Theresa May#Early life, family, and education

Theresa May was born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex. She is the only child of Zaidee Mary (née Barnes; 1928–1982) and Hubert Brasier (1917–1981).{{cite book |title=The International Who's Who |year=2004 |publisher=Europa Publications |page=1114}} Her father was a Church of England clergyman (and an Anglo-Catholic){{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/mrs-may-is-our-first-catholic-prime-minister-zmbgdqjz3 |title=Mrs May is our first Catholic prime minister |last=Gove |first=Michael |date=9 March 2017 |work=The Times |access-date=9 March 2017}} who was chaplain of an Eastbourne hospital.Brasier, Hubert, Crockford's Clerical Directory 1977–79, Oxford University Press He later became vicar of Enstone with Heythrop and finally of St Mary's at Wheatley, to the east of Oxford.{{cite web |title=Conservative Leader Hopefuls Have Faith |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/8-july/news/uk/conservative-leader-hopefuls-have-faith |work=Church Times|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822181616/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/8-july/news/uk/conservative-leader-hopefuls-have-faith|archive-date=22 August 2016|access-date=12 July 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/news/vote2001/hi/english/key_people/newsid_1179000/1179350.stm |title=Vote 2001: Key People Theresa May Education and Employment |last=Davies |first=Ben |date=22 May 2001 |work=BBC News |access-date=20 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515143908/http://news.bbc.co.uk/news/vote2001/hi/english/key_people/newsid_1179000/1179350.stm |archive-date=15 May 2010}}{{cite web |url=https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/famous-family-trees-theresa-may-1406260824.html |title=Famous family trees: Theresa May |publisher=Blog.findmypast.co.uk |date=19 March 2013 |access-date=1 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810062848/https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/famous-family-trees-theresa-may-1406260824.html |archive-date=10 August 2016}} May's mother was a supporter of the Conservative Party.{{cite news |last1=McSmith |first1=Andy |last2=Morris |first2=Nigel |title=Theresa May: Iron lady in waiting |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/theresa-may-iron-lady-in-waiting-8527165.html |website=The Independent |access-date=30 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031025743/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/theresa-may-iron-lady-in-waiting-8527165.html|archive-date=31 October 2016}} Her father died in 1981, from injuries sustained in a car accident, and her mother of multiple sclerosis the following year.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/27/theresa-may-profile-beyond-the-public-image |title=Theresa May – what lies beyond the public image? |last1=Day |first1=Elizabeth |date=27 July 2014 |work=The Guardian |access-date=10 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715192717/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/27/theresa-may-profile-beyond-the-public-image |archive-date=15 July 2016 |url-status=live |location=London}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/09/the-oxford-romance-that-has-guided-theresa-may-from-tragedy-to-t/|title=The Oxford romance that has guided Theresa May from tragedy to triumph|last1=Mendick|first1=Robert|date=9 July 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=12 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711080709/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/09/the-oxford-romance-that-has-guided-theresa-may-from-tragedy-to-t/ |archive-date=11 July 2016 |url-status=live |location=London}} May later stated she was "sorry they [her parents] never saw me elected as a Member of Parliament".{{cite web |url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/politics/theresa-may-losing-parents-25-im-sorry-never-saw-elected-mp/ |title=Theresa May on losing both parents at 25: I'm sorry they never saw me elected as an MP |date=3 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922201607/https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/politics/theresa-may-losing-parents-25-im-sorry-never-saw-elected-mp/ |archive-date=22 September 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2017 |newspaper=i}}

May 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8513906/How-clashes-with-Theresa-May-led-Dame-Pauline-Neville-Jones-to-quit.html |title=How clashes with Theresa May led Dame Pauline Neville Jones to quit |work=The Sunday Telegraph |date=15 May 2011 |access-date=5 July 2016 |last=Kite |first=Melissa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704190013/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8513906/How-clashes-with-Theresa-May-led-Dame-Pauline-Neville-Jones-to-quit.html |archive-date=4 July 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/education/2000/first_day/741078.stm |title=Screaming arrival |date=8 May 2000 |work=BBC News |access-date=20 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813153248/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/education/2000/first_day/741078.stm |archive-date=13 August 2017}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oXU7AwAAQBAJ&q=St.+Juliana%27s+Convent+School+for+Girls+1984&pg=PT230 |title=The Little Book of Oxfordshire |first=Paul |last=Sullivan |publisher=History Press |date=2012 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7524-8243-9 |access-date=5 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117203229/https://books.google.com/books?id=oXU7AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT230&lpg=PT230&dq=St.+Juliana's+Convent+School+for+Girls+1984&source=bl&ots=ic4YmYv8fV&sig=4HzDyu17qkyTnPSC728CWSNoI_4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijk573ntrNAhUIBcAKHTzpCy4Q6AEIWTAJ#v=onepage&q=St.%20Juliana's%20Convent%20School%20for%20Girls%201984&f=false |archive-date=17 November 2017}}

