Teflon Theresa May defies expectations over McKinnon And that's not just down to luck. She's had her share of controversies: there were blunders over the Abu Hamza extradition case, for example, and Mrs May's relations with the police are little short of frosty. The closest she came to calamity was the scandal over the easing of passport checks. Yet with that and the Hamza case, the Home Secretary managed to dodge the blame. In part this has been down to the old ministerial trick of blaming officials - with some justification. But she's also managed to survive the slings and arrows and by being tough (don't forget this is the woman who took on the Conservative party hierarchy with her nasty party speech a decade ago). There's one other quality which has come in handy: the Home Secretary's knack of keeping her head down and getting on with it - unlike former home secretaries (Lord Reid to name but one) who couldn't resist hogging the headlines. She shuns the limelight wherever possible, and although an engaging lunch guest, is one of the least clubbable ministers. Of course, events have a habit of unseating Home Secretaries. Even what appears to be her greatest triumph today could end up sewing the seeds of her downfall. There may well be serious diplomatic tensions with the US. And an Islamic campaign group is already highlighting the fact that one of the five UK-based terror suspects being extradited to the US also has Asperger's Syndrome - the type of autism which has prevented Mr McKinnon's extradition. For now though, Mrs May is continuing to defy expectations.