Theresa May

Former Prime Minister Theresa May served as leader of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019. She is the second female in British history to hold the position.

Theresa May served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019, during an extraordinary time in global affairs. She served as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead for 27 years. She now sits in the UK House of Lords. 

Mrs. May has been involved in politics at all levels for many years, starting out stuffing envelopes at her local Conservative Association before going on to be a councilor in the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994. In May 1997, she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, the constituency in which she lives. She has held various positions in Parliament since. In 2005, Mrs. May co- founded Women2Win, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of Conservative women in Parliament and in public life.

Appointed Home Secretary in May 2010, Mrs. May made history by becoming the longest-serving Conservative Home Secretary in the past 100 years. During this time, she oversaw reductions in crime, reform of the police, and the introduction of the landmark Modern Slavery Act.

Following her election as Leader of the Conservative Party, Mrs. May was appointed Prime Minister in July 2016, where she became the first woman in British history to hold the position since Margaret Thatcher.

As Prime Minister, Mrs. May led negotiations with the European Union after the country’s historic Brexit referendum. She also oversaw the largest ever cash boost to the UK’s National Health Service and the largest expansion of mental health services in a generation. She launched a 25-year Environment Plan and introduced legislation to end the UK’s contribution to global warming entirely. She also established the first ever Race Disparity Audit to shine a light on injustices, and published a Modern Industrial Strategy to ensure that the jobs of the future are created across the whole country — not just in London.

During her time in Downing Street, the UK’s national debt fell, there were more people in work than ever before, and taxes were cut for 32 million people.

Mrs. May continues to work with over 20 charity and voluntary organisations including the Aldersgate Group, a business organisation which champions environmental sustainability and Breakthrough T1D, the type 1 diabetes charity. In 2023 she set up the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking to raise the political momentum of the issue. 

This year she was appointed a Senior Fellow at Yale University, teaching on the future of democracy. 

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