Theresa May

The Baroness May of Maidenhead
Born	Theresa Mary Brasier 1 10, 1956
Birthplace	Eastbourne, Sussex, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Politician
Known for	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2016–2019), Home Secretary (2010–2016)
Education	St Hugh's College, Oxford (BA)
Spouse(s)	Philip May
Awards	Life peerage (2024)
Website	[http://www.tmay.co.uk/ Official site]

Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019 and as Leader of the Conservative Party during the same period. She previously held office as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016, becoming the longest-serving holder of that office in over sixty years. May was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead from 1997 until 2024, when she stood down from the House of Commons; she has sat in the House of Lords as a life peer since August 2024. The second woman to serve as British prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher, May was the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State. Her premiership was dominated by the process of Brexit — the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union — during which she negotiated a draft withdrawal agreement that was repeatedly rejected by Parliament, ultimately leading to her resignation. A self-described one-nation conservative, May has in more recent years spoken publicly on issues including climate policy and trust in public institutions.

Early Life

Theresa Mary Brasier was born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex, England. Her father, Hubert Brasier, was a Church of England clergyman who served as a vicar in several parishes. May grew up in Oxfordshire, where she was raised in a household shaped by her father's religious vocation. She has spoken of the influence of Christianity on her life, stating that it is "part of me" and has informed her approach to public service.

May attended local state schools in Oxfordshire, including Wheatley Park School, a comprehensive secondary school. Her upbringing in a vicarage and in the rural English countryside shaped what commentators would later describe as a reserved and dutiful political temperament. Both of her parents died relatively early; her father was killed in a car accident in 1981, and her mother died of multiple sclerosis shortly afterwards. These personal losses occurred when May was in her mid-twenties, and she has spoken publicly about the impact they had on her life.

May has also been open about her diagnosis with type 1 diabetes, which was confirmed in 2013 during her tenure as Home Secretary. In an interview with Diabetes UK, she discussed managing the condition while holding a demanding ministerial role, describing the adjustment required in her daily routine and the importance of insulin treatment.

Education

May attended Wheatley Park School in Oxfordshire before going on to study Geography at St Hugh's College, Oxford, one of the colleges of the University of Oxford. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977. At Oxford, May was active in student politics and it was during her time at the university that she met her future husband, Philip May, who was introduced to her by Benazir Bhutto, a fellow student who later became Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Career

Early Career and Entry into Politics

After graduating from Oxford in 1977, May began her professional career in the financial sector. She worked at the Bank of England and subsequently at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), where she held roles in financial administration. During this period, she became increasingly involved in Conservative politics. She served as a councillor on Merton London Borough Council from 1986 to 1994, gaining experience in local government.

May made two unsuccessful attempts to enter the House of Commons before winning the newly created constituency of Maidenhead at the 1997 general election. Despite the election being a landslide victory for Tony Blair's Labour Party, May secured the safe Conservative seat and entered Parliament for the first time.

Shadow Cabinet and Party Chairmanship (1999–2010)

May rose steadily through the ranks of the Conservative opposition. From 1999 to 2010, she held a succession of shadow cabinet roles covering a wide range of policy areas. She served as shadow spokesperson for Education and Employment (1999–2001), Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001–2002), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2003–2004), the Family (2004–2005), and Culture, Media and Sport (2005). She later held the shadow brief for Leader of the House of Commons (2005–2009), Women and Equality (2007–2010), and Work and Pensions (2009–2010).

A notable period in her career before entering government was her tenure as Chairman of the Conservative Party from July 2002 to November 2003, serving under leader Iain Duncan Smith. In this role, May delivered a memorable speech to the 2002 Conservative Party conference in which she warned fellow Conservatives that the party was perceived by voters as the "nasty party," a phrase that became closely associated with her political identity and signalled her alignment with efforts to modernise the party's image.

A 2005 article in The Spectator assessed May's position within the Conservative Party during this period, noting the challenges she faced in establishing a distinct political profile amid the party's internal debates over its direction.

Home Secretary (2010–2016)

Following the 2010 general election, the Conservatives formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats under Prime Minister David Cameron. May was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, becoming one of the most senior members of the new government. She relinquished the Women and Equalities portfolio in September 2012 but continued as Home Secretary.

May was reappointed Home Secretary after the Conservatives won an outright majority at the 2015 general election, and by the time she left the post in July 2016 she had become the longest-serving Home Secretary in over sixty years.