At the age of 13, May won a place at the former Holton Park Girls' Grammar School, a state school in Wheatley.{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/9680835.looking-back-with-theresa/|title=Looking back with Theresa|website=The Oxford Times|date=3 May 2012 |access-date=31 May 2019}} During her time as a pupil, the Oxfordshire education system was reorganised, and the school became the new Wheatley Park Comprehensive School.{{cite news |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/community/memorylane/4424685.Girls_were_taught_in_idyllic_surroundings_at_Holton_Park/ |title=Girls were taught in idyllic surroundings at Holton Park |date=8 June 2009 |work=Oxford Mail |access-date=28 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004232436/http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/community/memorylane/4424685.Girls_were_taught_in_idyllic_surroundings_at_Holton_Park/ |archive-date=4 October 2013}} May attended the University of Oxford, read geography at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a second class BA degree in 1977."Oxford University class list." The Times (London). 11 July 1977. p. 14. She was taught political geography at St Hugh's by John Patten, Baron Patten, a future Conservative Secretary of State for Education under John Major.{{cite news |last=Mendick |first=Robert |date=16 July 2016 |title=Theresa May: the highest achiever of all in the starry, Oxford University geography class of '74 |work=The Telegraph |location= London |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/16/theresa-may-the-highest-achiever-of-all-in-the-starry-oxford-uni/ |access-date=22 July 2023}}{{cite news |last=Brennan |first=Zoe |date=2 August 2016 |title=Theresa May, the thinking woman's woman |url= https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/theresa-may-the-thinking-woman-s-woman/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |work=The Spectator |location= London}} At St Hugh's, May's contemporaries included the barrister Alicia Collinson, wife of May's future deputy Damian Green; businesswoman Louise Patten; and Emma Hood, wife of former Oxford University Vice-Chancellor John Hood.{{Cite news |last=Mendick |first=Robert |date=16 July 2016 |title=Theresa May: the highest achiever of all in the starry, Oxford University geography class of '74 |work=The Telegraph |location= London |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/16/theresa-may-the-highest-achiever-of-all-in-the-starry-oxford-uni/ |access-date=16 September 2023}}

May 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. A university friend, Pat Frankland, said, "I cannot remember a time when she did not have political ambitions."{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/life-and-career-of-british-prime-minister-theresa-may-2017-6|title=The life and career of British Prime Minister Theresa May|first=Alison|last=Millington|website=Business Insider|access-date=17 May 2019|date=8 June 2017}}

Between 1977 and 1983, May worked at the Bank of England. From 1985 to 1997, she was a financial consultant at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).{{cite news|url=https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/07/12/2169038/who-is-theresa-may/?ft_site=falcon&desktop=true|title=Who is Theresa May?|work=Financial Times|date=12 July 2016|access-date=27 March 2020|last1=Kaminska|first1=Izabella}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theresa-May|title=Theresa May {{!}} Biography, Facts, & Policies|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=27 March 2020}}

May served as a councillor for Durnsford ward{{cite web|title=Former Merton councillor Theresa May to become prime minister today|url=http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/14614441.Former_Merton_councillor_Theresa_May_to_become_prime_minister_today/|website=Wimbledon Guardian|date=13 July 2016|access-date=18 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131184238/http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/14614441.Former_Merton_councillor_Theresa_May_to_become_prime_minister_today/|archive-date=31 January 2017}} on the Borough Council of the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994, where she was Chairman of Education (1988–1990) and Deputy Group Leader and Housing Spokesman (1992–1994).

In the 1992 general election May 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.{{cite news|last=Stamp|first=Brian Wheeler and Gavin|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2017-46225949|title=The Theresa May story|date=24 May 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=27 March 2020}} May 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. May placed a distant third.{{cite web|url=http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/280377951-profile-theresa-may-fantastic-or-flop-mm-chart-outgoing-pms-career|title=PROFILE: Theresa May... fantastic or a flop? MM chart the outgoing PM's career {{!}} Mancunian Matters|website=mancunianmatters.co.uk|date=28 March 2019|access-date=27 March 2020}}

Around 18 months ahead of the 1997 general election, May 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%).{{cite news|url=http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2016-07-07/theresa-may-then-and-now-as-she-makes-a-bid-for-prime-minister-we-look-at-her-first-foray-into-westminster/|title=As Theresa May makes a bid for prime minister we look at her first foray into politics|date=7 July 2016|work=ITV News|access-date=9 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708125747/http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2016-07-07/theresa-may-then-and-now-as-she-makes-a-bid-for-prime-minister-we-look-at-her-first-foray-into-westminster/|archive-date=8 July 2016}} Despite this, her party suffered their worst defeat in over 150 years.

Having entered Parliament, May 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.

May 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."{{cite book|first=Elizabeth|last=Knowles|title=Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjLTsncFKCgC&pg=PA217|date=23 August 2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-920895-1|page=217|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225212002/https://books.google.com/books?id=rjLTsncFKCgC&pg=PA217|archive-date=25 February 2017}}{{cite book|first=Sarah|last=Childs|title=Women and British Party Politics: Descriptive, Substantive and Symbolic Representation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2yZ-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT21|date=8 April 2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-21157-9|pages=21–22|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225212241/https://books.google.com/books?id=2yZ-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT21|archive-date=25 February 2017}} 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?"{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/oct/08/uk.conservatives2002 |title='Nasty party' warning to Tories |last1=White |first1=Michael |date=8 October 2002 |work=The Guardian |location= London |access-date=17 May 2019 |last2=Perkins |first2=Anne}}

In 2003, after Michael Howard's election as Conservative Party and Opposition Leader in November that year, May was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3255441.stm |title=Howard unveils his top team |date=10 November 2003 |work=BBC News |access-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060311034146/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3255441.stm |archive-date=11 March 2006}}

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's election as Conservative Party and Opposition Leader, he appointed May 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, May was made Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

On 6 May 2010, May was re-elected MP for Maidenhead with an increased majority of 16,769{{spaced ndash}}60% 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1489270/Defiant-Kennedy-takes-decapitation-strategy-into-Tory-heartland.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=4 May 2005 |location=London |title=Defiant Kennedy takes 'decapitation' strategy into Tory heartland |last2=Sapsted |first1=Brendan |last1=Carlin |first2=David |access-date=11 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706184240/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1489270/Defiant-Kennedy-takes-decapitation-strategy-into-Tory-heartland.html |archive-date=6 July 2016}}

