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 history, which established his leadership of the neo-orthodox movement in theology. Influenced strongly by Karl Barth and other dialectical theologians of Europe, he began to emphasize the Bible as a human record of divine self-revelation; it offered for Niebuhr a critical but redemptive reorientation of the understanding of humanity's nature and destiny.Niebuhr couched his ideas in Christ-centered principles such as the Great Commandment and the doctrine of original sin. His major contribution was his view of sin as a social event—as pride—with selfish self-centeredness as the root of evil. The sin of pride was apparent not just in criminals, but more dangerously in people who felt good about their deeds—rather like Henry Ford (whom he did not mention by name). The human tendency to corrupt the good was the great insight he saw manifested in governments, business, democracies, utopian societies, and churches. This position is laid out profoundly in one of his most influential books, Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932). He was a debunker of hypocrisy and pretense and made the avoidance of self-righteous illusions the center of his thoughts. Niebuhr argued that to approach religion as the individualistic attempt to fulfill biblical commandments in a moralistic sense is not only an impossibility but also a demonstration of man's original sin, which Niebuhr interpreted as self-love.Through self-love man becomes focused on his own goodness and leaps to the false conclusion—one he called the "Promethean illusion"—that he can achieve goodness on his own. Thus man mistakes his partial ability to transcend himself for the ability to prove his absolute authority over his own life and world. Constantly frustrated by natural limitations, man develops a lust for power which destroys him and his whole world. History is the record of these crises and judgments which man brings on himself; it is also proof that God does not allow man to overstep his possibilities. In radical contrast to the Promethean illusion, God reveals himself in history, especially personified in Jesus Christ, as sacrificial love which overcomes the human temptation to self-deification and makes possible constructive human history. Politics

Domestic
During the 1930s, Niebuhr was a prominent leader of the militant faction of the Socialist Party of America, although he disliked die-hard Marxists. He described their beliefs as a religion and a thin one at that.In 1941, he co-founded the Union for Democratic Action, a group with a strongly militarily interventionist, internationalist foreign policy and a pro-union, liberal domestic policy. He was the group's president until it transformed into the Americans for Democratic Action in 1947.

International
Within the framework of Christian realism, Niebuhr became a supporter of American action in the Second World War, anti-communism, and the development of nuclear weapons. However, he opposed the Vietnam War. At the outbreak of World War II, the pacifist component of his liberalism was challenged. Niebuhr began to distance himself from the pacifism of his more liberal colleagues and became a staunch advocate for the war. Niebuhr soon left the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a peace-oriented group of theologians and ministers, and became one of their harshest critics. This departure from his peers evolved into a movement known as Christian realism.Niebuhr is widely considered to have been its primary advocate. Niebuhr supported the Allies during the Second World War and argued for the engagement of the United States in the war. As a writer popular in both the secular and the religious arena and a professor at the Union Theological Seminary, he was very influential both in the United States and abroad. While many clergy proclaimed themselves pacifists because of their World War I experiences, Niebuhr declared that a victory by Germany and Japan would threaten Christianity. He renounced his socialist connections and beliefs and resigned from the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. He based his arguments on the Protestant beliefs that sin is part of the world, that justice must take precedence over love, and that pacifism is a symbolic portrayal of absolute love but cannot prevent sin. Although his opponents did not portray him favorably, Niebuhr's exchanges with them on the issue helped him mature intellectually.Niebuhr debated Charles Clayton Morrison, editor of The Christian Century magazine, about America's entry into World War II. Morrison and his pacifistic followers maintained that America's role should be strictly neutral and part of a negotiated peace only, while Niebuhr claimed himself to be a realist, who opposed the use of political power to attain moral ends. Morrison and his followers strongly supported the movement to outlaw war that began after World War I and the Kellogg–Briand Pact of 1928. The pact was severely challenged by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. With his publication of Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932), Niebuhr broke ranks with The Christian Century and supported interventionism and power politics. He supported the reelection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and published his own magazine, Christianity and Crisis. In 1945, however, Niebuhr charged that use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was "morally indefensible".Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. explained Niebuhr's influence:
Traditionally, the idea of the frailty of man led to the demand for obedience to ordained authority. But Niebuhr rejected that ancient conservative argument. Ordained authority, he showed, is all the more subject to the temptations of self-interest, self-deception and self-righteousness. Power must be balanced by power. He persuaded me and many of my contemporaries that original sin provides a far stronger foundation for freedom and self-government than illusions about human perfectibility. Niebuhr's analysis was grounded in the Christianity of Augustine and Calvin, but he had, nonetheless, a special affinity with secular circles. His warnings against utopianism, messianism and perfectionism strike a chord today.... We cannot play the role of God to history, and we must strive as best we can to attain decency, clarity and proximate justice in an ambiguous world. Niebuhr's defense of Roosevelt made him popular among liberals, as the historian Morton White noted:
The contemporary liberal's fascination with Niebuhr, I suggest, comes less from Niebuhr's dark theory of human nature and more from his actual political pronouncements, from the fact that he is a shrewd, courageous, and right-minded man on many political questions. Those who applaud his politics are too liable to turn then to his theory of human nature and praise it as the philosophical instrument of Niebuhr's political agreement with themselves. But very few of those whom I have called "atheists for Niebuhr" follow this inverted logic to its conclusion: they don't move from praise of Niebuhr's theory of human nature to praise of its theological ground. We may admire them for drawing the line somewhere, but certainly not for their consistency. After Joseph Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Adolf Hitler in August 1939, Niebuhr severed his past ties with any fellow-traveler organization having any known Communist leanings. In 1947, Niebuhr helped found the liberal Americans for Democratic Action.His ideas influenced George Kennan, Hans Morgenthau, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., and other realists during the Cold War on the need to contain Communist expansion. In his last cover story for Time magazine (March 1948), Whittaker Chambers said of Niebuhr:

Most U.S. liberals think of Niebuhr as a solid socialist who has some obscure connection with Union Theological Seminary that does not interfere with his political work. Unlike most clergymen in politics, Dr. Niebuhr is a pragmatist. Says James Loeb, secretary of Americans for Democratic Action: "Most so-called liberals are idealists. They let their hearts run away with their heads. Niebuhr never does. For example, he has always been the leading liberal opponent of pacifism.In that period before we got into the war when pacifism was popular, he held out against it steadfastly. He is also an opponent of Marxism. In the 1950s, Niebuhr described Senator Joseph McCarthy as a force of evil, not so much for attacking civil liberties, as for being ineffective in rooting out Communists and their sympathizers. In 1953, he supported the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, saying, "Traitors are never ordinary criminals and the Rosenbergs are quite obviously fiercely loyal Communists ... Stealing atomic secrets is an unprecedented crime." Views on race, ethnicity, and other religious affiliations
His views developed during his pastoral tenure in Detroit, which had become a place of immigration, migration, competition and development as a major industrial city. During the 1920s, Niebuhr spoke out against the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Detroit, which had recruited many members threatened by the rapid social changes.The Klan proposed positions that were anti-black, anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic. Niebuhr's preaching against the Klan, especially in relation to the 1925 mayoral election, gained him national attention. Niebuhr's thoughts on racial justice developed slowly after he abandoned socialism. Niebuhr attributed the injustices of society to human pride and self-love and believed that this innate propensity for evil could not be controlled by humanity. But, he believed that a representative democracy could improve society's ills. Like Edmund Burke, Niebuhr endorsed natural evolution over imposed change and emphasized experience over theory. Niebuhr's Burkean ideology, however, often conflicted with his liberal principles, particularly regarding his perspective on racial justice.Though vehemently opposed to racial inequality, Niebuhr adopted a conservative position on segregation. While after World War II most liberals endorsed integration, Niebuhr focused on achieving equal opportunity. He warned against imposing changes that could result in violence. The violence that followed peaceful demonstrations in the 1960s forced Niebuhr to reverse his position against imposed equality; witnessing the problems of the Northern ghettos later caused him to doubt that equality was attainable. Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism surged in Detroit in the 1920s in reaction to the rise in the number of Catholic immigrants from southern Europe since the early 20th century. It was exacerbated by the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, which recruited many members in Detroit. Niebuhr defended pluralism by attacking the Klan.During the Detroit mayoral election of 1925, Niebuhr's sermon, "We fair-minded Protestants cannot deny", was published on the front pages of both the Detroit Times and the Free Press. This sermon urged people to vote against mayoral candidate Charles Bowles, who was being openly endorsed by the Klan. The Catholic incumbent, John W. Smith, won by a narrow margin of 30,000 votes. Niebuhr preached against the Klan and helped to influence its decline in political power in Detroit. Niebuhr preached that:

