IF somehow Theresa May is still in power in six months' time she may well go down in history as the greatest British prime minister since Winston Churchill.
During her two-and-half- year tenure at No 10 she has been pilloried, ridiculed and written off on several occasions but against all odds managed to weather every storm.
Sympathy for a Tory leader is rarely in abundance but it's difficult not to feel for Mrs May, who never wanted to be the premier who led the UK out of the EU.
The June 2016 referendum offered a binary choice but in the time since it has become clear that no two people have the same idea of what Brexit should look like.
Within Britain's main parties there are contrasting visions of what the future relationship should look like; both the extreme left and right would be happy with a no deal, while those who claim to understand the needs of business are content to put up barriers to trade.
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Satisfying her MPs' competing and often contradictory aspirations is impossible, so the prime minister appears to have taken the pragmatic route. It may not be the line of least resistance but the Tory leader believes the economic consequences of the deal brokered with the EU will be less severe than the alternatives.
Yet it's the political fall-out from the draft withdrawal agreement that is causing most concern in the short-term.
Mrs May spent yesterday afternoon briefing her cabinet on what was on the table – a deal that will keep the UK in the customs union for the time being and ensures the border remains open.
However, the agreement also includes backstop measures that would keep Northern Ireland closer to EU trade regulations, a move which in the eyes of the DUP "breaches the red line" by placing additional checks on goods moving across the Irish Sea.
Arlene Foster and her MPs were at Westminster meeting their Tory allies and were scheduled to meet Mrs May later in the evening.
While failing to state categorically that they would vote against the deal when it comes before parliament, there's an expectation that the DUP will join scores of Brexiteers on both sides of the house by thwarting its progress.
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If enough ministers find the current proposition untenable then the deal won't event make it to the vote stage but we can assume the Tory whips have done their groundwork and concluded they no longer need the DUP and Jacob Rees-Mogg's European Research Group.
By undermining the British prime minister, the DUP and like-minded MPs are engaging in a high risk strategy that will potentially create an opportunity for Jeremy Corbyn to bring down the government.
Although there is a "likelihood" the Labour leader will not support the agreement, there is the possibility that a necessary number of his MPs will, leaving the hard Brexiteers isolated in defeat.
The political drama is captivating and the outcome uncertain. Theresa May makes an unlikely hero but under the current circumstances she appears common sense's best hope.