{{Main|Theresa May as Home Secretary}}

File:Theresa May - Home Secretary and minister for women and equality.jpg

Following the formation of the coalition government after the 2010 general election on 12 May 2010, May 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).{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-flies-the-flag-for-women-in-government-1971727.html |title=Theresa May flies the flag for women in Government |work=The Independent |location=London |agency=Press Association |date=12 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515123510/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-flies-the-flag-for-women-in-government-1971727.html |archive-date=15 May 2010|access-date=16 September 2010}} As Home Secretary, May was also a member of the National Security Council.{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-security/groups/national-security-council |title=National Security Council |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |access-date=7 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107004019/https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-security/groups/national-security-council |archive-date=7 November 2014}} 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. May's appointment as Home Secretary was somewhat unexpected, with Chris Grayling having served as shadow Home Secretary in opposition.{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Nigel |title=Theresa May is surprise choice to be Home Secretary |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-is-surprise-choice-to-be-home-secretary-1972260.html |work=The Independent |access-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819032255/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-is-surprise-choice-to-be-home-secretary-1972260.html |archive-date=19 August 2016}}{{cite web |title=Cabinet update: Theresa May is surprise Home Sec |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/election-2015/14687/cabinet-update-theresa-may-is-surprise-home-sec |work=The Week |access-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918150316/http://www.theweek.co.uk/election-2015/14687/cabinet-update-theresa-may-is-surprise-home-sec |archive-date=18 September 2016}}

May'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{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/identity-cards-to-be-scrapped-within-100-days-1984447.html |title=Identity cards to be scrapped within 100 days |date=27 May 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |agency=Press Association |access-date=28 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530071415/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/identity-cards-to-be-scrapped-within-100-days-1984447.html |archive-date=30 May 2010}}{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8679072.stm |title=Identity cards set to be scrapped |date=12 May 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=28 October 2010}} and reformed the regulations on the retention of DNA samples for suspects and controls on the use of CCTV cameras. In May 2010, May announced the adjournment of the deportation to the United States of alleged computer hacker Gary McKinnon.{{cite news |url=http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7131780.ece |title=Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon wins extradition reprieve |last=Sugden |first=Joanna |date=21 May 2010 |work=The Times |access-date=28 October 2010 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528062652/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7131780.ece |archive-date=28 May 2010}} {{subscription required}} She also suspended the registration scheme for carers of children and vulnerable people, with May 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."{{cite news |last=Coughlan |first=Sean |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/10314055.stm |title=Child abuse vetting scheme cancelled as 'draconian' |work=BBC News |date=15 June 2010 |access-date=16 September 2010}}{{cite press release |url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/press-releases/Vetting-barring-scheme |title=Vetting and Barring Scheme registration halted |publisher=Home Office |date=15 June 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100928044008/http://homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/press-releases/Vetting-barring-scheme |archive-date=28 September 2010|access-date=16 September 2010}} On 4 August 2010, it was reported that May 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-scraps-power-to-ban-domestic-abusers-from-victims-homes-2042596.html |title=Theresa May scraps power to band domestic abusers from victims' homes |date=4 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=4 August 2010 |first=Nigel |last=Morris |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807013822/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-scraps-power-to-ban-domestic-abusers-from-victims-homes-2042596.html |archive-date=7 August 2010}}

In June 2010, May faced her first major national security incident as Home Secretary with the Cumbria shootings.{{cite press release |url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/home-secretary-cumbria-statement |title=Home Secretary makes statement on events in Cumbria |date=2 June 2010 |publisher=Home Office |access-date=28 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606182539/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/home-secretary-cumbria-statement |archive-date=6 June 2010}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10219655.stm |title=Gunman kills 12 people in Cumbria rampage |date=2 June 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=28 October 2010}} She delivered her first major speech in the House of Commons as Home Secretary in a statement on this incident,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10225885.stm |title=Theresa May updating MPs on Cumbria shootings |date=3 June 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=28 October 2010}} later visiting the victims with the Prime Minister.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10234062.stm |title=Cameron visit after gun killings |date=4 June 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=28 October 2010}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7802988/Cumbria-shootings-David-Cameron-meets-survivors-of-Derrick-Birds-rampage.html |title=Cumbria shootings |date=4 June 2010 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=28 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607064635/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7802988/Cumbria-shootings-David-Cameron-meets-survivors-of-Derrick-Birds-rampage.html |archive-date=7 June 2010}} Also in June 2010, May banned the Indian Muslim preacher Zakir Naik from entering the United Kingdom.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10349564.stm |title=Indian preacher Zakir Naik is banned from UK |work=BBC News |date=18 June 2010 |access-date=18 June 2010}}

According to The Daily Telegraph, a Home Office official who disagreed with this decision was suspended.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7923005/Tory-MPs-say-Home-Office-officials-who-disagree-with-Zakir-Naik-ban-should-quit.html |title=Home Office officials Should Quit |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 August 2010 |access-date=3 August 2010 |location=London |first=Christopher |last=Hope |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806172702/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7923005/Tory-MPs-say-Home-Office-officials-who-disagree-with-Zakir-Naik-ban-should-quit.html |archive-date=6 August 2010}} In late June 2010, May announced plans for a temporary cap on UK visas for non-EU migrants.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-to-press-ahead-with-cap-on-migration-2011128.html |title=Theresa May to press ahead with cap on migration |date=26 June 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=26 June 2010 |first=Nigel |last=Morris |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627174955/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-to-press-ahead-with-cap-on-migration-2011128.html |archive-date=27 June 2010}} The move raised concerns about the impact on the British economy.{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10422895.stm |title=Interim cap on non-EU migrant workers coming to UK |date=26 June 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=20 October 2010}}