Martin Luther King Jr. In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as <mask> Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals." King drew heavily upon Niebuhr's social and ethical ideals; according to Andrew Young, “King always claimed to have been much more influenced by Niebuhr than by Gandhi; he considered his nonviolent technique to be a Niebuhrian strategy of power” and “Whenever there was a conversation about power, Niebuhr came up.Niebuhr kept us from being naive about the evil structures of society.”
King invited Niebuhr to participate in the third Selma to Montgomery March in 1965, and Niebuhr responded by telegram: "Only a severe stroke prevents me from accepting ... I hope there will be a massive demonstration of all the citizens with conscience in favor of the elemental human rights of voting and freedom of assembly" (Niebuhr, March 19, 1965). Two years later, Niebuhr defended King's decision to speak out against the Vietnam War, calling him "one of the greatest religious leaders of our time". Niebuhr asserted: "Dr. King has the right and a duty, as both a religious and a civil rights leader, to express his concern in these days about such a major human problem as the Vietnam War." Of his country's intervention in Vietnam, Niebuhr admitted: "For the first time I fear I am ashamed of our beloved nation." Judaism
Throughout his life, Niebuhr cultivated a good reputation and rapport with the Jewish community. He was an early critic of Christian antisemitism, including proselytism, and a persistent critic of Nazism and rising Antisemitism in Germany throughout the 1930s.When he began as a young pastor in 1923 Detroit, he favored conversion of Jews to Christianity, scolding evangelical Christians who were either antisemitic or ignored them. He spoke out against "the un-Christlike attitude of Christians", and what he called "Jewish bigotry". Within three years, his theological views had evolved, and he spoke out against the practicality and necessity of missionizing Jews. He was the first prominent Christian theologian to argue it was inappropriate for Christians to seek to convert Jews to their faith, saying this negated “every gesture of our common biblical inheritance.”  His experience in


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 Detroit led him to the conclusion that the Jewish community was already sincerely committed to Social Justice. In a 1926-01-10 lecture, Niebuhr said:  "If I were a self-respecting Jew, I certainly would not renounce the faith of the fathers to embrace a faith which is as involved as Christianity is with racialism, Nordicism and gentile arrogance. (...) What we need is an entente cordiale between prophetic Judaism and prophetic Christianity in which both religions would offer the best they have to each other"

Niebuhr's 1933 article in The Christian Century was an attempt to sound the alarm within the Christian community over Hitler's "cultural annihilation of the Jews". As a preacher, writer, leader, and adviser to political figures, Niebuhr supported Zionism and the development of Israel.His solution to antisemitism was a combination of a Jewish homeland, greater tolerance, and assimilation in other countries. Unlike other Christian Zionists, Niebuhr's support of Zionism was practical, not theological, and not rooted in fulfillment of Biblical prophesy nor anticipation of the End-of-Days. Despite being a religious leader, he cautioned against the involvement of religious claims in the conflict. Although Niebuhr qualified his support for Zionism, he has been sharply criticized by Anti-Zionist figures such as Edward Said, who derided his claims to care about the Palestinians as insincere. Niebuhr noted that “Zionism is the expression of a national will to live that transcends the traditional orthodox religion of the Jews.” Jewish statehood was necessary because “the bigotry of majority groups toward minority groups that affront the majority by diverging from the dominant type is a perennial aspect of man’s collective life. The force of it may be mitigated, but it cannot be wholly eliminated.”

"How is the ancient and hereditary title of the Jews to Palestine to be measured against the right of the Arab’s present possession? … The participants cannot find a common ground of rational morality from which to arbitrate the issues because the moral judgments which each brings to them are formed by the historical forces which are in conflict.… The effort to bring such a conflict under the dominion of a spiritual unity may be partly successful, but it always produces a tragic by-product of the spiritual accentuation of natural conflict. The introduction of religious motives into these conflicts is usually no more than the final and most demonic pretension." History
In 1952, Niebuhr published The Irony of American History, in which he interpreted the meaning of the United States' past. Niebuhr questioned whether a humane, "ironical" interpretation of American history was credible on its own merits, or only in the context of a Christian view of history. Niebuhr's concept of irony referred to situations in which "the consequences of an act are diametrically opposed to the original intention", and "the fundamental cause of the disparity lies in the actor himself, and his original purpose." His reading of American history based on this notion, though from the Christian perspective, is so rooted in historical events that readers who do not share his religious views can be led to the same conclusion. Niebuhr's great foe was idealism.American idealism, he believed, comes in two forms: the idealism of the antiwar non-interventionists, who are embarrassed by power; and the idealism of pro-war imperialists, who disguise power as virtue. He said the non-interventionists, without mentioning Harry Emerson Fosdick by name, seek to preserve the purity of their souls, either by denouncing military actions or by demanding that every action taken be unequivocally virtuous. They exaggerate the sins committed by their own country, excuse the malevolence of its enemies and, as later polemicists have put it, inevitably blame America first. Niebuhr argued this approach was a pious way to refuse to face real problems. Serenity Prayer

Niebuhr said he wrote the short Serenity Prayer. Fred R. Shapiro, who had cast doubts on Niebuhr's claim, conceded in 2009 that, "The new evidence does not prove that <mask> Niebuhr wrote [the prayer], but it does significantly improve the likelihood that he was the originator." The earliest known version of the prayer, from 1937, attributes the prayer to Niebuhr in this version: "Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other."The most popular version, the authorship of which is unknown, reads:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference. Influence
Many political scientists, such as George F. Kennan, Hans Morgenthau, Kenneth Waltz, and Samuel P. Huntington, and political historians, such as Richard Hofstadter, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., and Christopher Lasch, have noted his influence on their thinking. Niebuhr exerted a significant influence upon mainline Protestant clergy in the years immediately following World War II, much of it in concord with the neo-orthodox and the related movements. That influence began to wane and then drop toward the end of his life. The historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. in the late twentieth century described the legacy of Niebuhr as being contested between American liberals and conservatives, both of whom wanted to claim him. Martin Luther King Jr. gave credit to Niebuhr's influence. Foreign-policy conservatives point to Niebuhr's support of the containment doctrine during the Cold War as an instance of moral realism; progressives cite his later opposition to the Vietnam War.In more recent years, Niebuhr has enjoyed something of a renaissance in contemporary thought, although usually not in liberal Protestant theological circles. Both major-party candidates in the 2008 presidential election cited Niebuhr as an influence: Senator John McCain, in his book Hard Call, "celebrated Niebuhr as a paragon of clarity about the costs of a good war". President Barack Obama said that Niebuhr was his " philosopher" and "favorite theologian". Slate magazine columnist Fred Kaplan characterized Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech as a "faithful reflection" of Niebuhr. Kenneth Waltz's seminal work on international relations theory, Man, the State, and War, includes many references to Niebuhr's thought. Waltz emphasizes Niebuhr's contributions to political realism, especially "the impossibility of human perfection". Andrew Bacevich's book The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism refers to Niebuhr 13 times.Bacevich emphasizes Niebuhr's humility and his belief that Americans were in danger of becoming enamored of US power. Other leaders of American foreign policy in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century have acknowledged Niebuhr's importance to them, including Jimmy Carter, Madeleine Albright, and Hillary Clinton. Legacy and honors

Niebuhr died on June 1, 1971, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During his lifetime, Niebuhr was awarded several honorary doctorates. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Niebuhr the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In Niebuhr's honor, New York City named West 120th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive Reinhold Niebuhr Place. This is the site of Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan, where Niebuhr taught for more than 30 years.Elmhurst College, his alma mater, established the Niebuhr Medal to honor him and his brother. Niebuhr's influence was at its peak during the first two decades of the Cold War. By the 1970s, his influence was declining because of the rise of liberation theology, antiwar sentiment, the growth of conservative evangelicalism, and postmodernism. According to historian Gene Zubovich, "It took the tragic events of September 11, 2001, to revive Niebuhr." In spring of 2017, it was speculated (and later confirmed) that former FBI director James Comey used Niebuhr's name as a screen name for his personal Twitter account. Comey, as a religion major at the College of William & Mary, wrote his undergraduate thesis on Niebuhr and televangelist Jerry Falwell. Personal style
Niebuhr was often described as a charismatic speaker.The journalist Alden Whitman wrote of his speaking style:
He possessed a deep voice and large blue eyes. He used his arms as though he were an orchestra conductor. Occasionally one hand would strike out, with a pointed finger at the end, to accent a trenchant sentence. He talked rapidly and (because he disliked to wear spectacles for his far-sightedness) without notes; yet he was adroit at building logical climaxes and in communicating a sense of passionate involvement in what he was saying. Selected works
Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic, Richard R. Smith pub, (1930), Westminster John Knox Press 1991 reissue: , diary of a young minister's trials
Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics, Charles Scribner's Sons (1932), Westminster John Knox Press 2002: ;
Interpretation of Christian Ethics, Harper & Brothers (1935)
Beyond Tragedy: Essays on the Christian Interpretation of History, Charles Scribner's Sons (1937),
Christianity and Power Politics, Charles Scribner's Sons (1940)
The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation, Charles Scribner's Sons (1943), from his 1939 Gifford Lectures, Volume one: Human Nature, Volume two: Human Destiny. Reprint editions include: Prentice Hall vol. 1: , Westminster John Knox Press 1996 set of 2 vols:
The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, Charles Scribner's Sons (1944), Prentice Hall 1974 edition: , Macmillan 1985 edition: , 2011 reprint from the University of Chicago Press, with a new introduction by Gary Dorrien:
Faith and History (1949)
The Irony of American History, Charles Scribner's Sons (1952), 1985 reprint: , Simon and Schuster: , 2008 reprint from the University of Chicago Press, with a new introduction by Andrew J. Bacevich: , excerpt
Christian Realism and Political Problems (1953)
The Self and the Dramas of History, Charles Scribner's Sons (1955), University Press of America, 1988 edition:
Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr, ed.D. B. Robertson (1957), Westminster John Knox Press 1992 reprint,
Pious and Secular America (1958)
 <mask> Niebuhr on Politics: His Political Philosophy and Its Application to Our Age as Expressed in His Writings ed. by Harry R. Davis and Robert C. Good. (1960) online edition
 A Nation So Conceived: Reflections on the History of America From Its Early Visions to its Present Power with Alan Heimert, Charles Scribner's Sons (1963)
The Structure of Nations and Empires (1959)
 Niebuhr, <mask>. The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses ed. by Robert McAffee Brown (1986). 264 pp. Yale University Press,
Remembering <mask> Niebuhr.Letters of Reinhold & Ursula M. Niebuhr, ed. by <mask> (1991) Harper, 0060662344
<mask> Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic, Moral Man and Immoral Society, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, The Irony of American History, Other Writings [Writings on Current Events 1928-1967, Prayers, Sermons and Lectures on Faith and Belief], ed. by Elisabeth Sifton (2016, Library of America/Literary Classics of the United States, 2016), 978-1-59853-375-0

