Theresa May was formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth on July 13 to become the second female Britain’s Prime Minister in Buckingham Palace and addressed her to form a new government.
Theresa had studied Geography at St Hugh’s College, Oxford University and started her career at the Bank of England. She then went on to hold posts at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) as Head of the European Affairs Unit and Senior Adviser on International Affairs.
Theresa started out her political career by stuffing envelopes at her local Conservative Association before going on to be a councillor in the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994. During that time, she was also Chairman of Education between 1988 and 1990 and Deputy Group Leader and Housing Spokesman between 1992 and 1994.
Theresa became a Member of Parliament of Maidenhead in 1997 and was also a member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1999 to 2010.
Between 2002 and 2003, Theresa became the first female Chairman of the Conservative Party. She then became a Home Secretary since May 2010, which entitled her to be the longest serving Home Secretary in the past 100 years.
When she entered Downing Street, a house that has been the official residences of the Prime Minister for more than three hundred years, she promised to fight “burning injustice” in British society and create union between all citizens as she was asked to project a one-nation brand of Conservatism.
The radical change of the previous government was underlined by the ditching of the previous Finance Minister, George Osborne-who is Cameron’s closest ally, and replaced him with former foreign secretary Phillip Hammond.
She also pulled a controversial decision by pointing Boris Johnson to be the Foreign Secretary. Johnson was an eccentric former Mayor of London and he led the Brexit camp to victory. He antagonized many EU leaders in the process and pulled out of the race to succeed Cameron at the last minute.
Along with these designations, Theresa pointed Amber Rudd – who was previously an Energy Secretary – to be the Home Secretary, David Davis – who is a former Shadow Home Secretary and Member of Parliament for Haltemprice and Howden – to be the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Michael Fallon – who was a former Energy and Business Minister – to be the Defence Secretary, and Liam Fox to be the Secretary of State for International Trade.
Theresa May’s first six cabinet appointments demonstrated the attempt to reunite a Conservative Party fractured by the EU referendum debate. These appointments are also tackling the tough task of negotiating the leaving of Britain from the European Union.
The new prime minister said: “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 prioritize not the wealthy but you.”