In August 2013, May 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 May of an "ugly and unhelpful" attempt to implicate those who were concerned about the police action of "condoning terrorism".{{cite news |last=Watt |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/22/theresa-may-david-miranda-comments |title=Theresa May attacked for comments on critics of David Miranda's detention |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=22 August 2013 |access-date=19 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020231937/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/aug/22/theresa-may-david-miranda-comments |archive-date=20 October 2013}} The High Court subsequently acknowledged there were "indirect implications for press freedom" but ruled the detention legal.{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/19/david-miranda-detention-lawful-court-glenn-greenwald |title= David Miranda detention at Heathrow airport was lawful, high court rules |work= The Guardian |last1= Travis |first1= Alan |last2= Taylor |first2= Matthew |last3= Wintour |first3= Patrick |location= London |date= 19 February 2014 |access-date= 31 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140731015603/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/19/david-miranda-detention-lawful-court-glenn-greenwald |archive-date= 31 July 2014 }} A 2016 ruling by the Court of Appeal found that the provision of the Terrorism Act used for Miranda's detention was "incompatible with the European convention on human rights", but that the detention itself was lawful.{{cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=19 January 2016 |title=Terrorism Act incompatible with human rights, court rules in David Miranda case |work=The Guardian |location= London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/19/terrorism-act-incompatible-with-human-rights-court-rules-in-david-miranda-case |access-date=10 May 2023}}{{cite news |last=Milhorance |first=Flávia |date=10 May 2023 |title=David Miranda, Who Went From Rio's Slums to Brazil's Congress, Dies at 37 |work=The New York Times |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/10/world/americas/david-miranda-dead.html |access-date=10 May 2023}}

May 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,{{cite news|last1=Gayle|first1=Damien|title=Theresa May to revive her 'snooper's charter' now Lib Dem brakes are off|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/09/theresa-may-revive-snoopers-charter-lib-dem-brakes-off-privacy-election|access-date=13 July 2016|work=The Guardian|date=9 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823043150/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/09/theresa-may-revive-snoopers-charter-lib-dem-brakes-off-privacy-election|archive-date=23 August 2016}} 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.{{cite news|title=Theresa May says 'contentious' parts of web surveillance plan dropped|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34691956|access-date=9 November 2015|publisher=BBC|date=1 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108081501/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34691956|archive-date=8 November 2015}}{{cite news|title=Britain to present new watered down surveillance bill|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-security-surveillance-idUKKCN0SQ1PG20151101|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307225130/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-security-surveillance-idUKKCN0SQ1PG20151101|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 March 2016|access-date=10 November 2015|work=Reuters|date=1 November 2015}}

File:David Cameron's visit2.jpg, May 2010]]

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.{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10453370.stm |title= Police must do more |date=29 June 2010 |work=BBC News|access-date=29 June 2010}} In July 2010, May 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.{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10619419.stm |title=Counter-terrorism measures to face government review |date=13 July 2010 |work=BBC News|access-date=14 July 2010}}{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8815000/8815378.stm |title= May announces scope of anti-terror law review |date= 13 July 2010 |work= BBC Democracy Live|url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100717055653/http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8815000/8815378.stm |archive-date= 17 July 2010|access-date= 14 July 2010}}

In July 2010, May announced a package of reforms to policing in England and Wales in the House of Commons.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10757014 |title=Radical police shake-up announced |date=26 July 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726100849/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10757014 |archive-date=26 July 2010}} 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, May 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{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/28/police-new-powers-cuts-protest-home-secretary?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 |title=Police may be given new powers after cuts protest, says home secretary |date=28 March 2011 |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=1 April 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104093739/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/28/police-new-powers-cuts-protest-home-secretary?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 |archive-date=4 November 2013}} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=15918 |title=Police may get social media crime powers |date=29 March 2011 |work=publicservice.co.uk Ltd |access-date=1 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110407025057/http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=15918 |archive-date=7 April 2011}}

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, May commissioned Mark Ellison to review Scotland Yard's investigations into alleged police corruption.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/lawrence-murder-police-corruption-will-be-investigated-7811117.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/lawrence-murder-police-corruption-will-be-investigated-7811117.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=May defies Met to order inquiry after Independent campaign|author=Andrew Grice & Paul Peachey|work=The Independent|date=2 June 2012|access-date=7 March 2014}}{{cbignore}} The report was presented to Parliament by May on 6 March 2014. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said the report, which has prompted an inquiry into undercover policing, was "devastating".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26485664|title=Hogan-Howe vows to restore trust in Met after new Lawrence row|work=BBC News|date=7 March 2014|access-date=7 March 2014}}

In July 2013, May 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.{{cite press release |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crime-is-down-by-more-than-10-under-this-government |title=Crime is down by more than 10% under this government |publisher=Home Office |date=18 July 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917172845/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crime-is-down-by-more-than-10-under-this-government |archive-date=17 September 2016}}

In 2014, May delivered a speech to the Police Federation, in which she criticised aspects of the culture of the police force.{{cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=Nick |title=May tells police – change or be changed |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27511997 |work=BBC News|date=21 May 2014 |access-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214033013/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27511997 |archive-date=14 February 2017}} In the speech, she said:

{{blockquote|When you remember the list of recent revelations about police misconduct, it is not enough to mouth platitudes about "a few bad apples". The problem might lie with a minority of officers, but it is still a significant problem and a problem that needs to be addressed ... according to one survey carried out recently, only 42% of black people from a Caribbean background trust the police. That is simply not sustainable ... I will soon publish proposals to strengthen the protections available to whistleblowers in the police. I am creating a new criminal offence of police corruption. And I am determined that the use of stop and search must come down, become more targeted and lead to more arrests.{{cite web|last1=May|first1=Theresa|title=The police must change and so must the Federation|date=21 May 2014 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-police-federation-2014-speech|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|access-date=10 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818081359/https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-police-federation-2014-speech|archive-date=18 August 2016}}}}