See also
 Christian socialism
 The Moot
 Situational ethics

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

Further reading

 Altman, Jake (2019). Socialism Before Sanders: The 1930s Movement from Romance to Revisionism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. External links

 A detailed bibliography of Niebuhr's publications
Obama's Theologian, E. J. Dionne and David Brooks debate on Speaking of Faith, American Public Media
 Niebuhr, Reinhold. "The Public Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr" (radio interviews online)
 Reflections by Ursula Niehbuhr on the 100th anniversary of <mask> <mask>'s birth Retrieved April 15, 2013
<mask> Niebuhr books and articles online
The Niebuhr Legacy, Elmhurst College
<mask> Niebuhr Papers, (Library of Congress)

"The Ironic Element in the American Situation", an excerpt from The Irony of American History
 Who Speaks for the Negro Vanderbilt documentary website
<mask> Niebuhr: April 27, 1958, interview, The Mike Wallace Interview collection, The University of Texas at Austin."Reinhold Niebuhr", Time Magazine Cover (Mar. 8 1948)
Brian Urquhart, "What You Can Learn from <mask> Niebuhr", The New York Review of Books
The Niebuhr Society
Niebuhr on Tolerance
 An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story, documentary film by Martin Doblmeier

1892 births
1971 deaths
People from Warren County, Missouri
People from Lincoln, Illinois
20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians
20th-century American writers
American people of German descent
Eden Theological Seminary alumni
Elmhurst College alumni
Yale Divinity School alumni
United Church of Christ ministers
Union Theological Seminary (New York City) faculty
American Evangelical and Reformed Church members
American Calvinist and Reformed theologians
Christian ethicists
Christian existentialists
Pragmatists
Political realists
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state)
Analysands of Erik Erikson
American Christian socialists
Calvinist and Reformed Christian socialists
Christian socialist theologians
20th-century Protestant theologians
Political theologians
Writers from Missouri
American Christian

masks:
Reinhold
Reinhold
Reinhold
Reinhold
Ursula Niebuhr
Reinhold
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Niebuhr
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<mask>, Lady <mask> (; 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 served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 in the Cameron government and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead in Berkshire since 1997. Ideologically, <mask> identifies herself as a one-nation conservative. <mask> grew up in Oxfordshire and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford. After graduating in 1977, she worked at the Bank of England and the Association for Payment Clearing Services. She also served as a councillor for Durnsford in Merton. After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she was elected as the MP for Maidenhead in 1997.From 1999 to 2010, <mask> held several roles in shadow cabinets. She was also chairwoman of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2003. Following the formation of the coalition government after the 2010 general election, <mask> was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities but gave up the latter role in 2012. Reappointed after the Conservative success in the 2015 general election, she became the longest-serving Home Secretary in over 60 years. During her tenure she pursued reform of the Police Federation, implemented a harder line on drugs policy including the banning of khat and brought in additional restrictions on immigration. She also oversaw the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, the deportation of Abu Qatada and the creation of the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency. In July 2016, after David Cameron resigned, <mask> was elected Conservative Party leader and became the UK's second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher.She is the first, and to date, the only woman to hold two of the Great Offices of State. She began the process of withdrawing the UK from the European Union, triggering Article 50 in March 2017. The following month, she announced a snap general election, with the aims of strengthening her hand in Brexit negotiations and highlighting her "strong and stable" leadership. This resulted in a hung parliament in which the number of Conservative seats had fallen from 330 to 317, despite the party winning its highest vote share since 1983. The loss of an overall majority prompted her to enter a confidence and supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland to support a minority government. May survived a vote of no confidence from Conservative MPs in December 2018 and a vote of no confidence tabled by Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn in January 2019. As Prime Minister, she carried out the Brexit negotiations with the European Union, adhering to the Chequers Agreement, which resulted in the Brexit withdrawal agreement.She also oversaw a £20 billion increase in funding to the National Health Service through the NHS Long Term Plan, established the first-ever Race Disparity Audit and launched a 25 Year Environment Plan, amending the Climate Change Act 2008 to end the UK's contribution to global warming by 2050. Unemployment in the United Kingdom fell to record lows, the lowest jobless rate since 1975. After versions of her draft withdrawal agreement were rejected by Parliament three times, she resigned and was succeeded by Boris Johnson, her former Foreign Secretary. She remains in the House of Commons as a backbencher. Early life, family, and education

<mask> was born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex, <mask> is the only child of Zaidee Mary ( Barnes; 1928–1982) and Hubert Brasier (1917–1981). Her father was a Church of England clergyman (and an Anglo-Catholic) who was chaplain of an Eastbourne hospital. He later became vicar of Enstone with Heythrop and finally of St Mary's at Wheatley, to the east of Oxford.<mask>'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. <mask> later stated she was "sorry they [her parents] never saw me elected as a Member of Parliament". <mask> 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. At the age of 13, she won a place at the former Holton Park Girls' Grammar School, a state school in Wheatley. During her time as a pupil, the Oxfordshire education system was reorganised, and the school became the new Wheatley Park Comprehensive School. <mask> attended the University of Oxford, read geography at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a second class BA degree in 1977.She worked at a bakery on Saturdays to earn pocket money and was a "tall, fashion-conscious young woman who from an early age spoke of her ambition to be the first woman prime minister," according to those who knew her. According to a university friend, Pat Frankland: "I cannot remember a time when she did not have political ambitions. I well remember, at the time, she was quite irritated when Margaret Thatcher got there first." Early career
Between 1977 and 1983, <mask> worked at the Bank of England, and from 1985 to 1997, at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), as a financial consultant. She served as Head of the European Affairs Unit from 1989 to 1996 and Senior Adviser on International Affairs from 1996 to 1997 in the organisation. Entry into politics
<mask> served as a councillor for Durnsford ward on the Borough Council of 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). Unsuccessful national attempts
In the 1992 general election <mask> was the Conservative Party candidate for the safe Labour seat of North West Durham, placing second to incumbent MP Hilary Armstrong, with future Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron placing third.<mask> then stood at the 1994 Barking by-election, which was prompted by the death of Labour MP Jo Richardson. The seat had been continuously held by Labour since it was created in 1945, and Labour candidate Margaret Hodge was expected to win easily, which she did. <mask> placed a distant third. Wins seat in Parliament
Around 18 months ahead of the 1997 general election, <mask> was selected as the Conservative candidate for Maidenhead, a new seat which was created from parts of the safe seats of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. She was elected comfortably with 25,344 votes (49.8%), almost double the total of second-placed Andrew Terence Ketteringham of the Liberal Democrats, who took 13,363 votes (26.3%). Despite this, her party suffered their worst defeat in over 150 years. Early Parliamentary career
Having entered Parliament, <mask> became a member of William Hague's front-bench Opposition team, as Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women (1998–1999).She 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 kept her in the Shadow Cabinet, moving her to the Transport portfolio. <mask> was appointed the first female Chairman of the Conservative Party in July 2002. During her speech at the 2002 Conservative Party Conference, she explained why, in her view, her party must change: "You know what people call us? The Nasty Party. In recent years a number of politicians have behaved disgracefully and then compounded their offences by trying to evade responsibility. We all know who they are.Let's face it, some of them have stood on this platform." She accused some unnamed colleagues of trying to "make political capital out of demonising minorities", and charged others with indulging themselves "in petty feuding or sniping instead of getting behind a leader who is doing an enormous amount to change a party which has suffered two landslide defeats". She admitted that constituency selection committees seemed to prefer candidates they would "be happy to have a drink with on a Sunday morning", continuing to say, "At the last general election 38 new Tory MPs were elected. Of that total, only one was a woman and none was from an ethnic minority. Is that fair? Is one half of the population entitled to only one place out of 38?" In 2003, after Michael Howard's election as Conservative Party and Opposition Leader in November that year, <mask> was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment.In June 2004, she was moved to become Shadow Secretary of State for the Family. Following the 2005 general election she was also made Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. After David Cameron became leader, he appointed <mask> as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in December 2005 and as Shadow Minister for Women and Equality in July 2007. In January 2009, <mask> was made Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. On 6 May 2010, <mask> was re-elected MP for Maidenhead with an increased majority of 16,76960% of the vote. This followed an earlier failed attempt by the Liberal Democrats to unseat her in 2005, as one of that party's leading "decapitation-strategy" targets. Home Secretary

