Theresa May, the UK’s second female prime minister

Theresa May was the previous British Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party between 2016 and 2019. The politician grew up in Oxfordshire and attended Oxford. Following her graduation Theresa May began her career at the Bank of England and began working as a councillor in Durnsford.

She was elected as the MP of Maidenhead in 1997 and served as a chair woman to the Conservative Party between 2002 and 2003.

In 2010 she was given the role of Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities but gave up the role after two years before being appointed in 2015. During her time as the Home Secretary of the UK she worked on reforming the Police Federation, introduced more hard line drug policy and added more immigration restrictions.

In 2016 Theresa May was elected as the second female prime minister in the UK, replacing David Cameron as the leader of the Conservative Party. During her tenure she started the process of withdrawing the UK from the EU. In order to push Brexit negotiations forward she ordered general elections which lead to a hung parliament after Conservative seats fell from 330 to 317. Theresa May remained Prime Minister after a first vote of no confidence in 2018 failed to remove her and was not removed after a second vote in 2019 was table but she eventually stepped down and allow former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to step into her role.

During her time as Prime Minister Theresa May also saw a major funding increase to the NHS and launched a new 25 years climate change plan, unemployment rates also fell to record lows during her time as the UK’s leader.

Theresa May is known for her no nonsense approach to policy and for striving to improve female representation in British politics.