Theresa May family. Changing of the guard: what do we know about the new British Prime Minister Theresa May
Theresa May is a famous British politician. From 2010 to 2012, she held the Women's (Equality) portfolio in David Cameron's government, and subsequently served as Home Secretary (2010-2016). In the summer of 2016, she headed the British government, replacing Cameron as Prime Minister.The early years of Theresa May. Education and work
Teresa was born in 1956 in Eastbourne, UK. Her father was a country vicar who died in a car accident just before Teresa graduated from university. Soon after his death, May also lost her mother, who could not survive the loss of her husband. After some time, the girl learned that she would never be able to have children. 
A series of tragedies strengthened Teresa’s character, making him persistent and strong-willed. She is used to relying on herself in everything, being guided common sense, without disturbing moral standards, laid down to her in a strict patriarchal Protestant family.
Theresa May received her primary education in a state school, then in a private school. Teresa successfully graduated from Oxford University with a BA in Geography. Then the girl worked at the Bank of England and clearing company APACS.
The beginning of Theresa May's political career
From 1984 to 1992, May was a local government MP, then she stood for Parliament from the constituency of North West Durham, and took part in the 1994 snap election from the constituency of Barking. But - alas - all these attempts failed. Theresa May's first success in politics came in 1997 - she entered the British House of Commons. 
Until 2002, May built a career in the Tory government, remaining in the shadows. “The eminence grise of conservatives” - this is the opinion that people have about her.
In 2002, Teresa was elected to the position of chairman Conservative Party. She became the first woman to oversee technical issues and provision for the Tories.
From 2003 to 2005, she served as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Food and the Environment, and since 2005, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture and as Acting Leader of the House of Commons. In 2009, another appointment followed - Minister of Labor and Social Security.
Theresa May's political beliefs
As a member of the House of Commons, Theresa May voted:- for the invasion of British troops in Iraq;
- against the integration of Britain with the EU;
- against smoking bans in public places;
- against the ratification of laws to combat climate problems;
- against granting gay couples the right to adopt children, but in favor of legalizing their marriages;
- has always spoken out harshly against the flow of emigrants.
After the Conservative victory in the 2010 parliamentary elections, Teresa headed the Home Office, retaining her position as Minister for Women's Equality. True, the woman politician initially counted on the post of Minister of Labor, since she oversaw such matters in the shadow government. However, this briefcase went to Iain Duncan Smith.
According to British publications, while serving as head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, May successfully dealt with the elimination of unrest in the streets.
Theresa May as Home Secretary
In 2016, a nationwide referendum was held in Great Britain, the results of which determined whether the country would remain part of the European Union. At that time, Theresa supported the current Prime Minister Cameron, and opposed the so-called “Brexit”.
Eurosceptics won the referendum, and David Cameron submitted his resignation, after which Theresa May nominated herself for the post of head of the Conservatives, and, consequently, for the post of Prime Minister of Britain.
On July 5, 2016, the first round of elections for the leader of the Conservative Party took place, in which the woman was among the favorites, receiving 165 votes. On July 7 of the same year, the final race took place, in which May received 199 votes. Another woman, Andrea Leadsom, who heads the post of Deputy Minister for Energy, ran for the post, but received only 84 votes.
Thus, May became the clear contender for the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain. On July 11, 2016, her opponent withdrew her candidacy. Theresa May was declared leader of the Conservatives. On July 13, David Cameron handed her the powers of Prime Minister of Great Britain. In her first speech in office, Theresa May said: “Brexit means Brexit”, thereby agreeing with the will of the people expressed in the referendum.
Theresa May's first speech as British Prime Minister
Personal life of Theresa May
The woman got married in 1980. Her husband is Philip John May, an employee of the trust company Capital Group Companies. The couple has no children.LONDON, July 13. /Corr. TASS Ilya Dmitryachev, Maxim Ryzhkov/. Conservative Party leader Theresa May has been officially appointed as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain. She was elevated to this position by royal decree after an audience with Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
May is the 13th head of government during the reign of the current monarch.
May arrived at the meeting with Elizabeth II in a BMW car serving the Minister of the Interior, accompanied by her husband Philip, dressed in black dress with yellow accents at the bottom. Coming out of the palace, the Mayev couple got into the prime minister's Jaguar.
