Theresa May facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Baroness May of Maidenhead
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Official portrait, 2024
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| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 13 July 2016 – 24 July 2019 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| First Secretary | Damian Green (2017) |
| Preceded by | David Cameron |
| Succeeded by | Boris Johnson |
| Leader of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 11 July 2016 – 23 July 2019 |
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| Preceded by | David Cameron |
| Succeeded by | Boris Johnson |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 12 May 2010 – 13 July 2016 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Alan Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Amber Rudd |
| Minister for Women and Equalities | |
| In office 12 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Harriet Harman |
| Succeeded by | Maria Miller |
| Chair of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 23 July 2002 – 6 November 2003 |
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| Leader | Iain Duncan Smith |
| Preceded by | David Davis |
| Succeeded by |
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| Assumed office 21 August 2024 |
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| Member of Parliament for Maidenhead |
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| In office 1 May 1997 – 30 May 2024 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Joshua Reynolds |
| Shadow Cabinet portfolios | |
| 1999–2001 |
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| 2001–2002 | Transport, Local Government and the Regions |
| 2003–2004 | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
| 2004–2005 | Family |
| 2005 | Culture, Media and Sport |
| 2005–2009 | Leader of the House of Commons |
| 2007–2010 | Women and Equality |
| 2009–2010 | Work and Pensions |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Theresa Mary Brasier
1 October 1956 Eastbourne, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Alistair Strathern (first cousin once removed) |
| Education | Wheatley Park School |
| Alma mater | St Hugh's College, Oxford (BA) |
| Signature |  |
| n.b. | |
Theresa Mary, Lady May ( née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead from 1997 to 2024. May is the second female UK prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher.
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Early life and education
Theresa May was born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex. She is the only child of Zaidee Mary (née Barnes; 1928–1982) and Hubert Brasier (1917–1981). Her father was a Church of England clergyman. He later became vicar of Enstone with Heythrop and finally of St Mary's at Wheatley, to the east of Oxford. May's mother was a supporter of the Conservative Party. Her father died in 1981, from injuries sustained in a car accident, and her mother of multiple sclerosis the following year. May later stated she was "sorry they [her parents] never saw me elected as a Member of Parliament".
May initially attended Heythrop Primary School, a state school in Heythrop, followed by St. Juliana's Convent School for Girls, a Roman Catholic independent school in Begbroke, which closed in 1984.
May attended the University of Oxford, read geography at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a second class BA degree in 1977.
Early career
After graduating in 1977, May worked at the Bank of England and the Association for Payment Clearing Services. She also served as a councillor for Durnsford in Merton.
Parliamentary career
After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she was elected as the MP for the new seat of Maidenhead at the 1997 general election. From 1999 to 2010, May held several roles in shadow cabinets, and was Chair of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2003.
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Home Secretary
In 2010, May was appointed Home Secretary. During her tenure she pursued reform of the Police Federation and further restricted immigration, allowing only those British citizens earning more than £18,600 to bring their spouses or their children to live with them in the UK. She also increased the two-year probationary period for partners to 5 years. The rules prevented any adult and elderly dependents from settling in the UK unless they could demonstrate that, as a result of age, illness or disability, they required a level of long-term personal care that can only be provided by a relative in the UK.
Although May supported the unsuccessful remain campaign, she supported Brexit following the outcome of the 2016 referendum.
May also championed legislation requiring internet and mobile service providers to keep records of internet usage, voice calls, messages and email for up to a year in case police requested access to the records while investigating a crime.
May held the office of Minister for Women and Equalities in parallel to her office of Home Secretary from 2010 to September 2012, when this role was taken over by Maria Miller.
She was elected and appointed prime minister unopposed to succeed Cameron after Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the contest.
Premiership (2016–2019)
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On 13 July 2016, two days after becoming Leader of the Conservative Party, May was appointed Prime Minister by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the second female British prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. Addressing the world's media outside 10 Downing Street, May said that she was "honoured and humbled" to become prime minister.
As prime minister, May began the process of withdrawing the UK from the EU, starting negotiations with the EU, which led to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement. Other events that occurred during May's premiership included terrorist attacks in Westminster, the Manchester Arena and London Bridge, the Grenfell Tower fire and the Windrush scandal. Her government announced the NHS Long Term Plan and was responsible for negotiating and approving the near-entirety of the UK's terms of exit from the EU.