On 12 May 2010, when <mask> was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of his first Cabinet, she became the fourth woman to hold one of the British Great Offices of State, after Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister), Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary) and Jacqui Smith (Home Secretary).As Home Secretary, <mask> was also a member of the National Security Council. She was the longest-serving Home Secretary for over 60 years, since James Chuter Ede who served over six years and two months from August 1945 to October 1951. <mask>'s appointment as Home Secretary was somewhat unexpected, with Chris Grayling having served as shadow Home Secretary in opposition. <mask>'s debut as Home Secretary involved overturning several of the previous Labour government's measures on data collection and surveillance in England and Wales. By way of a government bill which became the Identity Documents Act 2010, she brought about the abolition of the Labour government's National Identity Card and database scheme and reformed the regulations on the retention of DNA samples for suspects and controls on the use of CCTV cameras. In May 2010, <mask> announced the adjournment of the deportation to the United States of alleged computer hacker Gary McKinnon. She also suspended the registration scheme for carers of children and vulnerable people, with <mask> saying that the measures were "draconian.You were assumed to be guilty until you were proven innocent, and told you were able to work with children." On 4 August 2010, it was reported that <mask> was scrapping the former Labour government's proposed "go orders" scheme to protect women from domestic violence by banning abusers from the victim's home. In June 2010, <mask> faced her first major national security incident as Home Secretary with the Cumbria shootings. She delivered her first major speech in the House of Commons as Home Secretary in a statement on this incident, later visiting the victims with the Prime Minister. Also in June 2010, <mask> banned the Indian Muslim preacher Zakir Naik from entering the United Kingdom. According to The Daily Telegraph, a Home Office official who disagreed with this decision was suspended. In late June 2010, <mask> announced plans for a temporary cap on UK visas for non-EU migrants.The move raised concerns about the impact on the British economy. In August 2013, <mask> supported the detention of David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, under the Terrorism Act 2000, saying that critics of the Metropolitan Police action needed to "think about what they are condoning". Lib Dem peer and former Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald accused <mask> of an "ugly and unhelpful" attempt to implicate those who were concerned about the police action of "condoning terrorism". The High Court subsequently acknowledged there were "indirect implications for press freedom" but ruled the detention legal. <mask> also championed legislation popularly dubbed the Snooper's Charter, 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. The Liberal Democrats had blocked the first attempt, but after the Conservative Party obtained a majority in the 2015 general election May announced a new Draft Investigatory Powers Bill similar to the Draft Communications Data Bill, although with more limited powers and additional oversight. Police and crime
Speaking at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) conference in June 2010, May announced radical cuts to the Home Office budget, likely to lead to a reduction in police numbers.In July 2010, <mask> presented the House of Commons with proposals for a fundamental review of the previous Labour government's security and counter-terrorism legislation, including "stop and search" powers, and her intention to review the 28-day limit on detaining terrorist suspects without charge. In July 2010, <mask> announced a package of reforms to policing in England and Wales in the House of Commons. The previous Labour Government's central crime agency, Soca (Serious Organised Crime Agency), was to be replaced by a new National Crime Agency. In common with the Conservative Party 2010 general election manifesto's flagship proposal for a "Big Society" based on voluntary action, <mask> also proposed increasing the role of civilian "reservists" for crime control. The reforms were rejected by the Opposition Labour Party. Following the actions of some members of Black Bloc in vandalising allegedly tax-avoiding shops and businesses on the day of the March 2011 TUC march, the Home Secretary unveiled reforms curbing the right to protest, including giving police extra powers to remove masked individuals and to police social networking sites to prevent illegal protest without police consent or notification. In 2012, despite inquiries by both Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission ruling that there was no new evidence to warrant further investigation, after discussions with Doreen Lawrence, <mask> commissioned Mark Ellison to review Scotland Yard's investigations into alleged police corruption.The report was presented to Parliament by May on 6 March 2014. Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said the report, which has prompted an inquiry into undercover policing, was "devastating". In July 2013, <mask> welcomed the fact that crime had fallen by more than 10% under the coalition government, while still being able to make savings. She said that this was partly due to the government removing red tape and scrapping targets to allow the police to concentrate on crime-fighting. In 2014, <mask> delivered a speech to the Police Federation, in which she criticised aspects of the culture of the police force. In the speech, she said:

On 9 December 2010, in the wake of violent student demonstrations in central London against increases to higher-education tuition fees, <mask> praised the actions of the police in controlling the demonstrations but was described by The Daily Telegraph as "under growing political pressure" due to her handling of the protests. In December 2010, <mask> declared that deployment of water cannon by police forces in mainland Britain was an operational decision which had been "resisted until now by senior police officers."She rejected their use following the widespread rioting in summer 2011 and said: "the way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon. The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities." <mask> said: "I condemn utterly the violence in Tottenham... Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated, and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order." In the aftermath of the riots May urged the identification of as many as possible of the young criminals involved. She said: "when I was in Manchester last week, the issue was raised to me about the anonymity of juveniles who are found guilty of crimes of this sort. The Crown Prosecution Service is to order prosecutors to apply for anonymity to be lifted in any youth case they think is in the public interest.The law currently protects the identity of any suspect under the age of 18, even if they are convicted, but it also allows for an application to have such restrictions lifted, if deemed appropriate." <mask> added that "what I've asked for is that CPS guidance should go to prosecutors to say that where possible, they should be asking for the anonymity of juveniles who are found guilty of criminal activity to be lifted". Anti-social behaviour
In July 2010, <mask> proposed to review the previous Labour Government's anti-social behaviour legislation signalling the abolition of the "Anti-Social Behaviour Order" (ASBO). She identified the policy's high level of failure with almost half of ASBOs breached between 2000 and 2008, leading to "fast-track" criminal convictions. <mask> proposed a less punitive, community-based approach to tackling social disorder. <mask> suggested that anti-social behaviour policy "must be turned on its head", reversing the ASBO's role as the flagship crime control policy legislation under Labour. Former Labour Home Secretaries David Blunkett (who introduced ASBOs) and Alan Johnson expressed their disapproval of the proposals.Drug policy

In July 2013, <mask> decided to ban the

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 stimulant khat, against the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). The council reached the conclusion that there was "insufficient evidence" it caused health problems. Explaining the change in the classification May said: "The decision to bring khat under control is finely balanced and takes into account the expert scientific advice and these broader concerns", and pointed out that the product had already been banned in the majority of other EU member states, as well as most of the G8 countries including Canada and the US. A report on khat use by the ACMD published in January 2013 had noted the product had been associated with "acute psychotic episodes", "chronic liver disease" and family breakdown. However, it concluded that there is no risk of harm for most users, and recommended that khat remain uncontrolled due to lack of evidence for these associations. Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker accused May of suppressing proposals to treat rather than prosecute minor drug offenders from a report into drug policy commissioned by the Home Office. The Home Office denied that its officials had considered this as part of their strategy.Baker cited difficulties in working with <mask> as the reason for his resignation from the Home Office in the run-up to the 2015 general election. Immigration
In 2010, <mask> promised to bring the level of net migration down to less than 100,000. The Independent reported in February 2015, "The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a net flow of 298,000 migrants to the UK in the 12 months to September 2014—up from 210,000 in the previous year." In total, 624,000 people migrated to the UK in the year ending September 2014 and 327,000 left in the same period. Statistics showed "significant increases in migration among both non-EU citizens—up 49,000 to 292,000—and EU citizens, which rose by 43,000 to 251,000." In May 2012 she told the Daily Telegraph of her intention "to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration,"

