Theresa May is enjoying the longest honeymoon period of any Tory PM since the 1950s as she stretches ahead of Labour in the polls

THERESA May is enjoying the longest honeymoon period of any Tory PM since the 1950s as she stretches ahead in the polls.

No Conservative Prime Minister has commanded such a strong position after six months in office, pollsters found.

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Since walking through the door at No10 in July Mrs May has opened up a commanding 14 point lead over Labour.

But experts warned the lead could be a reflection of Labour’s weakness rather than Tory strength.

And forecasters said the collapse of Brexit talks could see her ratings plummet.

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The Press Association survey looked at the poll ratings for every government of the past 60 years exactly six months into the term of a new prime minister.

Only Tony Blair’s Government beat Mrs May’s current rating with a huge 29-point lead in the polls after he took office in 1997.

Margaret Thatcher’s Government was five points behind in the polls, while John Major was six points down.

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The Tories were only one point ahead of Labour when David Cameron reached the six-month mark.

Pollsters said a typical honeymoon period usually lasted two to three months.

Martin Boon, from the polling firm ICM said: “Despite perceived confusion over Brexit, policy inactivity and the lack of personal mandate, the Prime Minister can get away with most things largely because she’s not Jeremy Corbyn.

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"Any objective analysis of Theresa May’s succession and subsequent performance would hardly qualify her initial six months as an outstanding and historic example of a government at the height of its powers."

YouGov’s Anthony Wells added: "Honeymoon periods for new prime ministers are traditionally two to three months.

"Poll leads of 12, 14, even 17 points are particularly rare for a leader who hasn’t taken over at a general election."

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He added: "With the newspapers full of the NHS in crisis, and with mixed messages on the economy, you would have thought the honeymoon would have faded by now.

"Theresa May has been lucky in not having a strong opposition party, but the poll ratings might fall once Brexit negotiations begin - especially if the public starts to think she is either giving away too much or not being ambitious enough."

Here is a list of the government’s average lead in the opinion polls six months after the appointment of a new prime minister.

The lead is the number of percentage points (plus or minus) the prime minister’s party has over the opposition.

The figures were compiled by the Press Association using archive poll data.