Meanwhile, there are no more tourists in the square near Buckingham Palace than usual. And although some of them managed to photograph the new prime minister’s motorcade entering the palace, many people who were at the palace fence did not know who was sitting in the car. They learned about the ongoing procedure for changing the head of government from a TASS correspondent.
“Now I’ll definitely have something to tell my friends,” said Jamaican tourist Steve Bosman.
Meanwhile Buckingham Palace published a photograph of a ceremony called kissing the hand of the monarch, although in fact the new prime minister does not kiss the hand, but only shakes it. The Queen appeared in the photo in a light dress with a black bag in her left hand.
Changes on Olympus executive branch have already been reflected on the Internet. Thus, David Cameron has changed the design of his page on the microblogging network Twitter, where he calls himself a former prime minister and a member of the House of Commons from the Witney constituency.
First address to the nation
Theresa May called for the unity of the nation. She stated this in her first televised address as head of government.
“We believe in union not just between the people of the United Kingdom, but between all our people, between each of us, no matter where we come from. This means leading the fight against grave injustice,” May said.
May particularly focused on the need to combat social injustice, promising that it will be one of the main issues during her premiership. "The mission of making Britain a country that works for everyone is about more than fighting all these injustices. The Government I lead will be driven not just by the interests of the privileged few, but also by your interests. We will do everything to give you more control over your own with our own lives(by fate),” the new prime minister assured.
May also touched upon the topic of the UK's upcoming exit from the EU. In a referendum on June 23, 51.9% of the Kingdom’s citizens voted in favor of severing relations with Brussels. "We are at an important historical moment for our country. We will be going through a time of enormous national change after the referendum and I know that as a UK we will rise to the challenge," May said.
May herself opposed leaving the community of 28 states, but following the plebiscite she repeated more than once that she would carry out the will of the British and that “Brexit means Brexit.” At the same time, the new prime minister is confident that Great Britain can become even stronger after the severance of relations with Brussels. “Given that we are leaving the EU, we will achieve a new, important and positive role for ourselves in the world,” said the new head of the cabinet.
Congratulations from the White House
US authorities congratulated the leader of the Conservative Party on his appointment to the post. White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest stated this at a regular briefing for journalists.
“We congratulate her on her new position, in which she will take on important responsibilities,” he said.
Ernest again repeated the words of US President Barack Obama that Washington expects “friendly negotiations” from London and Brussels on the kingdom’s exit from the EU. The press secretary noted that, based on the statements of the new prime minister, she "intends to continue a policy that is consistent with Obama's recommendations."
President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Theresa May on her appointment as Prime Minister of Great Britain. He posted a corresponding message on his page on the Twitter microblogging network.
"Please accept my warmest congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom," he said. At the same time, Juncker called on May to begin negotiations on Britain’s exit from the European Union as soon as possible. “The result of the UK referendum has created a new situation that the UK and the EU must begin to sort out soon,” the EC President said.
British government reshuffles
On July 13, Cameron, who served as British Prime Minister since 2010, resigned. He made the decision to resign after the referendum on the issue of British membership in the European Union, held on June 23.
Cameron served as head of cabinet for just over 6 years, or 2,256 days to be precise.
In his first term as prime minister (2010-2015), he headed a coalition government of Tories and Liberal Democrats, and after the landslide victory of the Conservatives in last year’s parliamentary elections, he led a one-party Tory cabinet.
Many serious publications draw parallels between Theresa May's tough political style, integrity, ability to defend her position in disputes - and extravagant shoes. The headlines are full of definitions: “bold style”, “tough politician in heels”. But the quintessence of these arguments is the front page of the tabloid The Sun with the headline “Heel, boys!”
I liked the definition of “fashion for intellectual style” better strong women". By the way, here there is an interesting discussion about this under the heading “Style or sexism?” “Sometimes clothing is a way to demonstrate political messages,” says one of the experts in the text (but we have known about this for a long time;).
About her Political Views they write this:
- Theresa May was a moderate opponent of Brexit
- advocated reducing the number of migrants in the country
- advocated the legalization of gay marriage (in the early 2000s she was against the adoption of children by gay couples, but later changed her point of view)
- advocated for women's rights
- voted in the House of Commons for the British invasion of Iraq
- and was against the ban on smoking in public places
"But her main political feature became inflexible, writes the BBC. “For 17 years now, she has been one of the few women in the leadership of the Conservative Party, and she has always been known for her direct and impartial statements regarding her fellow party members. In 2002, speaking to delegates to the party congress, she told them: “You know what people say about us - they call us the ‘evil party.’” And there: “her - often harsh - statements were popular with voters, despite that the ministry's achievements were not always impressive."
