Theresa Mary May (née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who has been the Leader of the Conservative Partysince 11 July 2016, the Home Secretary since 2010, and the Member of Parliament (MP) forMaidenhead since 1997. Identifying as a One-Nation Conservative and characterised as aliberal conservative, May is expected to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following a meeting withQueen Elizabeth II on 13 July, becoming the second female UK prime minister.
Born in Eastbourne, Sussex, May studied geography at St Hugh's College, Oxford. From 1977 until 1983, May worked at the Bank of England, and from 1985 until 1997 at theAssociation for Payment Clearing Services, also serving as a councillor for the London Borough of Merton's Durnsford Ward. After unsuccessful attempts to be elected to theHouse of Commons in 1992 and 1994, she was elected MP for Maidenhead in the 1997 general election. May served in a number of roles in the Shadow Cabinets of William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard, and David Cameron, including Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. She was also theChairman of the Conservative Party from 2002 until 2003.
After the formation of the Coalition Government following the 2010 general election, May was appointed Home Secretaryand Minister for Women and Equalities, giving up the latter role in 2012. Reappointed after the Conservative victory in the 2015 general election, she went on to become the longest-serving Home Secretary since James Chuter Ede over 60 years previously, pursuing reform of the police, taking a harder line on drug policy and introducing restrictions on immigration.[4]
Following the resignation of Cameron in June 2016, May announced her candidacy for theleadership of the Conservative Party and quickly emerged as the front-runner. She won the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 5 July by a significant margin, and two days later won the votes of 199 MPs, going forward to face a vote of Conservative Party members in a contest with Andrea Leadsom. Leadsom's withdrawal from the election on 11 July led to May's appointment as leader the same day.
Early life and education[edit]
Born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex, May is the daughter of Zaidee Mary (née Barnes; 1928–1982) and Hubert Brasier (1917–1981). Her father was a Church of England clergyman.[5][6][7][8] Her parents both died suddenly, her father in a car accident.[9]
May was educated at primary and grammar schools in the State sector, as well as a short spell at an independent Catholic school. She initially attended Heythrop Primary School, Oxfordshire,[10] followed by St. Juliana's Convent School for Girls,[11] a Roman Catholicindependent school in Begbroke, which closed in 1984.[12] At the age of 13, she won a place at the former Holton Park Girls' Grammar School in Wheatley, Oxfordshire. In 1971, the school was abolished and became the site of the new Wheatley Park Comprehensive School during her time as a pupil.[11][13] May then went to the University of Oxford where she read geography at St Hugh's College, graduating with a second class BA degree in 1977.[14]
Early career[edit]
Between 1977 and 1983 May worked at theBank of England, and from 1985 to 1997 as a financial consultant and senior advisor in International Affairs at the Association for Payment Clearing Services.[15]
May served as a councillor for the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994, where she was Chairman of Education (1988–90) and Deputy Group Leader and Housing Spokesman (1992–94). In the 1992 general election May stood unsuccessfully for the seat of North West Durham and failed to win the1994 Barking by-election. In the 1997 general election, May was elected as the Conservative MP for Maidenhead.[15]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_May