On 9 December 2010, in the wake of violent student demonstrations in central London against increases to higher-education tuition fees, May 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8193115/Royal-car-attack-How-did-the-police-get-it-so-wrong-again.html |title=Royal car attack: How did the police get it so wrong |date=10 December 2010 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=10 December 2010 |first=James |last=Kirkup |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210215059/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8193115/Royal-car-attack-How-did-the-police-get-it-so-wrong-again.html |archive-date=10 December 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Student-Protests-Prince-Charles-And-Camillas-Car-Attacked-As-Protesters-March-On-London/Article/201012215850255?lpos=Politics_News_Your_Way_Region_2&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15850255_Student_Protests%3A_Prince_Charles_And_Camillas_Car_Attacked_As_Protesters_March_On_London |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730011732/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Student-Protests-Prince-Charles-And-Camillas-Car-Attacked-As-Protesters-March-On-London/Article/201012215850255?lpos=Politics_News_Your_Way_Region_2&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15850255_Student_Protests:_Prince_Charles_And_Camillas_Car_Attacked_As_Protesters_March_On_London |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 July 2012 |title=Royal car is attacked by protesters |date=9 December 2010 |publisher=Sky News |access-date=10 December 2010}}

In December 2010, May 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."{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Porter |title=Police could use water cannon to disperse rioters, Theresa May says |date=12 December 2010 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8197432/Police-could-use-water-cannon-to-disperse-rioters-Theresa-May-says.html |access-date=9 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420083705/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8197432/Police-could-use-water-cannon-to-disperse-rioters-Theresa-May-says.html |archive-date=20 April 2012}} 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." May 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."{{cite news |title= London riots: Police patrol streets after violence |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14435251 |work=BBC News|date= 7 August 2011 |access-date= 9 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110809203535/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14435251 |archive-date= 9 August 2011 }}

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." May 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".{{cite news |last=Whitehead |first=Tom |date=14 August 2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8700761/UK-riots-juveniles-could-be-named-and-shamed-says-Theresa-May.html |title=UK riots: Juveniles could be named and shamed, says Theresa May |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=28 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114224855/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8700761/UK-riots-juveniles-could-be-named-and-shamed-says-Theresa-May.html |archive-date=14 November 2013}}

In July 2010, May 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. May proposed a less punitive, community-based approach to tackling social disorder. May 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10784060 |title=Time to 'move beyond ASBOS' says Home Secretary May |date=28 July 2010 |work=BBC News|access-date=28 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728185910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10784060 |archive-date=28 July 2010}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7914859/Home-Secretary-signals-the-end-of-Asbos.html |title=Home Secretary signals the end of Asbos |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=28 July 2010 |access-date=31 July 2010 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731090347/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7914859/Home-Secretary-signals-the-end-of-Asbos.html |archive-date=31 July 2010}} Former Labour Home Secretaries David Blunkett (who introduced ASBOs) and Alan Johnson expressed their disapproval of the proposals.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/approach-to-antisocial-behaviour-must-be-turned-on-its-head-2037410.html |title=Approach to anti-social behaviour "must be turned on its head" |date=28 July 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=28 July 2010 |first=Wesley |last=Johnson |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730123651/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/approach-to-antisocial-behaviour-must-be-turned-on-its-head-2037410.html |archive-date=30 July 2010}}

In July 2013, May decided to ban the 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.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23163017 "Herbal stimulant khat to be banned"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130711045838/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23163017 |date=11 July 2013 }}. BBC News. 3 July 2013. 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.[https://www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/may-under-fire-for-banning-khat-8685624.html "May under fire for banning khat".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707042248/http://www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/may-under-fire-for-banning-khat-8685624.html |date=7 July 2013 }} London Evening Standard. 3 July 2013. 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.[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/144120/report-2013.pdf ACMD Report on Khat] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205044630/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/144120/report-2013.pdf |date=5 February 2016 }}. 2013.

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.{{cite news |date=27 December 2014 |title=Norman Baker reveals drugs proposals Theresa May stripped from report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/26/norman-baker-reveals-drugs-proposals-theresa-may-stripped-from-report |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=27 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227044503/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/26/norman-baker-reveals-drugs-proposals-theresa-may-stripped-from-report |archive-date=27 December 2014}}{{cite news|date=26 December 2014 |title=Ex-minister Norman Baker leaks details on Home Secretary's drug stance |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exminister-norman-baker-leaks-details-on-home-secretarys-drug-stance-9945643.html |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=27 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226183911/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exminister-norman-baker-leaks-details-on-home-secretarys-drug-stance-9945643.html |archive-date=26 December 2014}} The Home Office denied that its officials had considered this as part of their strategy. Baker cited difficulties in working with May as the reason for his resignation from the Home Office in the run-up to the 2015 general election.{{cite news |date=3 November 2014 |title=Norman Baker: I resign – and it's Theresa May's fault |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/norman-baker-i-resign--and-its-theresa-mays-fault-9837189.html |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=3 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107002644/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/norman-baker-i-resign--and-its-theresa-mays-fault-9837189.html |archive-date=7 November 2014}}{{cite news |date=3 November 2014 |title=Norman Baker resigns as Home Office minister |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/03/norman-baker-resigns-home-office-minister?CMP=twt_gu |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=3 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104022845/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/03/norman-baker-resigns-home-office-minister?CMP=twt_gu |archive-date=4 November 2014}}{{cite news |date=3 November 2014 |title=Norman Baker quits as Home Office minister |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29891132 |work=BBC News|access-date=3 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107052535/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29891132 |archive-date=7 November 2014}}{{cite news |date= 3 November 2014 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/11206909/Norman-Baker-resigns-from-Government.html |title= Norman Baker resigns from Government |work= The Daily Telegraph |location= London |access-date= 12 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141112140036/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/11206909/Norman-Baker-resigns-from-Government.html |archive-date= 12 November 2014 }}