During her six-year tenure at the Home Office, May pursued a series of significant reforms and policy initiatives:

Police reform: May oversaw the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners in England and Wales, a significant structural change to police governance. She pursued reform of the Police Federation of England and Wales, the staff association representing rank-and-file officers, and established two new national bodies: the College of Policing, intended to set professional standards, and the National Crime Agency, which replaced the Serious Organised Crime Agency as the lead agency for combating serious and organised crime.

Immigration: May adopted a restrictive approach to immigration, setting targets to reduce net migration and implementing measures to create what was described as a "hostile environment" for illegal immigrants. These policies later drew significant criticism, particularly in connection with the Windrush scandal that emerged during her subsequent premiership.

Counter-terrorism and deportation: One of the most prominent episodes during May's time as Home Secretary was her successful effort to secure the deportation of radical cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan in 2013, after years of legal challenges. The case had been a long-running source of political and legal controversy, and its resolution was seen as a significant achievement for May.

Drugs policy: May implemented a harder line on drugs policy, maintaining the classification of certain substances and resisting calls for liberalisation.

Social issues: In 2012, May publicly expressed support for same-sex marriage, recording a video for the Out4Marriage campaign. This represented a shift from her earlier voting record, in which she had opposed some measures extending rights to same-sex couples.

A 2016 profile in Politico described May as "the anti-Boris" and assessed her prospects of becoming the next prime minister, noting her reputation for methodical, low-key governance in contrast to the more flamboyant style of Boris Johnson.

Prime Minister (2016–2019)

Accession to Office

During the 2016 EU membership referendum, May supported the Remain campaign, though she maintained a relatively low profile during the contest. Following the victory of the Leave vote and the resignation of David Cameron, May entered the leadership contest to succeed him. She was elected Leader of the Conservative Party on 11 July 2016 after her remaining rival, Andrea Leadsom, withdrew from the contest. May was appointed Prime Minister on 13 July 2016, becoming the second woman to hold the office.

Upon taking office, May formed a new cabinet. ITV News reported that she "appointed a right-wing cabinet for a left-wing agenda," reflecting her stated intention to address issues of social justice and inequality alongside the central task of implementing Brexit.

Brexit Negotiations

The defining issue of May's premiership was negotiating the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. She invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union in March 2017, formally beginning the two-year process of withdrawal.

May's approach to Brexit was guided by a set of objectives she outlined in a speech at Lancaster House in January 2017, in which she stated that the UK would leave the European Single Market and the EU customs union. In July 2018, she convened her cabinet at Chequers, the prime minister's country residence, to agree upon a negotiating position. The resulting Chequers plan proposed a "common rulebook" for goods traded between the UK and the EU. The plan prompted the resignations of Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, and David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, who objected to the degree of alignment with EU rules that it envisaged.

May's government negotiated a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU in November 2018. However, the agreement proved deeply divisive, both within the Conservative Party and across Parliament. The withdrawal agreement was put to three "meaningful votes" in the House of Commons in January, March, and again in March 2019, and was defeated on each occasion by substantial margins. The first defeat, by 230 votes, was the largest defeat for a sitting government in the history of the House of Commons.

2017 General Election

In April 2017, May announced a snap general election, scheduled for 8 June, with the stated aim of strengthening her mandate for the Brexit negotiations. She campaigned on the slogan "strong and stable leadership." The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Conservatives losing their overall majority. The party won 317 seats, down from 330, although it received its highest share of the popular vote since 1983 and the largest increase in electoral support for a governing party since 1832. To remain in office, May entered a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland, which agreed to support the government on key votes in exchange for a funding commitment to Northern Ireland.

The result was widely seen as a significant setback for May, who had called the election expecting to increase her majority. The campaign was criticised for its narrow focus on May's personal leadership and a controversial social care policy that opponents labelled the "dementia tax." The election weakened May's authority within both her party and Parliament and complicated her ability to pass Brexit legislation.

Domestic Events

May's premiership coincided with a series of significant domestic events beyond Brexit. In 2017, the UK was struck by several terrorist attacks, including incidents at Westminster Bridge in March, the Manchester Arena in May, and London Bridge in June. May's government faced scrutiny over its response to these attacks and over broader questions of national security.

In June 2017, the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in a residential tower block in west London. May was criticised for her initial response to the disaster, which was perceived as lacking empathy, particularly after she visited the site but initially met only emergency services personnel rather than survivors and residents.