Theresa May herself commented on her style in :
“As a woman, I understand perfectly well that you can be a serious specialist in modest clothes and worn-out shoes. However, I always say: be yourself and don’t feel obligated to fit into someone else’s stereotypes. If your personality finds outward expression in clothes and shoes, don’t be shy about it.”
DW refers to the results of a survey by the ICM Research Institute, which show that Theresa May is quite popular among the population. According to the study, "she is perceived by a wide margin as the most competent candidate among both men and women, representatives of all religions in the country and among supporters and members of all parties." “Vzglyad” cites opinion poll data from SkyNews, according to which Theresa May was supported by 62% of Britons at the beginning of July (that is, exactly before she became prime minister).
How do you like it British Prime Minister-minister? What associations does her image evoke? What would you think of this woman without knowing anything about her? And how would you translate this message in the context of political image?
Posts about the personal style of others political leaders and first ladies:
Angela Merkel's style (but it will be great if someone puts together a full post;)
On July 13, 2016, Queen Elizabeth II officially accepted David Cameron's resignation as Prime Minister and proposed the formation of a new government to Theresa May, who became the second woman after Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of Great Britain. NTV talks about how her career developed and why she was entrusted with leading the country out of the European Union.
Read below
Who is Theresa May?
Theresa May was born in 1956 in Great Britain (East Sussex). She received a BA in Geography from Oxford University. In addition, she worked at the Bank of England and London self-government bodies.
In 1992, she participated in the parliamentary elections in the constituency of North West Durham and in the 1994 early elections in the constituency of Barking, but Theresa May was then unable to gain a sufficient number of votes.
However, a few years later she was elected from the new constituency of Maidenhead. Since the same year he has been constantly re-elected.
From 1997 to 2002, she held various minor positions in the shadow Conservative government.
In 2002, she became the first female chairman of the Conservative Party. In contrast to the party leader, she dealt with technical issues of ensuring the functioning of the Conservatives.
From 2003 to 2005 she was Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for Food and Environment.
From May to December 2005 she was Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport.
From 2009 to 2010 she served as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
After the 2010 elections, she was appointed Home Secretary, while also receiving the portfolio of Minister for Women and Equality. In this position, she advocated providing equal rights same-sex couples, becoming one of the first senior UK politicians to publicly express his support for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
In the House of Commons, May voted for the invasion of Iraq, for the adoption of laws to combat climate change, against further integration of Great Britain into the European Union, against the smoking ban in public places, is against allowing gay couples to adopt children.
Why did she become the new prime minister?
It should be noted that during the campaign before the referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union, Theresa May supported Prime Minister David Cameron, who was against Brexit. However, after summing up the results of the general vote, her opinion changed quite dramatically. After the victory of Brexit supporters and Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement of his resignation, she unexpectedly announced her candidacy for the post of head of the Conservative Party. This automatically means nomination for the post of prime minister of the country.
In the first stage of the election by Conservative MPs, Theresa May became the leader of the race. On July 7, 2016, two women became the final contenders for the post of Prime Minister of the country: Theresa May (she received 199 votes from parliamentarians) and Andrea Leads (received 84 votes). Thus, it was May who became the most likely contender for the post of head of the Conservative Party.
Photo: Reuters/Neil Hall
Already on July 11, 2016, Theresa May became the only candidate for this position. Andrea Leads ended her campaign early. After some time, May was declared leader of the party, and David Cameron resigned.
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain took over as Prime Minister. Theresa May was officially appointed head of government.
David Cameron: “It was not an easy path, but we got through it, not all decisions were right, but our country has become much stronger than before.”
Let us recall that Theresa May became the second owner of the Downing Street residence in British history (the first woman to serve as prime minister was Margaret Thatcher).
New British Prime Minister: who is Theresa May
Name: Theresa Mary May Date of Birth: October 1, 1956 Place of birth: Eastbourne, UK.
Conservative from birth
Teresa Mary Brasier was the only child in the family. She was born in Sussex, but most her childhood was spent in Oxfordshire. Theresa's father, Hubert, was a country vicar whose last position was at St Mary's Church in Witley in the east of the county.
Teresa's mother, Zadie Mary, bore the surname Barnes as a girl. It is known about her that she was an ardent supporter of the Conservative Party. Her daughter’s life will also be connected with the Tories (as members of the party have been unofficially called for centuries).