In 2010, May promised to bring the level of net migration down to less than 100,000.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/06/theresa-may-to-tell-tory-conference-that-mass-migration-threatens-uk-cohesion |title=Theresa May to tell Tory conference that mass migration threatens UK cohesion |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=6 October 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027161451/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/06/theresa-may-to-tell-tory-conference-that-mass-migration-threatens-uk-cohesion |archive-date=27 October 2016}} 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."{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/tory-immigration-pledge-failed-spectacularly-as-figures-show-net-migration-nearly-three-times-as-high-as-david-cameron-promised-10071710.html |title=David Cameron immigration pledge 'failed spectacularly' as figures show net migration almost three times as high as Tories promised |date=26 February 2015 |work=The Independent |location=London |first=Andrew |last=Grice |access-date=20 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707150837/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/tory-immigration-pledge-failed-spectacularly-as-figures-show-net-migration-nearly-three-times-as-high-as-david-cameron-promised-10071710.html |archive-date=7 July 2015}}

In May 2012 she told The Daily Telegraph of her intention "to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration".Kirkup, James (25 May 2012). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9291483/Theresa-May-interview-Were-going-to-give-illegal-migrants-a-really-hostile-reception.html "Theresa May interview: 'We're going to give illegal migrants a really hostile reception'"] – via www.telegraph.co.uk.

May rejected the European Union's proposal of compulsory refugee quotas.Travis, Alan (11 May 2015). [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/11/home-secretary-theresa-may-eu-emergency-resettlement-programme-theresa-may "Home secretary hardens refusal to accept EU resettlement programme"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127211502/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/11/home-secretary-theresa-may-eu-emergency-resettlement-programme-theresa-may |date=27 January 2017 }}. The Guardian (London). 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"."[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/refugee-policy-of-chancellor-merkel-divides-europe-a-1053603.html Mother Angela: Merkel's Refugee Policy Divides Europe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002024728/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/refugee-policy-of-chancellor-merkel-divides-europe-a-1053603.html |date=2 October 2015 }}". Der Spiegel. 21 September 2015. 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.{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/31/theresa-may-scrapped-aerial-border-surveillance-despite-warnings/ |title= Theresa May scrapped aerial border surveillance despite warnings from former security minister |work= The Daily Telegraph |location= London |last= Dominiczak |first= Peter |date= 31 May 2016 |access-date= 31 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160602103955/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/31/theresa-may-scrapped-aerial-border-surveillance-despite-warnings/ |archive-date= 2 June 2016 }}

In June 2012, May 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.{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120611/debtext/120611-0002.htm |title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Jun 2012 (pt 0002) |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=19 October 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020164414/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120611/debtext/120611-0002.htm |archive-date=20 October 2013}}

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.{{cite web|last=Grower|first=Melanie|title=Changes to Immigration Rules for family members – Commons Library Standard Note SN-06353|url=http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN06353|date=18 December 2012|access-date=6 January 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105063524/http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN06353|archive-date=5 January 2013}}

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.{{cite news|last = Mair|first = Lucy|title = Supreme court strikes down Home Office's back-door changes to immigration rules|url = https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jul/18/supreme-court-immigration-rules|access-date = 16 March 2013|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 18 July 2012|url-status=live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130824180235/http://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jul/18/supreme-court-immigration-rules|archive-date = 24 August 2013}} The human rights group Liberty concluded that the new rules showed scant regard to the impact they would have on genuine families.{{cite web |title = Liberty's briefing on the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules |url = http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/pdfs/policy12/liberty-s-briefing-on-the-statement-of-changes-in-immigration-rules-june-201.pdf |first1 = Yusef |last1 = Salehi |first2 = Rachel |last2 = Robinson |date = June 2012 |access-date = 6 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121110164239/http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/pdfs/policy12/liberty-s-briefing-on-the-statement-of-changes-in-immigration-rules-june-201.pdf |archive-date = 10 November 2012 }} 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.{{cite web|title=Report of the inquiry into new family migration rules|url=http://www.appgmigration.org.uk/sites/default/files/APPG_family_migration_inquiry_report-Jun-2013.pdf|first=Ruth|last=Grove-White|date=June 2013|access-date=6 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020121731/http://www.appgmigration.org.uk/sites/default/files/APPG_family_migration_inquiry_report-Jun-2013.pdf|archive-date=20 October 2013}}

File:Memorandum of Understanding on transnational crime (5937407114).jpg, 14 July 2011]]

At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2011, while arguing that the Human Rights Act needed to be amended, May 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.{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15160326 |title= Theresa May under fire over deportation cat claim |date= 4 October 2011 |work=BBC News|access-date= 5 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111005020900/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15160326 |archive-date= 5 October 2011 }} Amnesty International said May's comments only fuelled "myths and misconceptions" about the Human Rights Act and Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke subsequently called May's comments "laughable and childlike."{{cite news|url=http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Clarke-hits-childish-remarks/story-13490799-detail/story.html |title=Clarke hits out at 'childish remarks' |date=6 October 2011 |work=Nottingham Post |access-date=14 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008201216/http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Clarke-hits-childish-remarks/story-13490799-detail/story.html |archive-date=8 October 2011}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15160326|title=Theresa May under fire over deportation cat claim|work=BBC News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005020900/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15160326|archive-date=5 October 2011|date=4 October 2011}}

