here we are, with Nigel Farage at the helm of the newly formed Brexit Party, rising like a phoenix from the fag ash.

Last week, the BBC aired "Brexit: Behind Closed Doors" and gave us a fascinating insight into how the shambolic Brexit negotiations unfolded from the EU’s perspective. It was reassuring to see that prominent figures such as Guy Verhofstadt got through the process much like the rest of us, with late-nights, copious amounts of wine and swearing.

The documentary showed the aftermath of the infamous 2017 snap election where Theresa May sensationally lost her majority. It was telling that EU negotiators seemed convinced – as many of us were – that she would resign.

"Theresa May may resign in two hours. They will chop off her head. They are ruthless, the Tories. They’re f*****g ruthless."

Oh, how wrong they were, and how wrong we were. We badly underestimated how little Mrs May cares about being liked or respected. It is well known that she has never been a politician that gets involved in the late-night drinking and networking of the Westminster bubble. We’ve learned during her time as Prime Minister that she can brush off gaffes, criticism and conventions as though they are of little consequence to her.

It has also been said of Mrs May that she believes that delivering Brexit is a "calling" so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that she considers herself answerable to a higher power than Parliament or even the 1922 Committee.

Some of the responsibility for the long, slow death of Mrs May’s tenure lies with her party. Though famed for their brutality in dispatching leaders, they have shown an uncharacteristic lack of co-ordination when it comes to their Theresa Problem. Their attempts to remove her in December 2018 were as ill-managed and chaotic as the Brexit negotiations have been.

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But there could soon be light at the end of the tunnel for the beleaguered Tory party and exhausted public. The mood among Conservative MPs is shifting and hardening with every passing day.

If, as expected, the Tories face a battering in the EU elections, a momentum that unites both Tory Remainers and Leavers may well gather quickly in the days to follow. Loyalists are belatedly losing patience, and it looks as though the Mrs May is quickly running out of road.

The loyalists in Mrs May’s party have up until now been reluctant to join in the calls for her to go, for fear of the hard-Brexiter who will almost certainly replace her. Now there is much more at stake than the prospect of Dominic Raab or Boris Johnson in Downing Street.

The accepted dominance of the two main parties is crumbling, as neither are seen to be Remain or Leave enough for the polarised public. Unless the Tories get a grip of Brexit and are seen to be competent in their handling of it, they will continue to haemorrhage support and the possibility of a Corbyn-led government grows.

With leadership hopefuls now openly canvassing for support, we are in a Tory leadership race in all but name. For Mrs May, the choice is clear. If she listens to the increasingly persistent calls from chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, then she will set out a clear timetable for her departure before the EU elections. That would allow her a clean and relatively dignified exit shortly after.

But this is Theresa May and she doesn’t do politics by the book. If she simply bats away demands for her resignation as though they were no more troubling to her than a buzzing bee on a summer’s day – then we’re heading for Tory revolt.

The only thing we can be certain of is that Mrs May will not be Prime Minister by the end of the year. How gruesome the final months of her premiership will be is ultimately up to her.