As Teresa later recalled, thanks to the upbringing she received in her family, she learned to restrain her emotions. And the girl always knew that the interests and needs of the parishioners came first for her father.
She was raised to respect conservative values. Until now, Teresa Mary is an exemplary parishioner of the Anglican Church and attends all Sunday services. She once said that faith is part of herself, of who she is.
Specialty – geography
Teresa Brazier studied first in a public school and then in a private school. The education she received allowed her to enter Oxford. She received a BA in Geography from St Hugo's College in 1977.
Career
After graduating from university, Teresa Brazier got a job at the Bank of England. She stayed there until 1983. She's done enough in the City successful career, eventually heading the European department of the Interbank Settlement Systems Association.
From 1985 to 1997, Teresa, now using her husband's last name, May, served as a financial consultant and senior advisor to international affairs in the Association for Payment of Clearing Services.
I wanted to be the first
Already as a student, Teresa thought about a political career. Ideally, she would have been Britain's first female prime minister. However, she failed to achieve her goal. While Teresa was building a career at the Bank of England, Margaret Thatcher was ahead of her. The girl was extremely upset.
Theresa May began her path in politics at the municipal level. In 1986 she was elected as a member of Merton district council in south London. Teresa worked there for ten years, eventually taking the position of deputy chairman. But she wanted to prove herself at the national level.
The first elections were not successful. Theresa May lost the parliamentary elections in the constituency of North West Durham in 1992 and the long-term in the constituency of Barking in 1994. It was not about her herself - the Conservative Party at that time was extremely unpopular.
In 1997, Theresa May succeeded in becoming a member of the House of Commons from the newly created constituency of Maidenhead in Berkshire. Voters cast more than 25 thousand votes for her - that's 49.8 percent of those who voted.
In the shadows
Since 1997, Theresa May has received positions in the shadow Conservative government. It sounds like something out of a conspiracy theory, but this very official British institution has nothing to do with it. The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet is formed from members of the main opposition party in parliament. Its members receive bonuses to their parliamentary salaries and must monitor the work of the ministers of the current cabinet.
At first, Theresa May held minor positions in the shadow government. However, her authority gradually grew. Even then, her toughness and inflexibility were noted. She did not try to please anyone - neither the public nor her party comrades.
“People call us the evil party,” Theresa May told party members in 2002. This did not stop her from becoming the first woman chairman of the party, but this post was purely technical; she was responsible for ensuring the functioning of the Tories.
May voted for the invasion of Iraq, did not support further integration into the European Union and the idea of banning smoking in public places and fox hunting, and also opposed same-sex couples being able to adopt children. At the same time, she was one of the first British politicians to support the introduction of same-sex marriage.
In 2003, she took a seat “behind the chairs” of the ministers of transport and food and environment. In 2005, she was shadow minister for culture, media and sport for six months, and on December 6 of the same year she became shadow leader of the House of Commons. In 2009 - a new appointment. Theresa May became shadow secretary for work and pensions.
Firing position
After the Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties finally formed a coalition government in 2010, Theresa May expected to officially take the post of Minister of Work and Pensions. But instead, she was appointed to a department that was considered a kind of graveyard for the ambitions of many ministers. In Russia, such positions are called briefly and harshly - execution positions.
May firmly decided that this position would not be a hindrance to her, studied the most microscopic details and did not hesitate to enter into conflict with other ministers if the case required it.
In the end, it turned out that Theresa May, at the suggestion of her colleagues, found a great place to apply her strength and abilities. A tough and difficult character played a rather positive role here. She was supported by her deputies and voters, although sometimes her statements were very impartial.
Authorized water cannons and curfew
In 2011, Theresa May was in the spotlight general public. Protests broke out in London after police shot and killed 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who was not carrying a weapon at the time, during his arrest. As a result, riots broke out in the capital and other cities, killing several people. There were pogroms in London for three nights in a row.
Teresa reacted extremely harshly. At her suggestion, the British Parliament approved bills that allowed the use of the army and water cannons against demonstrators,, if necessary, closing access to social networks and introducing a curfew. And two bloggers who published calls for pogroms were jailed for four years, although the investigation was unable to establish whether they themselves participated in the riots.
