My shocking illness: Home Secretary Theresa May reveals she has Type 1 diabetes and needs daily injections... but vows to continue her political career In an exclusive interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mrs May reveals all Her decision to talk candidly stems partly from cruel Westminster gossip Some said new image was part of plan to challenge David Cameron as leader Type 1 diabetes, a chronic illness, carries a risk of heart attacks and strokes By Elizabeth Sanderson New regime: Theresa May says she won't let her newly-discovered Type 1 diabetes get in the way of her work as Home Secretary Courageous Home Secretary Theresa May has vowed to carry on her political career after revealing that doctors have told her she must inject herself with insulin at least twice a day for the rest of her life. Mrs May, strongly tipped to succeed David Cameron as Conservative leader, is suffering from Type 1 diabetes - which carries a risk of heart attacks and strokes - and now carries a needle with her at all times. Disclosing the chronic condition in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Mrs May, 56, said: "It was a real shock and, yes, it took me a while to come to terms with it." But she is determined to soldier on in her gruelling routine as Home Secretary, working up to 18 hours a day. The diabetes doesn't affect how I do the job or what I do. It's just part of life... so it's a case of head down and getting on with it. She diplomatically brushed aside questions over whether it could stop her achieving her dream of succeeding Mr Cameron, and becoming Britain's second woman Prime Minister, saying: "There is no leadership bid. We have a first-class Prime Minister and long may he continue. Mrs May's decision to talk candidly about the diagnosis stems partly from comments about her two-stone weight loss. It prompted reports that it was part of a makeover in preparation for a Tory leadership campaign. In fact, part of Mrs May's weight loss is a result of her diabetes, although she had started a new diet and fitness regime before she was told in November that she had the condition. Initially doctors thought she had Type 2 diabetes, but two months ago they told her she has Type 1, a chronic condition, normally diagnosed in teenagers, which means her body does not produce insulin. "This was not some great Machiavellian plan - there is no leadership bid," said Mrs May, reflecting on reports that she had been slimming down to take on Mr Cameron. Putting a brave face on her condition, workaholic vicar's daughter Mrs May, who frequently works on her Ministerial papers until 1am, before rising at 6am, said: "It doesn't and will not affect my ability to do my work. I'm a little more careful about what I eat and there's obviously the injections but this is something millions of people have... I'm OK with needles, fortunately. Unlike Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 cannot be controlled by diet and tablets. Mrs May described how, coincidentally, her diet regime may have masked the side-effects of her debilitating illness. The Maidenhead MP has been married to banker husband Philip for 32 years. The couple have no children. She first made an impact on politics by declaring in 2002 that the Tories had become "the Nasty Party" because of its perceived tough line on issues such as race and welfare. Her political stock rose to an all-time high after she finally succeeded in deporting the radical cleric Abu Qatada last month. Bookmakers made her 4-1 favourite to become the next leader of the Conservative Party, eclipsing her rival contenders, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove. And she has brought a similar single-minded approach to dealing with diabetes. She said: "There's a great quote from Steve Redgrave who was diagnosed with diabetes before he won his last Olympic gold medal. He said diabetes must learn to live with me rather than me live with diabetes. That's the attitude. The REAL reason I lost so much weight: In a deeply personal disclosure, Home Secretary reveals disease behind her dramatic weight loss... and scotches cruel Westminster speculation In the gossipy world of Westminster, nothing is ever taken at face value. So when Theresa May lost so much weight that even male MPs began to notice, it wasn't long before the conspiracy theories began. According to the Commons grapevine, her dramatic change of appearance (she entered the House a size 14 and was a size 10 by last April) was not the result of a healthy diet but a cynical makeover designed to topple David Cameron. The Home Secretary was clearly positioning herself as a future leadership contender, her image now as polished as her political ambitions. At home: Mrs May still enjoys a tipple but sticky toffee pudding is now off the menu In fact, as she reveals today, it was nothing of the sort. The Minister had instead developed Type 1 diabetes, an incurable life-long condition that means her body cannot produce insulin - and which raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Speaking for the first time about her illness to The Mail on Sunday, the 56-year-old politician is pragmatic and sensible in that slightly school ma'amish way of hers, but there's little doubting the news came as a blow. "It was a real shock and, yes, it took me a while to come to terms with it," she admits. It started last November. I'd had a bad cold and cough for quite a few weeks. I went to my GP and she did a blood test which showed I'd got a very high sugar level - that's what revealed the diabetes. The symptoms are tiredness, drinking a lot of water, losing weight but it's difficult to isolate things. 