<mask> rejected the European Union's proposal of compulsory refugee quotas. She said that it was important to help people living in war-zone regions and refugee camps but "not the ones who are strong and rich enough to come to Europe".In May 2016, The Daily Telegraph reported that she had tried to save £4m by rejecting an intelligence project to use aircraft surveillance to detect illegal immigrant boats. Family migration
In June 2012, <mask> announced that new restrictions would be introduced to reduce the number of non-European Economic Area family migrants. The changes were mostly intended to apply to new applicants after 9 July 2012. The newly introduced rules came into effect on 9 July 2012 allowing only those British citizens earning more than £18,600 to bring their spouses or their children to live with them in the UK. This figure would rise significantly in cases where visa applications are also made for children. They also increased the current two-year probationary period for partners to 5 years. The rules also prevent any adult and elderly dependents from settling in the UK unless they can demonstrate that, as a result of age, illness or disability, they require a level of long-term personal care that can only be provided by a relative in the UK.The House of Lords was concerned about the immigration issue and therefore addressed the PM in Parliament as to whether she had examined the impact on communities and families on modest incomes, but it received no direct response. The human rights group Liberty concluded that the new rules showed scant regard to the impact they would have on genuine families. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration conducted an evidence based inquiry into the impact of the rules and concluded in their report that the rules were causing very young children to be separated from their parents and could exile British citizens from the UK. Deportation decisions

At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2011, while arguing that the Human Rights Act needed to be amended, <mask> gave the example of a foreign national who the Courts ruled was allowed to remain in the UK, "because—and I am not making this up—he had a pet cat". In response, the Royal Courts of Justice issued a statement, denying that this was the reason for the tribunal's decision in that case, and stating that the real reason was that he was in a genuine relationship with a British partner, and owning a pet cat was simply one of many pieces of evidence given to show that the relationship was "genuine". The Home Office had failed to apply its own rules for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK. Amnesty International said <mask>'s comments only fuelled "myths and misconceptions" about the Human Rights Act and Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke subsequently called <mask>'s comments "laughable and childlike."In June 2012, <mask> was found in contempt of court by Judge Barry Cotter, and stood accused of "totally unacceptable and regrettable behaviour", being said to have shown complete disregard for a legal agreement to free an Algerian from a UK Immigration Detention Centre. As she eventually allowed the prisoner to be freed, <mask> avoided further sanctions including fines or imprisonment. <mask> responded to a Supreme Court decision in November 2013 to overturn her predecessor Jacqui Smith's revocation of Iraqi-born terror suspect Al Jedda's British citizenship by ordering it to be revoked for a second time, making him the first person to be stripped twice of British citizenship. <mask> was accused by Lord Roberts of being willing to allow someone to die "to score a political point" over the deportation of mentally ill Nigerian man Isa Muazu. According to Muazu's solicitor, <mask> had arranged for the asylum seeker, who was said to be "near death" after a 100-day hunger strike, to be deported by a chartered private jet. To strengthen the Home Office's tough stance, an "end of life" plan was reportedly offered to Muazu, who was one of a number of hunger strikers at the Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre. Abu Qatada deportation

On 7 July 2013, Abu Qatada, a radical cleric arrested in 2002, was deported to Jordan after a decade-long battle that had cost the nation £1.7 million in legal fees, and several prior Home Secretaries had not resolved.The deportation was the result of a treaty negotiated by May in April 2013, under which Jordan agreed to give Qatada a fair trial, by not using evidence that may have been obtained against him through torture. <mask> pointed to Qatada's deportation as a triumph, guaranteeing in September 2013 that "he will not be returning to the UK", and declaring in her 2016 leadership campaign announcement that she was told that she "couldn't deport Abu Qatada" but that she "flew to Jordan and negotiated the treaty that got him out of Britain for good". The Qatada deportation also shaped <mask>'s views on the European Convention on Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights, saying that they had "moved the goalposts" and had a "crazy interpretation of our human rights laws", as a result, <mask> has since campaigned against the institutions, saying that British withdrawal from them should be considered. "Go Home" advertisements

In August 2013, the Home Office engaged in an advertising campaign directed at illegal immigrants. The advertisements, in the form of mobile advertising hoardings on the back of lorries, told illegal immigrants to "go home or face arrest", with an image of a person in handcuffs, and were deployed in six London boroughs with substantial ethnic minority populations. They were widely criticised as creating a hostile atmosphere for members of ethnic minority groups. The shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, described their language as being reminiscent of that used by the National Front in the 1970s.An adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that "the claim [that 106 arrests were made last week] was misleading and had not been substantiated" was followed by the advertisements being withdrawn after being banned by the ASA. Passport backlog
In mid 2014, the Passport Office faced a backlog in developing processing passport applications, with around 30,000 applications hit by delays. David Cameron suggested this had come about due to the Passport Office's receiving an "above normal" 300,000-rise in applications. It was revealed, however, that May had been warned the year before, in July 2013, that a surge of 350,000 extra applications could occur owing to the closure of processing overseas under Chancellor Osborne's programme of cuts. Around £674,000 was paid to staff who helped clear the backlog. Windrush scandal

In April 2018, May's hostile environment policy became the focus of British politics in what came to be known as the Windrush scandal, in which members of the Windrush generation of Afro-Caribbean Britons were threatened with deportation by the Home Office and in at least 83 cases, illegally deported from the UK. The policy also affected the lives of many thousands of people who were in the United Kingdom legally by causing them to be sacked from employment, preventing access to health care, illegally demanding money, exiling them and preventing their return to the UK, and leaving them destitute.The scandal led to the resignation of <mask>'s successor Amber Rudd as Home Secretary,  and her replacement by Sajid Javid. Responding to questions in Parliament on the Windrush scandal on 25 April, <mask> maintained that the hostile environment policy would remain government policy. Birmingham schools row
In June 2014, an inflamed public argument arose between Home Office and Education Ministers about responsibility for alleged extremism in Birmingham schools. Prime Minister David Cameron intervened to resolve the row, insisting that <mask> sack her Special Advisor Fiona Cunningham (now Hill) for releasing on May's website a confidential letter to <mask>'s colleagues, and that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, apologise to the Home Office's head of Security and Counter-Terrorism, Charles Farr, for uncomplimentary briefings of him appearing on the front page of The Times. Minister for Women and Equalities

<mask> 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. <mask>'s appointment as Minister for Women and Equalities was controversial, and was met with criticism by many in the LGBT community due to <mask>'s record of consistently opposing LGBT rights from 1997 to 2004: she voted against equalising the age of consent in 1998, she spoke in favour of Section 28 in 2001, and she spoke against greater adoption rights for homosexuals in 2002. <mask> later stated, during an appearance on the BBC's Question Time in 2010, that she had "changed her mind" on gay adoption.Writing for PinkNews in June 2010, <mask> detailed proposals for improving LGBT rights including measures to tackle homophobia in sport, advocating British society's need for "cultural change". On 2 July 2010, <mask> stated she would be supporting the previous Labour Government's Anti-Discrimination Laws enshrined in the Equality Act 2010 despite having previously opposed it. The Equality Act came into effect in England, Wales and Scotland on 1 October 2010. She did however announce that a clause she dubbed "Harman's Law" which would have required public bodies to consider how they can reduce socio-economic inequalities when making decisions about spending and services would be scrapped on the grounds that it was "unworkable". Prime Minister

Leadership election

On 30 June 2016, <mask> announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party to replace David Cameron, who resigned following the outcome of the European Union membership referendum in which 52% of voters voted in favour of leaving the EU. <mask> emphasised the need for unity within the party regardless of positions on leaving the EU, saying she could bring "strong leadership" and a "positive vision" for the country's future. Despite having backed a vote to remain in the EU, she insisted that there would be no second referendum, saying: "The campaign was fought... and the public gave their verdict.There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door... Brexit means Brexit". An opinion poll that day found 47% of people choosing <mask> as their preferred candidate to be prime minister. <mask>'s supporters included a number of Cabinet ministers, such as Amber Rudd, Chris Grayling, Justine Greening, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Fallon and Patrick McLoughlin. She received the most votes in the first round of voting on 5 July, receiving support from 165 MPs, with rivals Andrea Leadsom receiving 66 votes and Michael Gove 48. The two candidates with the fewest votes, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb, immediately announced their support for May. <mask> came in first place in the second ballot on 7 July with an overwhelming majority of 199 MPs, compared with 84 for Leadsom and 46 for Gove, who was eliminated. Afterwards, <mask> stated that she was delighted with her support among MPs, and she progressed to a vote of the Conservative Party membership against Leadsom.On 11 July, Leadsom announced her withdrawal from the leadership contest hours after <mask> had made her first official campaign speech, saying her lack of support amongst Conservative MPs compared to May would be too great a hindrance to becoming a credible prime minister. As the sole remaining candidate, <mask> was formally declared Leader of the Conservative Party that evening. Appointment
On 13 July 2016, two days after becoming Leader of the Conservative Party, <mask> was appointed Prime Minister by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming only the second female British prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. Addressing the world's media outside 10 Downing Street, <mask> said that she was "honoured and humbled" to become prime minister. On becoming prime minister, <mask> became the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State. Responding to some calls for an early general election, "sources close to Mrs <mask>" said there was no need for such an election. In a speech after her appointment, <mask> emphasised the term "Unionist" in the name of the Conservative Party, reminding all of "the precious, precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."By 15 July, <mask> had travelled to Edinburgh to meet with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to reinforce the bond between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. "I'm coming here to show my commitment to preserving this special union that has endured for centuries," she explained. Cabinet changes
<mask>'s first Cabinet appointment was described by Reuters as "one of the most sweeping government reshuffles for decades", and called "a brutal cull" by The Daily Telegraph. Nine of Cameron's ministers, including several prominent members, were sacked or resigned from their posts. The early appointments were interpreted both as an effort to reunite the Conservative Party in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU and as "a shift to the right," according to The Guardian. ITV's Political Editor Robert Peston commented: "Her rhetoric is more left-wing than Cameron's was, her cabinet is more right-wing than his was." Although <mask> had supported remaining in the EU, she appointed several of the most prominent advocates of Brexit to key Cabinet positions responsible for negotiating the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union, including Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary, David Davis as Brexit Secretary, and Liam Fox as International Trade Secretary, the latter two being new positions.Other key appointees included Amber Rudd as Home Secretary and Philip Hammond as Chancellor of the Exchequer. First term (2016–2017)