In June 2012, May 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, May avoided further sanctions including fines or imprisonment.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9345345/Theresa-May-accused-of-unacceptable-and-regrettable-behaviour-by-judge.html |title=Theresa May accused of unacceptable and regrettable behaviour by judge |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=20 June 2012 |access-date=24 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623052328/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9345345/Theresa-May-accused-of-unacceptable-and-regrettable-behaviour-by-judge.html |archive-date=23 June 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ukimmigrationbarristers.com/blog/home-secretary-theresa-may-found-guilty-of-contempt-of-court-over-uk-immigration-issue/ |title=Home Secretary, Theresa May, found guilty of contempt of court over UK Immigration issue |work=UK Immigration Barristers blog |date=21 June 2012 |access-date=24 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726003350/http://www.ukimmigrationbarristers.com/blog/home-secretary-theresa-may-found-guilty-of-contempt-of-court-over-uk-immigration-issue/ |archive-date=26 July 2012}}

May 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.{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-secretary-theresa-may-strips-man-of-uk-citizenship--for-the-second-time-8976216.html |title= Home Secretary Theresa May strips man of UK citizenship – for the second time |work= The Independent |location= London |date= 1 December 2013 |access-date= 8 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131208024226/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-secretary-theresa-may-strips-man-of-uk-citizenship--for-the-second-time-8976216.html |archive-date= 8 December 2013 }}{{cite news |url= http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/12/02/home-secretary-strips-man-of-uk-citizenship-for-the-second-time/ |title= Home Secretary strips man of UK citizenship – for the second time |work= The Bureau of Investigative Journalism |date= 2 December 2013 |access-date= 8 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131207193202/http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/12/02/home-secretary-strips-man-of-uk-citizenship-for-the-second-time/ |archive-date= 7 December 2013 }}{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25190305 |title= Terror suspect Hilal Al-Jedda stripped of UK citizenship |work=BBC News|date= 2 December 2013 |access-date= 8 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131209200409/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25190305 |archive-date= 9 December 2013 }}

May was accused by Lord Roberts of Llandudno of being willing to allow someone to die "to score a political point" over the deportation of mentally ill Nigerian man Isa Muazu.{{cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/29/failed-asylum-seeker-deported-hunger-strike-ifa-muaza |title=Failed asylum seeker deported from UK after 100-day hunger strike |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=29 November 2013 |access-date=30 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131130120846/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/29/failed-asylum-seeker-deported-hunger-strike-ifa-muaza |archive-date=30 November 2013}} According to Muazu's solicitor, May 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.{{cite news |last= Allison |first= Eric |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/end-of-life-plan-hunger-striker |title= Home Office issues 'end of life plan' to hunger-striking asylum seeker |work= The Guardian |location= London |date= 16 November 2013 |access-date= 28 November 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131130222427/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/16/end-of-life-plan-hunger-striker |archive-date= 30 November 2013 }}

In 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,{{cite news |last1=Travis |first1=Alan |title=Theresa May criticises human rights convention after Abu Qatada affair |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/08/theresa-may-human-rights-abu-qatada |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=8 July 2013 |access-date=2 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717201325/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/08/theresa-may-human-rights-abu-qatada |archive-date=17 July 2016}} and several prior Home Secretaries had not resolved.{{cite news|title=Abu Qatada deported from UK to stand trial in Jordan|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23213740|work=BBC News|access-date=2 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718082054/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23213740|archive-date=18 July 2016}} 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.{{cite news |title=Abu Qatada timeline |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-17769990 |work=BBC News|access-date=2 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718082058/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-17769990 |archive-date=18 July 2016}}

May 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".{{cite news |last1=Halliday |first1=Josh |title=Abu Qatada will not be allowed back in UK, says Theresa May |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/24/abu-qatada-not-allowed-back-uk-theresa-may-jordan-acquittal-terror |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=24 September 2014 |access-date=2 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717201355/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/24/abu-qatada-not-allowed-back-uk-theresa-may-jordan-acquittal-terror |archive-date=17 July 2016}}{{cite news |last=Rentoul |first=John |author-link=John Rentoul |date=1 July 2016 |title=Boring and competent Theresa May is what the nation needs after the shock of the Brexit vote |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boring-and-competent-theresa-may-is-what-the-nation-needs-after-the-shock-of-the-brexit-vote-a7114531.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701191546/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boring-and-competent-theresa-may-is-what-the-nation-needs-after-the-shock-of-the-brexit-vote-a7114531.html |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=2 July 2016 |work=The Independent |department=Voices}} The Qatada deportation also shaped May'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, May has since campaigned against the institutions, saying that British withdrawal from them should be considered.