The Windrush scandal, which became public in 2018, revealed that members of the Windrush generation — people who had legally migrated to the UK from Caribbean countries from 1948 onwards — had been wrongly detained, denied legal rights, and in some cases deported under the "hostile environment" immigration policies implemented during May's tenure as Home Secretary. The scandal led to the resignation of Amber Rudd, May's successor as Home Secretary, and caused significant damage to the government's reputation.

In another area of policy, May's government delayed final approval for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project in July 2016, reportedly reflecting May's concerns about Chinese involvement in UK critical infrastructure. This decision drew attention to a shift from the Cameron government's approach to relations with China. Nick Timothy, who later served as May's joint chief of staff in Downing Street, had previously written for ConservativeHome criticising the government's approach to Chinese investment in national security-related infrastructure.

Resignation

Faced with continued inability to pass her withdrawal agreement through Parliament and mounting pressure from within her own party, May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective 7 June. She formally left office as Prime Minister on 24 July 2019, when Boris Johnson succeeded her.

Post-Premiership and House of Lords

After leaving Downing Street, May continued to serve as MP for Maidenhead until she stood down at the 2024 general election. On 21 August 2024, she entered the House of Lords as a life peer, taking the title Baroness May of Maidenhead.

In her post-premiership career, May has spoken publicly on a range of issues. In October 2025, she criticised the Conservative Party under the leadership of Kemi Badenoch for its pledge to repeal the UK's flagship climate change legislation, calling it a "catastrophic mistake." She accused the party of "chasing votes" from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party and described the proposed rollback of climate reforms as an "extreme and unnecessary measure."

In November 2025, it was announced that May would guest edit BBC Radio 4's Today programme, using the platform to explore the issue of declining trust in public institutions. In a December 2025 interview with Bloomberg, May reflected on leadership challenges, stating: "You can't always just react."

Personal Life

Theresa May married Philip May, a banker and investment relationship manager, in 1980. The couple met while both were students at the University of Oxford, having been introduced by Benazir Bhutto. Philip May later became an investment relationship manager at Capital Group. The couple do not have children; May has spoken publicly about the fact that this was not by choice and has described the matter as a source of sadness.

May is a member of the Church of England and has spoken about the role of her Christian faith in her life and political outlook, noting the influence of her father's vocation as a clergyman.

In 2013, May was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a condition she has managed while continuing her political career. She has spoken about the condition in an interview with Diabetes UK, describing the daily routine of insulin injections and blood testing that it requires.

May has attracted media attention for her interest in fashion, particularly her choices of footwear, which became a recurring feature of press coverage throughout her political career. She has a relative, Alistair Strathern, who is a first cousin once removed and who entered politics as a Labour MP.

Recognition

May was included in the BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power List, which assessed the most influential women in the United Kingdom.

In 2024, following her departure from the House of Commons, May was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer, receiving the title Baroness May of Maidenhead. The creation of a life peerage for a former prime minister is customary in British political life.

As the second female Prime Minister in British history and the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State (Home Secretary and Prime Minister), May's tenure in high office marked a significant milestone in British political history.

Legacy

May's legacy is shaped primarily by her six-year tenure as Home Secretary and her three years as Prime Minister. As Home Secretary, she oversaw significant structural reforms to policing in England and Wales, including the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners and the creation of the National Crime Agency and the College of Policing. Her immigration policies, particularly the "hostile environment" approach, proved to be among the most contentious elements of her record, with the Windrush scandal exposing the human cost of those policies and prompting an official review.

As Prime Minister, May's tenure was dominated almost entirely by Brexit. Her inability to secure parliamentary approval for her negotiated withdrawal agreement, despite three attempts, illustrated the depth of divisions within the Conservative Party and across Parliament on the issue of EU membership. The 2017 snap election, intended to strengthen her hand, instead weakened it, and the subsequent period of parliamentary gridlock became a defining feature of British politics in the late 2010s.

Assessments of May's political character have noted her methodical, reserved style of governance, which contrasted with the more public-facing approach of both her predecessor, David Cameron, and her successor, Boris Johnson. She has been described as a "one-nation conservative," and her stated domestic priorities upon taking office — including addressing inequality and social injustice — reflected this positioning, although critics argued that Brexit consumed political energy that might otherwise have been directed towards these goals.

In the years since leaving Downing Street, May has continued to engage in public debate, particularly on issues of climate policy and institutional trust. Her criticism of her own party's direction under subsequent leaders has positioned her as a voice for a more centrist strand of Conservatism within the House of Lords.