The First May ministry delayed the final approval for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in July 2016, a project which May had objected to when she was Home Secretary. Her political adviser Nick Timothy wrote an article in 2015 to oppose China's involvement in sensitive sectors. He said that the government was "selling our national security to China" without rational concerns and "the Government seems intent on ignoring the evidence and presumably the advice of the security and intelligence agencies". In July 2016, when George Kerevan asked her whether she would be prepared to authorise the killing of a hundred thousand innocent persons by a nuclear strike; during the "Trident debate" inside the House of Commons, May said "Yes. And I have to say to the honourable gentleman: the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it. Unlike some suggestions that we could have a nuclear deterrent but not actually be willing to use it, which come from the Labour Party frontbench."On 20 July, <mask> attended her first Prime Minister's Questions since taking office, then afterwards made her first overseas trip as prime minister, visiting Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the visit, <mask> said that she would not trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon—the process for withdrawing from the European Union—before 2017, suggesting it would take time for the UK to negotiate a "sensible and orderly departure" from the EU. However, although Merkel said it was right for the UK to "take a moment" before beginning the process, she urged May to provide more clarity on a timetable for negotiations. Shortly before travelling to Berlin, <mask> had also announced that in the wake of the referendum, Britain would relinquish the presidency of

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On 18 April, <mask> announced that she would call a parliamentary vote to hold an early general election on 8 June, saying that it was the "only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead". May had previously ruled out an early election on five occasions over nine months. The election was the first snap election held under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 after MPs gave May the two-thirds super-majority required.Unveiling the Conservative manifesto in Halifax on 18 May, May promised a "mainstream government that would deliver for mainstream Britain". It proposed to balance the budget by 2025, raise spending on the NHS by £8bn per annum and on schools by £4bn per annum by 2022, remove the ban on new grammar schools, means-test the winter fuel allowance, replace the state pension "triple lock" with a "double lock" and require executive pay to be approved by a vote of shareholders. It also contained May's previously-announced flagship energy reform of a cap on gas and electricity bills for households on standard variable tariffs. It dropped the 2015 pledge to not raise income tax or national insurance contributions but maintained a commitment to freeze VAT. New sovereign wealth funds for infrastructure, rules to prevent foreign takeovers of "critical national infrastructure" and institutes of technology were also proposed. The manifesto was noted for its intervention in industry, lack of tax cuts and increased spending commitments on public services. On Brexit it committed to leaving the single market and customs union while seeking a "deep and special partnership" and promised a vote in parliament on the final agreement.The manifesto also proposed reforms to social care in England that would raise the threshold for free care from £23,250 to £100,000 while including property in the means test and permitting deferred payment after death. After attracting substantial media attention, four days after the manifesto launch May stated that the proposed social care reforms would now include an "absolute limit" on costs in contrast to the rejection of a cap in the manifesto. She criticised the "fake" portrayal of the policy in recent days by Labour and other critics who had termed it a "dementia tax". Evening Standard editor George Osborne called the policy change a "U-turn". The Financial Times contrasted her "Strong and Stable" leadership slogan with her own record of nine rapid U-turns claiming she was "making a habit of retreating from policies." The general election in June resulted in a hung parliament, prompting her to broker a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), involving £1 billion of additional public funding for Northern Ireland. Second term (2017–2019)

Less than two weeks after the 2017 State Opening of Parliament, May ordered a full public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal.For this she was widely praised as successive governments going back to the 1980s had refused such an inquiry, some though speculated that <mask> had simply been forced to announce the inquiry after a group legal action and news of fresh evidence were brought by Jason Evans. Additionally, Andy Burnham had threatened to take evidence to the police if an inquiry were not announced. With over 1,000 core participants, the Infected Blood Inquiry is the biggest public inquiry ever held in the UK. Myanmar
In November 2017, <mask> said the actions of Myanmar Army and police against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar "looks like ethnic cleansing". According to May, "it is something for which the Burmese authorities – and especially the military – must take full responsibility." From the 2017 general election to December 2017, <mask> suffered no defeats in whipped votes in the House of Commons. On 13 December 2017, <mask> lost a vote on the EU Withdrawal Bill by 309 votes to 305, due to 11 Conservatives voting against the government, including Stephen Hammond who was then vice-chairman of the Conservative Party.Russia
May accused Russia of "threatening the international order", "seeking to weaponise information" and "deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories". She mentioned Russia's meddling in German federal election in 2017, after German government officials and security experts said there was no Russian interference. China
May promised to confront China on human rights but was praised in Communist Party-controlled media for "sidestepping" human rights in China during her first official visit to the country. The Global Times said: "For the Prime Minister, the losses outweigh the gains if she appeases the British media at the cost of the visit’s friendly atmosphere." Assassination plot
In 2017, Islamic State terrorist Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman was foiled in a plot to assassinate May at Downing Street. Turkey
In May 2018, during a three-day state visit to the UK by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, <mask> declared that Britain is a "true friend" of Turkey, but she added that "It is important that in defense of democracy, which has been facing extraordinary pressures from the failed coup, instability across the border from Syria and from Kurdish terrorism, Turkey does not lose sight of the values it is seeking to defend." Contempt of Parliament
On 4 December 2018, on a motion passed by MPs by 311 to 293 votes, the May Government was found in contempt of Parliament; the first government to be found in contempt in history.The vote was triggered by the government failing to lay before Parliament any legal advice on the proposed withdrawal agreement on the terms of the UK's departure from the European Union, after a humble address for a return was unanimously agreed to by the House of Commons on 13 November 2018. The government then agreed to publish the full legal advice  for Brexit that was given to the Prime Minister by the Attorney General during negotiations with the European Union. Vote of no confidence (Conservative Party)
On 12 December 2018, <mask> faced a vote of no confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party over opposition to her negotiated Brexit deal, after the number of Conservative MPs exceeded the 48 no-confidence letter threshold that the 1922 Committee Chairman, Graham Brady required for one to be held. <mask> won the vote with 200 Conservative MPs voting for her, compared to 117 voting against. As part of her speech to the Parliamentary Conservative Party before the no-confidence vote was opened, it was reported that <mask> conceded that she would step down as prime minister after delivering Brexit and would not lead the Conservative Party into the next General Election in exchange for Conservative MPs voting to have confidence in her leadership so that she would be able to keep the party, Parliament and the UK stable during the final stages of Brexit. <mask> later confirmed this to BBC News Political editor, Laura Kuenssberg after meeting EU leaders, including Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels. Vote of No Confidence (House of Commons)

On 17 December 2018 in the House of Commons, the Leader of the Opposition and Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, tabled a motion of no confidence in May's prime ministership, citing <mask>'s refusal to set the date for the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal before Christmas, and instead pushing it back to mid-January.The following day the government refused to allow time for the motion to be debated. John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, confirmed that they were under no obligation to do so. Following the defeat of May's Brexit deal on 15 January 2019, Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence in the Government, to be voted on by parliament the following evening. The motion was defeated by 325 votes to 306; a majority of 19. Brexit deal defeats

On 15 January 2019, <mask>'s government was defeated in the House of Commons by a margin of 230 votes (202 in favour and 432 opposed) in a vote on her deal to leave the European Union. It was the largest majority against a United Kingdom government in history. On 14 February the same year, May suffered another Commons defeat after MPs voted by 303 to 258 – a majority of 45 – against a motion endorsing the government's Brexit negotiating strategy.On 12 March, <mask> was again defeated in the Commons by 149 votes (242 in favour and 391 against) on her latest deal after she secured last-minute concessions from the EU. On 29 March, <mask> was again defeated by 58 votes in the Commons (286 in favour and 344 against) on the withdrawal deal but not the political declaration. Resignation