May survived two votes of no confidence in December 2018 and January 2019, but after versions of her draft withdrawal agreement were rejected by Parliament three times and her party's poor performance in the May 2019 European Parliament election, she left office on 24 July and was succeeded by Boris Johnson, her former foreign secretary.
Post-premiership (2019–present)
After leaving 10 Downing Street, May took her place on the backbenches. In the 2019 general election she was re-elected as the constituency's MP.
Following her retirement from the House of Commons, May was identified as a potential candidate in the 2024 University of Oxford Chancellor election to succeed Chris Patten. However, in March 2024, May announced that she would not seek re-election as an MP at the general election. She was succeeded as MP for Maidenhead by Liberal Democrat Joshua Reynolds.
Peerage
May was nominated for a life peerage in Rishi Sunak's 2024 Dissolution Honours. She was created Baroness May of Maidenhead, of Sonning in the Royal County of Berkshire, on 21 August 2024 and introduced to the House of Lords on 12 September 2024.
Personal life
May has been married to Sir Philip May, an investment relationship manager currently employed by Capital International, since 6 September 1980. It has been reported that former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto introduced the two during their time at Oxford. May credits future Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for encouraging Philip to propose to her. May has expressed regret that she and her husband did not have children.
May and her husband reside in the Thames village of Sonning which is within her constituency. She is the first cousin once-removed of Labour MP Alistair Strathern.
May is a member of the Church of England and regularly worships at church (usually at St Andrew's, Sonning) on Sunday. The daughter of an Anglican priest, Hubert Brasier, May has said that her Christian faith "is part of me. It is part of who I am and therefore how I approach things".
May was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus of type 1 in November 2012. She is treated with daily insulin injections.
Following her husband's knighthood in the 2019 Dissolution Honours, she has been entitled to be styled as Lady May. As of 2 February 2022[update], May's listing on Parliament's website, her own website, and social media do not use the style "Lady May".
Interesting facts about Theresa May
- May is the first woman to hold two of the Great Offices of State.
- At college, May worked at a bakery on Saturdays to earn pocket money.
- May is known for a love of fashion, and in particular of distinctive shoes.
- May and her husband are passionate walkers, and they regularly spend their holidays hiking in the Swiss Alps.
- She is also a cricket fan, stating that Sir Geoffrey Boycott was one of her sporting heroes.
- May enjoys cooking, and has said that she owns 100 cookery books.
Theresa May quotes
- "If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere."
- "In tough times, everyone has to take their share of the pain."
- "Like Indiana Jones, I don't like snakes - though that might lead some to ask why I'm in politics."
- "Brexit means Brexit."
- "My whole philosophy is about doing, not talking."
- "Politics is about public service."
- "More people vote for a TV show than a political party. And those who do vote think a man dressed as a monkey is more likely to deliver on his election pledges than any party."
Honours and arms
Commonwealth honours
| Country | Date | Appointment | Post-nominal letters |
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 United Kingdom |
2003 – present | Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council | PC |
Foreign honours
| Country | Date | Appointment | Post-nominal letters |
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 Saudi Arabia |
2017 – present | Order of King Abdulaziz (Special Class) | |
 San Marino |
2020 | Dame of the Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha |
Scholastic
| Location | Date | School | Degree |
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 England |
1977 | St Hugh's College, Oxford | Second Class Honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Geography |
| Location | Date | School | Position |
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| England |
University of Reading Conservative Association | Patron |
Honorary degrees
| Location | Date | School | Degree | Gave Commencement Address |
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 India |
30 November 2014 | World Sikh University | Doctorate | Yes |
Freedom of the City
Memberships and Fellowships
| Location | Date | Institution | Position |
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| England |
Rotary Club of Maidenhead Thames | Honorary Member | |
| England |
November 2021 – present | Clergy Support Trust | Honorary Vice President |
Awards
Prior to and since her appointment to Government, May has actively supported a variety of campaigns on policy issues in her constituency and at national level. She has spoken at the Fawcett Society promoting the cross-party issue of gender equality. She is the Patron of Reading University Conservative Association, in Berkshire (the county of her Maidenhead constituency). Her activism has earned her a number of awards.
She was nominated as one of the Society's Inspiring Women of 2006. In February 2013, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour described her as Britain's second-most powerful woman after Queen Elizabeth II; May was Home Secretary at the time, and the most senior woman in that government.
In 2001 she was made a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors.
In September 2017, she was listed by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world, behind Angela Merkel.
Arms
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See also
In Spanish: Theresa May para niños
