The Rt Hon Theresa May
Conservative 2016 to 2019
Theresa May served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 2016 and 2019.
Born
1 October 1956, Eastbourne
Dates in office
2016 to 2019
Political party
Conservative
Major acts
Investigatory Powers Act 2016, European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017, European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, Climate Change Act (2050 Target Amendment) Order 2019
Interesting facts
Theresa May was the UK’s second female Prime Minister and the first world leader to serve with Type 1 diabetes.
Biography
Theresa May had a varied education spanning both the state and private sectors, and both grammar school and comprehensive school. She read geography at St Hugh’s College, Oxford University. She started her career at the Bank of England and went on to hold posts at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).
Theresa May has been involved in politics at all levels for many years. She served as a councillor in the London Borough of Merton before being elected as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead in 1997. She held several roles as a member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1999 to 2010, including as the first female Chairman of the Conservative Party.
Following the general election of 2010, she was appointed Home Secretary and went on to become the longest-serving Conservative Home Secretary for over a century. During this time she oversaw significant reforms of the police, established the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency; and oversaw the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act to tackle slavery and trafficking. She also served as Minister for Women and Equalities from 2010-12.
Theresa May was elected as Leader of the Conservative Party and appointed as Prime Minister on 13 July 2016. In her first speech as Prime Minister she committed her government to tackling what she described as “burning injustices”. She went on to establish the UK’s first ever Race Disparity Audit to uncover racial disparities in public services, and announced the largest expansion of mental health services in a generation through the NHS Long-Term Plan, which also saw a record funding increase to the NHS worth over £20 billion.
Theresa May launched the 25 Year Environment Plan to tackle issues such as plastic waste, and in 2019 she formally committed the UK to achieving ‘net zero’ climate emissions by 2050, making Britain the first major economy to do so.
During her time in Downing Street, the UK’s national debt fell, employment reached a record high, and income taxes were cut for 32 million people. As part of her government’s economic policy, she published a Modern Industrial Strategy to promote future job creation across the whole of the UK.
The dominant issue for much of her premiership was the UK’s exit from the European Union. As Prime Minister, she formally notified the EU of the UK’s intention to leave in the ‘Article 50 letter’ of 29 March 2017. Her administration took forward negotiations with the European Union on the terms of the UK’s exit and future relationship. The EU Withdrawal Act was passed in 2018, but divisions in Parliament meant there was insufficient support in Parliament to pass the withdrawal agreement reached with the EU. Later, much of the content of the negotiations would become the basis of the eventual Withdrawal Agreement. In her approach to negotiations, she held firm in her commitment to negotiating one set of terms covering all parts of the United Kingdom.
Twice as Prime Minister, Theresa May coordinated the UK’s response to the use of chemical weapons. First, in March 2018 when the nerve agent Novichok was used on the streets of Salisbury. Shortly after the attack she presented intelligence to the House of Commons that pointed to Russian state culpability – and led a coordinated response to secure the largest ever collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers around the world.
In April of the same year, after exhausting diplomatic channels, she authorised the UK’s armed forces to intervene in Syria following the Douma chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.
Theresa May served as Prime Minister until 24 July 2019. She was re-elected as MP for Maidenhead in December 2019.