'The tablets didn't help. Then they said: It's Type 1 diabetes' I was drinking a lot of water. But I do anyway. There was weight loss but then I was already making an effort to be careful about diet and to get my gym sessions in. Tiredness - speak to any politician and they will tell you the hours they work. Tiredness can be part of the job. It is full on. The illness means Mrs May will have to inject insulin at least twice a day for the rest of her life, carrying a pen needle with her to deliver the hormone her body needs. "It's the paraphernalia and that kind of practical side of it that was a bit of a shock," she admits. I took the view, well I'm going to have to do this so just get on with it. At the moment I'm on a couple of injections a day. We'll see how things go. The recommendation is you inject in your stomach but you can do it in the thighs as well. Recalling the first time she had to inject, a daunting prospect for anyone, the Home Secretary is reluctant to show vulnerability. The specialist nurse showed me what to do the first time. But you get into routines. It becomes second nature, I suppose. You just have to make sure you have everything with you. So you have to make sure you have all the bits and pieces wherever you go. I also have to make sure I eat regularly. Mrs May, who has served as Home Secretary for three years, is the longest serving woman in one of the great offices of State after Margaret Thatcher The diagnosis comes as Mrs May is under increasing scrutiny as a potential successor to David Cameron and fresh from victory over radical cleric Abu Qatada, pictured, who was finally deported to Jordan on her watch There's a great quote from Steve Redgrave who was diagnosed with diabetes before he won his last Olympic gold medal. The diagnosis comes at a crucial time for the Maidenhead MP. Mrs May is under increasing scrutiny as a potential successor to David Cameron and is fresh from victory over the radical cleric Abu Qatada, who was finally deported to Jordan on her watch. Political leadership aspirations are rarely openly acknowledged and Mrs May is no different. Clearly exasperated at the link that was made between her weight loss and any wider ambitions, she says: "It's odd because you can steadily lose weight, then all of a sudden it's "Oh!." 'You want to say: Actually I've been losing it for the last year. This was not some great Machiavellian plan because there is no leadership bid. We have a first-class leader and a first-class Prime Minister and long may he continue. We move on to relatively safer territory: the Minister's beloved kitten heels. People with diabetes suffer bad circulation and increased risk of nerve damage, meaning their feet must be monitored for small cuts that can lead to ulcers. So does this mean sensible footwear from now on? The Home Secretary gives a surprisingly girlish laugh. The Minister's beloved kitten heels have not been banned following the diabetes diagnosis. Sufferers must have their feet monitored for small cuts that can lead to ulcers because of poor circulation I have to say the advice they give on shoes does not necessarily include kitten heels. But, no, I've not been banned from wearing them. Pottering around the kitchen of her home in the pretty Berkshire village of Sonning-on-Thames, Mrs May is bright and cheery, making tea and chatting about her cookery books - there are over 100 lining the shelves, while in the study, copies of the Spectator magazine sit alongside Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. You'd never know she'd landed at Heathrow two hours previously, after a week of back-to-back meetings in Washington and California. Or that two months ago doctors told her they were amending their diagnosis, revealing that the situation was worse than expected. Initially they thought she had Type 2 diabetes, where the body doesn't produce enough insulin to function properly and which can be treated with tablets. But last May they said it was Type 1, a far less common condition, usually found in teenagers, when the body doesn't produce any insulin. About 90 per cent of all three million UK adults with diabetes have Type 2. My initial reaction was it's a pain because I was having to take tablets. But it didn't make any real difference. I could manage it. But the tablets weren't having any impact. So I had some more tests and saw a specialist. He said it was Type 1. I didn't realise that at my stage of life you could develop Type 1. But apparently there is a percentage of the population in whom it's latent and they just don't know what it is that triggers it. The politician can still enjoy a glass of wine or a gin and tonic with her husband Philip, an investment manager she met at Oxford University, but white bread, cake and sticky toffee pudding are all now off the menu. Changing profile: Pictured in 2010, left, and 2011, right, before the two stone weight loss partly brought on by Theresa May's diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes "Luckily it's not been such a hardship as I was being careful any way," she says. I used to love cake but don't eat it so much any more. 