Human rights activists predicted the end of Theresa May’s career, but this did not happen. It failed to reduce the number of migrants to 100,000 a year, as the government promised before the elections, but the radical preacher Abu Qatada, who successfully fended off attempts to deport him from Britain in court for almost a decade, was finally deported to Jordan. And most importantly, since 2010 there has not been a single major terrorist attack in the UK.
At May’s instigation, the UK adopted the Investigative Powers Act, which was nicknamed the “Bhound Law.” Intelligence services received the right to massively collect personal data, hack phones and computers if we're talking about on the fight against terrorism, and providers now collect lists of sites that users visit and store this data for a year. The police receive information when necessary.
Star Brexit
Theresa May's finest hour as a politician came in 2016. The referendum, in which a majority vote of citizens decided to withdraw Great Britain from the European Union, split both society and the Conservative Party.
By that time, the Tories were at the peak of their popularity, which allowed them to form a one-party government. And British Prime Minister David Cameron decided to put an end to the question of whether Great Britain should remain part of the European Union.
This burning issue has worried people's minds throughout the country's stay in the EU. The position of Great Britain could be called privileged - in particular, it retained national currency and Schengen does not apply. But the ever-present suspicious and slightly contemptuous attitude toward the “continent” and feeling national pride every now and then forced the British to think about whether they needed the European Union at all?
The referendum was scheduled for June 23, 2016. Cameron was so sure that no global consequences it will not be that he gave the order to stop carrying out preliminary assessment the outcome of the UK's possible exit from the EU. He was going to use the vote as a lever of pressure on the European Union.
Political scientists later called the referendum a mistake. The majority of participants voted to leave the EU. This was the end political career Cameron and a new stage in the history of the country.
David Cameron has resigned. Theresa May has proposed her candidacy for the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. And she received the support of the party. On July 13, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain accepted Cameron's resignation and gave an audience to his successor, who became the second woman in the country's history to head the government.
On June 8, 2017, the Conservative Party won the parliamentary elections with a minimal margin. There are rumors that Theresa May will leave her post. However, this did not happen and the Tories formed a coalition government.
Introduced Bhutto to her husband
Teresa Brazier acquired the status married woman in 1980. She met her chosen one at a student disco of the Conservative Party, and they were introduced to Benazir Bhutto, who later became a world celebrity, served as President of Pakistan and died at the hands of a terrorist.
The lives of the people she introduced to each other, despite all the conflicts, are much less stormy. Philip John May ( PhilipJohnMay) born in 1957 and also studied at Oxford, receiving a degree in history. However, he made a career in management. Since 2016 he has been working for Capital International.
The couple has no children, which Teresa really regrets. My health condition prevented me from conceiving a child.
In 2012, the politician was diagnosed with diabetes. May needs daily diabetes injections, but says the disease does not interfere with her activities.
With Vogue to the ends of the earth
Theresa May stresses that she is not a show-off politician. “I don’t gossip at dinner or drink in bars. I’m just doing my job honestly,” she said.
She was compared to the headmistress private school, who is in the hall with overexcited students, staying away from them.
But all this does not stop Theresa May from loving extravagant clothes and shoes. She has been repeatedly criticized for not being conservative enough. appearance, to which the politician did not pay any attention. And when she was asked what she would take with her on desert island, May replied that she would only need to take a selection of Vogue magazine with her.
Britain's answer to Angela Merkel
Theresa May is increasingly being compared to Margaret Thatcher. They are really similar, primarily in their toughness and ability to make decisions in times of crisis.
Diligent and careful, the tigress can get anyone and never worries about whether they love her or not, that’s what May’s colleagues say about her.
Journalists sometimes call May Britain's answer to Angela Merkel. These two childless women, ruling two influential states, can really compare their characters. And May, apparently, is not averse to exerting the same or even greater influence on the politics of the EU and the whole world as her German counterpart.
May has always had a negative attitude towards Russia. After the poisoning of former GRU colonel, British intelligence agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, May accused Russian authorities of attempted murder. Moscow denies everything. But the British Prime Minister, who initiated the expulsion from the United Kingdom Russian diplomats, calls on EU countries to follow suit. Russia poses a long-term threat national security of all EU countries, the British Prime Minister is convinced.
Theresa May did not support the idea of leaving the European Union. And now he calls on his European colleagues for solidarity, as if Brexit had never happened. However, it is not for nothing that Britain is sometimes compared to a cat, for whom it is important that the door is opened for him, but he will still think about whether to get out of it or not.