It is one of the greatest paradoxes of the general election.

The leader of the party that won has faced questions about her future while the leader of the party that lost is now more popular than at any point and has cemented his position.

When Theresa May faced her backbenchers days after the gruesome poll, it seems that the atmosphere was distinctly cool. When Jeremy Corbyn addressed his own MPs, he was cheered to the rafters.

In the immediate aftermath of the election, you could not find anyone who did not predict that Theresa May was on borrowed time.

Former chancellor and now newspaper editor George Osborne slipped the knife in by asserting she was “a dead woman walking” and it was simply a matter of time before she either walked or was pushed.

But as things stand, she has managed to earn a reprieve - how long for is anyone’s guess - after a contrite address to her MPs in which she shouldered the blame for the poor result.

Then she made a speech in the Commons during the election of the Speaker which was generally seen as being rather more human than during the campaign.

If only she had been like that during the campaign, said exasperated supporters. As it is, it seems to have been enough to head off those who were demanding her head should roll sooner rather than later.

But it has been enough to earn a reprieve, with party members and MPs apparently concluding that another leadership contest is not what the party needs when it is trying to be united ahead of the start of talks on how the UK will negotiate the Brexit.

There remain rumblings. Michelle Lowe, a Sevenoaks councillor who was the party’s candidate in Coventry South cited Mrs May’s declaration of support for fox hunting and her refusal to take part in TV debates as reasons the party failed to perform better.

In article for the Conservative Home website, she wrote: “May not participating in televised debates also hurt us. People asked how she could negotiate a Brexit deal if she could not debate her opponents. The person that voters thought May was turned out not to be the person she actually is, at least in their view. People no longer liked her. By contrast, Corbyn seemed relaxed. and sold a vision of helping people just like them.”

With politics in such a febrile state, it would be tempting fate to say the Prime Minister is safe in the job. The Brexit debate is already sharpening divisions within the party and her predecessor David Cameron urging her to rethink her strategy and calling for a “softer Brexit.”

But those who were predicting her demise within weeks may be forced to rethink.