On 27 March 2019 at a meeting of the 1922 Committee, <mask> confirmed that she will "not lead the UK in the next stage of Brexit negotiations", meaning she was expected to resign after the third meaningful vote, if it had passed successfully. However, no date was stated, and her reported wording was ambiguous and thus carried no binding force. On 29 March, the third meaningful vote was defeated, and while <mask> did not state anything in regards to standing down, Corbyn stated that if May could not find an alternative to her deal "she must go, not at an indeterminate date in the future but now." On 22 April it was announced that the leaders of 70 Conservative Associations had signed a petition calling for a vote of no confidence. Under party rules an Extraordinary General Meeting must be convened if one is demanded by 65 associations.The non-binding vote, to be determined by 800 of the party's senior officials, would be the first time such an instance has occurred. On 24 April, the party's 1922 Committee ruled out changing the leadership challenge rules, but its chair, Graham Brady, asked for clarity on when <mask> would step down from office. On 24 May she confirmed that she would resign as Conservative Party leader on 7 June, stating, "it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort." She continued to serve as prime minister until she tendered her resignation to the Queen on 24 July. This coincided with the arrival of Boris Johnson as prime minister, who was elected by the Conservative Party membership. By constitutional convention May did not step down until she assured the Queen that Johnson would be able to command the confidence of the House of Commons. In one of May's last Prime Minister's Questions, Barry Sheerman, the Labour MP for Huddersfield, urged <mask> not to "cut and run" and instead reconsider her resignation.<mask> responded by saying she would return to the role of a backbench MP after leaving office. On 24 July 2019, <mask> ended her consecutive service at the frontbench since 1998 when she was appointed Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women. Ministerial resignations

<mask>'s premiership had 51 resignations with 33 relating to Brexit. These included 12 departures from the Cabinet. The pace and number of resignations have been described as 'unprecedented' by the Institute for Government, with resignations impacting the functioning of the government. In less than three years, <mask> received more resignations than Thatcher (11 years) or Blair (10 years). The Chief Whip Julian Smith described <mask>'s Cabinet as exhibiting the 'worst cabinet ill-discipline in history'.Public opinion

<mask> had a high approval rating during her first week as prime minister. The results of an Ipsos MORI survey released in July 2016 indicated that 55% of those surveyed believed that <mask> was a suitable PM while only 23% believed that the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn would make a good prime minister. A ComRes poll taken in September 2016 after her election suggested <mask> was seen as substantially more "in touch with ordinary British people" than her predecessor David Cameron and a majority of voters saw her as "the right person to unite the country". At the beginning of 2017, nearly six months after becoming prime minister, a ComRes found <mask> was the most popular UK politician with a net rating of +9 which was described as the longest honeymoon period enjoyed by any sitting Conservative prime minister since the end of the Second World War. The Conservative Party had a 21-point lead over Labour in a poll released the day before May announced a snap election but this lead narrowed substantially. In mid-June, following the election, a YouGov poll showed that <mask>'s popularity had dropped to a rating of −34. In April 2018, <mask> had a higher approval rating than Corbyn for the first time since the general election, leading him by −13 to −23.Plans to reform social care came to dominate the Conservative election campaign during the 2017 Snap Election, with some arguing it ultimately cost <mask> her majority. <mask>'s promised green paper on the future of adult social care was plagued by frequent delays, ultimately never materialising during her premiership. A December 2019 poll by learning disabilities charity Hft found that 59% of social care providers in England believed that the situation in social care worsened under <mask>'s premiership, compared to just 3% who said it was slightly better. Political positions

<mask> has identified herself with the one-nation conservative position within her party. Since coming into prominence as a front-bench politician, <mask>'s public image has divided media opinion, especially from some in the traditionalist right-wing press. Commenting on <mask>'s debut as Home Secretary, Anne Perkins of The Guardian observed that "she'll be nobody's stooge", while Cristina Odone of The Daily Telegraph predicted her to be "the rising star" of the Coalition Government. Allegra Stratton, then with The Guardian, praised <mask> as showing managerial acumen.Describing her as a liberal Conservative, the Financial Times characterised <mask> as a "non-ideological politician with a ruthless streak who gets on with the job", in doing so comparing her to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Conversely, in The Independent, Rebecca Glover of the Policy Innovation Research Unit contrasted <mask> to Boris Johnson, claiming that she was "staunchly more conservative, more anti-immigration, and more isolationist" than he was. During her leadership campaign, <mask> said that "We need an economy that works for everyone", pledging to crack down on executive pay by making shareholders' votes binding rather than advisory and to put workers onto company boards (although she later claimed that the last pledge was not to be mandatory), policies that The Guardian describes as going further than the Labour Party's 2015 general election manifesto. After she became prime minister, <mask>'s first speech espoused the left, with a promise to combat the "burning injustice" in British society and to create a union "between all of our citizens" and promising to be an advocate for the "ordinary working-class family" and not for the affluent in the UK. "The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives ... When we take the big calls, we’ll think not of the powerful, but you.When we pass new laws we’ll listen not to the mighty, but to you. When it comes to taxes we’ll prioritise not the wealthy but you." <mask> has described herself as a personal supporter of fox hunting with hounds, saying that foxes' numbers had to be controlled and that hunting them with dogs was the most humane way to do it. The Conservative manifesto for the 2017 election included a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote to repeal the Hunting Act 2004, which prohibits a range of hunting activities. After the Conservatives' manifesto for the 2017 election was released, some people, including Fraser Nelson of The Spectator, called her a "red Tory", saying that she had moved her party to the left in politics. Politico called her policies "Mayism", saying that Mayism was "a working-class conservatism openly critical of the "cult of individualism" and globalization". <mask> praised the former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and has a portrait of Churchill on the wall of her study.<mask>'s spokesman said: "The prime minister has quoted and referenced Sir Winston Churchill on many occasion and acknowledged him as one of the great prime ministers of the 20th century." <mask> welcomed the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying that "no one is above

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 the law." Assange had fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 after being accused of sexual assault in Sweden. He is also wanted by the US for "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" relating to the Wikileaks release of classified material in 2010, including footage of US soldiers killing civilians in Iraq. Foreign policy

In 2003, <mask> voted to approve the invasion of Iraq and in 2013 voted in favour of British military intervention in the Syrian civil war. The May Ministry delayed the final approval for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in July 2016, a project which <mask> had objected to when she was Home Secretary. Her political adviser Nick Timothy wrote an article in 2015 to oppose People's Republic of China's involvement in sensitive sectors.He said that the government was "selling our national security to China" without rational concerns and "the Government seems intent on ignoring the evidence and presumably the advice of the security and intelligence agencies." Politicians and human rights activists urged <mask>'s government to vote against Saudi Arabian retention of the membership of the UN Human Rights Council. Amnesty International's UK Foreign Policy Programme Director Polly Truscott said: "Rather than turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s continuing bully tactics, the UK should publicly hold the Saudi authorities to account for its appalling human rights record and the ongoing war crimes in Yemen and should stop selling weapons to Saudi as a matter of urgency." May defended selling arms to Saudi Arabia stating that close ties with the country "keep people on the streets of Britain safe". Economic policy
Prior to her premiership, <mask> outlined plans to backtrack on the longstanding government plan to achieve a surplus by 2020, following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. With uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond has suggested that the government's Autumn Statement may be used to "reset" economic policy. In 2015, while <mask> was Home Secretary, an 18% funding cut in the police force had taken place with the loss of around 20,000 police officers.Before the Manchester Arena bombing and after the Paris attacks, she was warned by a Manchester senior police officer that the cuts on the force and community policing risked terror attacks in the city due to the lack of resources to do proper intelligence and anti-terrorist measures. In May and Hammond's 2017 budget, continued government policies were confirmed regarding freezing benefits. <mask>'s government published a Green Paper in November 2016 which considered forcing companies to reveal the difference between what their CEOs are paid and what their ordinary workers are paid. On 1 January 2019 new regulations came into force for UK listed companies with over 250 employees to annually disclose the ratio of their CEO's pay to the median, lower quartile, and upper quartile pay of their UK employees. Workers' representatives
Before her premiership began, <mask> said that she planned to have workers represented on company boards, saying "If I'm prime minister ... we're going to have not just consumers represented on company boards, but workers as well." <mask> aimed to put workers' and consumers' representatives on boards to make them more accountable. Nils Pratley, a journalist at The Guardian, wrote in July "Fundamental principles of Britain's boardroom governance are being rethought.It is a very welcome development. In the more enlightened quarters of the UK corporate world, they can see that boardroom pay has eroded trust in business." Workers' representatives it appeared, would have made UK companies more like those in Germany and France. <mask> was accused of backtracking in November 2016 when she said that firms would not be forced to adopt the proposal, saying "there are a number of ways in which that can be achieved". Environment
Following the impact of Blue Planet II in 2017, the <mask> administration outlined plans to approve further green policy. A particular focus has been on plastic and its impact on the environment. In March 2018, <mask> announced plans for a plastic deposit scheme modelled on a similar policy in Norway to boost recycling.EU and Brexit