'It's funny. Once you're told you can't have something, like sticky toffee pudding... I only used to have it probably twice a year in reality... but then you can't stop thinking about it. Mrs May was already a regular gym goer when diagnosed, having joined when she entered Parliament in 1997, after realising the toll her job would take. When I first entered Parliament, within about six months I realised either I was going to start going to the gym or I would end up pretty unhealthy, because of the lifestyle and the invitations you get. It was a bit of shock to the system. I found it quite difficult. You just have to tell yourself it will get better. And it does . . . sort of. The politician has lost a little under two stone over the last 18 months. She says she's now between a size 10 and 12 but dressed in Armani jeans and a crisp white shirt, she looks tremendously trim for any age, never mind a woman in her 50s. This all takes an iron discipline but as her three years at the Home Office have shown, she is nothing if not determined. The role is a perilous one - there were six home secretaries in the six years up until her appointment - yet Mrs May has thrived. Known for her Thatcherite appetite for detail, the politician is famous for working her way through her Ministerial red boxes until the early hours. I try not to go beyond 1am. I'm getting more ruthless with myself," she insists. In this particular role it's too tempting to snack over the red box late at night. So I was consciously being careful about what I was eating and exercising. I didn't want to put weight on and the happy effect was I started losing it. But whispers of a make-over began in February. Labour MP Keith Vaz criticised Mrs May's appearance, tweeting: "A bit worried about Home Secretary. She is looking a bit thin these days. A new diet or pressure of work? His remarks provoked cross-party condemnation. Ironically, although Vaz didn't know about his fellow politician's condition, he too suffers from diabetes. Pictured in 2012, left, and this year, right, Mrs May's slimline look was said by Westminster gossipmongers to be part of her preparation to bid for the Tory leadership - but little did they know the illness behind it Mrs May says: "I wasn't best pleased. I thought actually it rebounded on him rather than anything to do with me. I thought it was unfortunate that he felt he wanted to make those sorts of personal comments. I don't know which type he has but he does have diabetes, he's mentioned it in Parliament . . . so I will be interested to see what the next thing he chooses to say will be. But politics is now a personal business. And Mrs May, with her sometimes eccentric fashion choices, knows that more than most. There's a lot of focus on a woman's appearance. What's important is for people to feel comfortable in themselves. I think people should be true to themselves and what they are. 'I enjoy clothes, I enjoy fashion and I've had various descriptions of what I wear over the years, some positive, some not. You get more used to it and take it in your stride a bit more easily but of course it's frustrating. If you feel you've bought a really nice outfit and you look great in it and somebody makes some disparaging comment about it, you do feel a bit, well, hang on a minute... That's just natural. A vicar's daughter, Mrs May grew up in Oxfordshire and went into the City. Interested in politics from childhood, she was elected to Merton Borough Council in London and was finally chosen as a Tory parliamentary candidate in 1995 on her fifth attempt. Her rise was swift. In 2002 she became the first female chairman of the Conservative Party and she went on to work at Transport and Work & Pensions, before Cameron gave her the Home Office. One of only four female members of the Cabinet, she is now the longest serving woman to have held any of the great offices of State, after Margaret Thatcher. Despite attempts to get more women into politics, there are still only 48 women Conservative MPs and 256 men. She says: "I think very often the issue for women is that they feel they can make a difference in different ways. I think often they feel the focus on their personal life is difficult and a lot of women worry what it means for their family. Mrs May is famous for her 18-hour working days, ploughing through her Ministerial boxes until the early hours before rising at 6am And very often women just do politics in a different way to men. This is a huge generalisation, but with women it's less about the aggressive hand-to-hand combat and more often about the forensic argument. You do have to be tenacious. Things don't move quickly and there's an inbuilt inertia in the system. If you take your foot off the pedal, it will move back to where it was. You just have to keep going, not give up basically, until you achieve the ultimate goal. She may as well be describing her battle to remove Abu Qatada from the country. Last month, she finally succeeded in extraditing him to Jordan but it took six home secretaries 12 years to eject the radical preacher. She says: "Everyone rightly says, why did it take so long? There's a need for us to look at our relationship with the European Court of Human Rights and nothing should be off the table in terms of that. And we need to apply our own processes of deportation and extradition. We're bringing an immigration bill to Parliament in the autumn and this will make it easier to remove people. Immigration will be top of Mrs May's agenda when she returns to Westminster after the summer recess. And it's clear the diabetes has made no difference to her grit and determination. I'm a little more careful about what I eat and there's obviously the injections. 'But it's just part of life. It's quite easy to adjust to, once you've learnt what it is and how to do it. No, it's business as usual. There's still a lot to do so it's a case of head down and getting on with it.