Theresa May

The Right Honourable Theresa May MP
Home Secretary
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 May 2010
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Alan Johnson
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office 19 January 2009 – 11 May 2010
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	Chris Grayling
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In office 6 December 2005 – 19 January 2009
Leader	David Cameron
Preceded by	Oliver Heald
Succeeded by	Alan Duncan
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In office 6 May 2005 – 6 December 2005
Leader	Michael Howard
Preceded by	Julie Kirkbride
Succeeded by	Hugo Swire
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
In office 6 November 2003 – 6 May 2005
Leader	Michael Howard
Preceded by	David Lidington (Environment) Tim Collins (Transport)
Succeeded by	Alan Duncan
Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office 23 July 2002 – 6 November 2003
Leader	Iain Duncan Smith
Preceded by	David Davis
Succeeded by	Liam Fox
Member of Parliament for Maidenhead
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Constituency created
Majority	6,231 (13.6%)
Personal details
Born	(1956-10-01) 1 October 1956 Eastbourne, Sussex
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Philip May
Alma mater	St Hugh's College, Oxford

The Rt Hon. Theresa Mary May MP, née Brasier (born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex) is the Conservative Home Secretary of the United Kingdom. She is the most senior female politician in the UK, appointed a member of the Privy Council in 2003. She was elected to parliament in 1997, a former chairman of the governing Conservative Party, and Member of Parliament for Maidenhead. She was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality on 12 May 2010 in David Cameron's cabinet. These appointments promoted Mrs May to being the most powerful woman in British politics ahead of Acting Labour Leader, Harriet Harman.

She was Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Minister for Women before the appointment of Rt Hon. David Cameron as Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. Prior to the election of the new Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government, Mrs May was a regular contributor to the BBC's Question Time and Any Questions programmes. She enjoyed an increasingly prominent media profile in the years prior to her appointment as Home Secretary.

Early life

At the age of 13 she went to Holton Park Girls' Grammar School in Wheatley which later became Wheatley Park Comprehensive School (near Oxford). May studied at St Hugh's College, Oxford, obtaining a BA in Geography in 1977.

From 1977 to 1983 she worked at the Bank of England, and from 1985 to 1997, as a financial consultant and senior advisor in International Affairs at the Association for Payment Clearing Services. She was a councillor in 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 she stood (and lost) in the safe Labour seat of North West Durham and then unsuccessfully contested the 1994 Barking by-election. In the 1997 general election she was elected the Conservative MP for Maidenhead.

Member of Parliament

Having entered parliament she soon became a member of William Hague's front-bench team as Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women (1998 – June 1999). May became the first of the 1997 MPs to enter the Shadow Cabinet when in 1999 she was appointed Shadow Education and Employment Secretary. After the 2001 election the new Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith retained her services in the Shadow Cabinet, moving her to the Transport portfolio. In this role she opposed then Transport Secretary Stephen Byers in the period leading up to his resignation.

May was appointed the first female chairman of the Conservative Party in July 2002. During her speech at the 2002 Conservative Party Conference while making a point about why her party must change, she controversially stated that the Conservatives were currently perceived as the "Nasty Party". In 2003, she was sworn of the Privy Council. After Michael Howard became Conservative leader that year, he made May Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment. However in June 2004 she was moved to the new position of Shadow Secretary of State for the Family. After the 2005 election her portfolio was expanded and she became Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whilst remaining Shadow Secretary of State for the Family. David Cameron appointed her Shadow Leader of the House in December 2005 after his accession to the leadership. In January 2009 she was made Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

On 6 May 2010, May was re-elected as MP for Maidenhead with an increased majority of 16, 769, 60 per cent of the vote. This follows an earlier failed attempt to unseat her in 2005 as one of the targets of the Lib Dems' "decapitation" strategy. She also increased her majority at this time and now finds herself as part of a coalition government in partnership with the LibDems.

On 12 May 2010, May was appointed Home Secretary in David Cameron's first cabinet.

Personal life

She married Philip John May on 6 September 1980 in south-east Oxfordshire and lives in Sonning, Berkshire. Outside politics, she states her interests as walking and cooking.

Styles

• Miss Theresa Brasier (1956–80)
• Mrs Philip May (1980–97)
• Mrs Philip May, MP (1997–2003)
• The Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP (2003–)

External links

• Theresa May MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Conservative Party
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Website at ePolitix.com
• Profile: Theresa May BBC News, 30 March 2006

Audio clips

• WPRadio Discussing the Women2Win campaign on Women's Parliamentary Radio

Video clips

• Byte Night October 2008
• Conservative conference September 2008

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