May publicly stated her support for the UK remaining in the EU during the 2016 referendum campaign, but did not campaign extensively in the referendum and criticised aspects of the EU in a speech. It was speculated by political journalists that <mask> had sought to minimise her involvement in the debate to strengthen her position as a future candidate for the Conservative party leadership. Some in David Cameron's ministry likened <mask> to a "submarine" on the issue of Brexit due to her perceived indifference towards the referendum and the EU. In a leaked recording prior to the Brexit referendum, May said,

<mask> also said Britain was more secure as part of the EU due to the European arrest warrant and Europe-wide information sharing among other factors. She said, "There are definitely things we can do as members of the European Union that I think keep us more safe". <mask>'s public reticence during the referendum campaign resulted in tensions with David Cameron and his pro-EU team. Following the referendum and her election as party leader, <mask> signalled that she would support full withdrawal from the EU and prioritise immigration controls over remaining within the single market, leading some to contrast this with her earlier remarks on the earlier economic arguments.She later went on to say before the 2017 United Kingdom general election that she would be willing to leave the EU without a deal, saying that "no deal is better than a bad deal. We have to be prepared to walk out". The Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, said it was "disappointing that <mask> lacked the political courage to warn the public as she did a bunch of bankers in private about the devastating economic effects of Brexit. More disappointing is that now she is supposedly in charge, she is blithely ignoring her own warnings and is prepared to inflict an act of monumental self-harm on the UK economy by pulling Britain out of the single market." Phil Wilson for the Open Britain group said, "It's good to know that privately <mask> thinks what many of us have been saying publicly for a long time, leaving the single market would be bad for businesses and for our economy. Now she is prime minister, <mask> is in an unrivalled position to act on her previous concerns, starting by putting membership of the single market at the heart of her government's negotiating position." On 22 September 2017, <mask> officially made public the details of her Brexit proposal during a speech in Florence, urging the European Union to maintain a transitional period of two years after Brexit during which trade terms remain unaltered.During this period, the UK would also continue to honour its budget commitments of about €10 billion per annum, and accept immigration from Europe. Her speech was criticised by leading Eurosceptic Nigel Farage. The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed <mask>'s proposal as "constructive," but said it also "must be translated into negotiating positions to make meaningful progress." <mask> did not initially wish to give MPs a vote on withdrawal from the European Union. Nicky Morgan stated "in 2016 MPs aren't asking for a veto but they do want a say and we hope the Prime Minister will remember her earlier words". Anna Soubry and Nick Clegg also called for more parliamentary involvement. In November 2016, the High Court ruled in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union that parliament must vote on the decision to leave the EU but <mask> appealed to the Supreme Court.Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister has joined the case as did representatives from Wales and Northern Ireland. Sturgeon felt that the Scottish Parliament should also consent to the UK triggering of Article 50. She said she was not seeking to prevent England and Wales leaving but wanted to preserve Scotland's place in the EU. In the end the Supreme Court required a vote in the UK parliament. <mask> was accused of not having a plan if Brexit talks broke down. There were fears that if talks failed Britain could be left trading under WTO rules which it was feared by some analysts would seriously damage jobs and livelihoods in Britain and Europe. May's ministers repeatedly promised to walk away from a bad final deal but, it was argued by some commentators, had no plans for how to manage without a deal.Ivan Rogers described May's Brexit strategy as "an accident waiting to happen". He said completing Brexit was "guaranteed" to take a decade and alleged May's hopes of a trade deal made to order meant that instability in the next few months was "quite likely". In late October 2018, the National Audit Office claimed  that it was already too late to prepare the necessary Irish border security checks in the event of a No-deal scenario—a weakness that could be exploited by criminals. On 5 February 2019, <mask> gave a speech to business leaders in Belfast to address Brexit stating the United Kingdom's relationship with Ireland was closer than the 26 other members of the EU. She affirmed the government's "absolute" commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and stated that Britain would seek to have no hard border in Northern Ireland. It was reported in 2020 that former MI6 operative Christopher Steele accused <mask>, while Boris Johnson was foreign secretary, of ignoring claims that Russia may have secretly funded Brexit. Steele accuses <mask>'s government of selling British interests short by not taking matters further: “In this case, political considerations seemed to outweigh national security interests.If so, in my view, HMG made a serious mistake in balancing matters of strategic importance to our country.”

In July 2020 the Intelligence and Security Committee report on Russia was released. It stated that the British government and intelligence agencies failed to conduct any assessment of Russian attempts to interfere with the 2016 Brexit referendum. It stated the government “had not seen or sought evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes”. Steward Hosie, SNP member said “The report reveals that no one in government knew if Russia interfered in or sought to influence the referendum because they did not want to know,”. However, the report stated no firm conclusion could be ascertained on whether the Kremlin had or had not successfully interfered in the referendum. Feminism
In 2005, <mask> co-founded the mentoring and pressure group Women2Win. This group and <mask>'s personal efforts have been credited with increasing the number of Conservative women MPs and with supporting them.In government she lobbied for improvements to maternity leave, and as Home Secretary she acted on FGM and introduced a law on coercive control. However, she has been criticised for the financial cuts made by her government, which have been claimed to have had the greatest impact on poor and vulnerable women. Same-sex relationships
In 1998, <mask> voted against lowering the age of consent for homosexual acts, and was absent for the vote on the repeal of Section 28 in 2003. In May 2012, however, <mask> expressed support for the introduction of same-sex marriage by recording a video for the Out4Marriage campaign, in which she stated "I believe if two people care for each other, if they love each other, if they want to commit to each other... then they should be able to get married and marriage should be for everyone". In May 2013, <mask> voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. Post-premiership

After leaving 10 Downing Street, <mask> took her place on the backbenches, remaining an MP to "devote her full time" to her constituency of Maidenhead, Berkshire. In the 2019 general election she was re-elected as the constituency's MP.On 30 September 2019, <mask> divulged, at the Henley Literary Festival in Oxfordshire, that she was "thinking about writing a book", saying "It has been suggested to me that people involved in significant events should write about them so historians can look back and see what those who were at the centre of events were thinking, why they took decisions and so forth". When interviewed, she admitted that she had not read her predecessor David Cameron's memoir For the Record. She also said she had "no regrets" over her political career. In May 2020, <mask> criticised the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister Dominic Cummings when he broke lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. She abstained in the vote on the second lockdown in Parliament. <mask> has been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg following his expected retirement in 2022. In June 2021, British Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace expressed support for a potential May candidacy, saying "she would be an excellent candidate.”

On 13 July 2021, <mask>, who was one of 24 Conservative MPs, crossed the floor against her party, defying the whip for the first time in 24 years, over the government's proposal to cut its foreign aid budget.She criticized the government, saying in an address to Parliament, "We made a promise to the poorest people in the world. The Government have broken that promise." Personal life

<mask> has been married to <mask>, 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. <mask> has expressed regret that she and her husband have not been able to have children. The <mask>s are passionate walkers, and they regularly spend their holidays hiking in the Swiss Alps. <mask> is also a cricket fan, stating that Geoffrey Boycott was one of her sporting heroes.She also enjoys cooking, and has said that she owns 100 cookery books. Philip has said that she "is a very good cook". <mask> and her husband reside in the Thames village of Sonning which is within her constituency. <mask> 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, <mask> has said that her Christian faith "is part of me. It is part of who I am and therefore how I approach things". <mask> is known for a love of fashion, and in particular of distinctive shoes; she wore leopard-print shoes at her 'Nasty Party' speech in 2002, as well as her final Cabinet meeting as Home Secretary in 2016.On Desert Island Discs in 2014, she chose a subscription to Vogue as her luxury item. However, she has been critical of the media focusing on her fashion instead of her achievements as a politician. <mask> 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 <mask>. , <mask>'s listing on Parliament's website, her own website and social media do not use the style "Lady <mask>". Honours and arms

Commonwealth honours

Foreign honours

Scholastic

 University degrees

 Chancellor, visitor, governor, and fellowships

Honorary degrees

Freedom of the City

  30 August 2018: Abuja.Awards
Prior to and since her appointment to Government, <mask> has actively supported a variety of campaigns on policy issues in her constituency and at the national level of politics. 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; <mask> 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

See also
List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

References

External links

Constituency website of <mask> MP
Profile at the Conservative Party website

1956 births
21st-century prime ministers of the United Kingdom
20th-century Anglicans
21st-century Anglicans
20th-century British women politicians
21st-century British women politicians
Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford
British Anglicans
Chairmen of the Conservative Party (UK)
Conservative Party (UK) councillors
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Conservative Party prime ministers of the United Kingdom
Councillors in the London Borough of Merton
Female heads of government in the United Kingdom
Female interior ministers
Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Leaders of the Conservative Party (UK)
Living people
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Berkshire
Ministers for Women and Equalities
People from Eastbourne
People from Maidenhead
People with type 1 diabetes
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
Secretaries of State for the Home Department
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present
Wives of knights
Women councillors in England
Women prime

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