{{main|"Go Home" vans}}

In August 2013, the Home Office engaged in an advertising campaign directed at illegal immigrants.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/theresa-may-the-new-prime-ministers-5-most-controversial-moments-a7142321.html|title=Theresa May: The new Prime Minister's five most controversial moments|last=Agerholm|first=Harriet|date=18 July 2016|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=31 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131214148/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/theresa-may-the-new-prime-ministers-5-most-controversial-moments-a7142321.html|archive-date=31 January 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10232988/Race-hate-inquiry-into-Home-Office-go-home-billboards.html|title=Race-hate inquiry into Home Office 'go home' billboards|last=Swinford|first=Steven|date=9 August 2013|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=31 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924031950/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10232988/Race-hate-inquiry-into-Home-Office-go-home-billboards.html|archive-date=24 September 2017}} The shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, described their language as being reminiscent of that used by the National Front in the 1970s.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24624383|title=Theresa May says 'go home' will not be rolled out across UK|date=22 October 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=31 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405220747/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24624383|archive-date=5 April 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-office-anti-immigration-go-home-vans-banned-by-advertising-watchdog-8868081.html|title=Home Office anti-immigration 'go home' vans banned by advertising watchdog|last=Saul|first=Heather|date=9 October 2013|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=31 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203212535/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-office-anti-immigration-go-home-vans-banned-by-advertising-watchdog-8868081.html|archive-date=3 February 2017}}

In mid 2014, the Passport Office faced a backlog in developing processing passport applications, with around 30,000 applications hit by delays.{{cite news |title = Up to 30,000 passports hit by delays, says David Cameron |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27789916 |work=BBC News|date = 11 June 2014 |access-date = 6 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140711181333/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27789916 |archive-date = 11 July 2014 }} David Cameron suggested this had come about due to the Passport Office's receiving an "above normal" 300,000-rise in applications.{{cite news |last = Mason |first = Rowena |date = 11 June 2014 |title = Cameron accuses Miliband of scaring holidaymakers over passports backlog |url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/11/passport-office-biggest-spike-applications-12-years |work = The Guardian |access-date = 6 July 2014 |display-authors = etal |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714193403/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/11/passport-office-biggest-spike-applications-12-years |archive-date = 14 July 2014 }} 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.{{cite news |last=Warrell |first=Helen |date=12 June 2014 |title=May ignored passport office warnings, says Labour Party |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7a534864-f24e-11e3-9e59-00144feabdc0.html |work=Financial Times |location=London |access-date=6 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618213913/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7a534864-f24e-11e3-9e59-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=18 June 2014}} Around £674,000 was paid to staff who helped clear the backlog.{{cite news |last = Syal |first = Rajeev |date = 5 September 2014 |title = Passport Office staff given up to £674,000 in bonuses amid delays |url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/04/passport-office-bonuses-paid-backlog-documents |work = The Guardian |access-date = 9 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140905095043/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/04/passport-office-bonuses-paid-backlog-documents |archive-date = 5 September 2014 }}

{{main|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.{{cite news|author=Agerholm, Harriet |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/windrush-government-deportations-british-citizens-uk-caribbean-home-office-rudd-javid-a8501076.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/windrush-government-deportations-british-citizens-uk-caribbean-home-office-rudd-javid-a8501076.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Windrush: Government admits 83 British citizens may have been wrongfully deported due to scandal but will only apologise to 18 |work=The Independent |date=21 August 2018 |access-date=16 December 2018}}{{cbignore}} 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,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/10/its-destroyed-my-life-windrush-victim-recognised-as-legal-citizen-after-13-years|title='It's destroyed my life': Windrush victim recognised as legal citizen after 13 years|first=Amelia|last=Gentleman|newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 May 2018}} preventing access to health care, illegally demanding money,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/20/dwp-sent-windrush-pensioner-33000-bill-for-disability-benefits|title=DWP sent Windrush pensioner £33,000 bill for disability benefits|first=Lisa|last=O'Carroll|newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 April 2018}} exiling them and preventing their return to the UK,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/21/stuck-jamaica-pension-house-kids-uk-windrush-britain|title=Stuck in Jamaica: 'My pension, my house and my kids are in the UK'|first=Nick|last=Davis|newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 April 2018}} and leaving them destitute. The scandal led to the resignation of May's successor Amber Rudd as Home Secretary,{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21741247-replacing-home-secretary-will-be-tricky-and-windrush-scandal-could-yet-claim-more|title=Amber Rudd's resignation rattles Theresa May's delicate cabinet|date=29 April 2018|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=30 April 2018}} and her replacement by Sajid Javid.{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/30/europe/sajid-javid-uk-new-home-secretary-intl/index.html|title=Sajid Javid to be UK home secretary after Windrush scandal resignation|last=McKenzie|first=Sheena|publisher=CNN|access-date=30 April 2018}} Responding to questions in Parliament on the Windrush scandal on 25 April, May maintained that the hostile environment policy would remain government policy.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-windrush-scandal-illegal-immigration-rules-stay-uk-pmqs-a8321606.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-windrush-scandal-illegal-immigration-rules-stay-uk-pmqs-a8321606.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May vows her 'hostile environment' on illegal immigration will continue, despite the Windrush scandal|last=Merwick|first=Rob|date=25 April 2018|work=The Independent|access-date=30 April 2018}}{{cbignore}}

In June 2014, an inflamed public argument arose between Home Office and Education Ministers about responsibility for alleged extremism in Birmingham schools.{{cite news |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100274682/theresa-may-is-angry-really-angry/ |title=Theresa May is angry. Really angry |first=Benedict |last=Brogan |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=4 June 2014 |access-date=8 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607234526/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100274682/theresa-may-is-angry-really-angry/ |archive-date=7 June 2014}}{{cite news |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100274724/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-theresa-mays-row-with-michael-gove/ |title=Five things you need to know about Theresa May's row with Michael Gove |first=Toby |last=Young |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=4 June 2014 |access-date=8 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607225812/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100274724/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-theresa-mays-row-with-michael-gove/ |archive-date=7 June 2014}} Prime Minister David Cameron intervened to resolve the row, insisting that May sack her Special Advisor Fiona Cunningham (now Hill) for releasing on May's website a confidential letter to May's colleagues,{{cite news|last1=Waterson|first1=Jim|author-link1=Jim Waterson|last2=Datoo|first2=Siraj|date=6 June 2014|title=Home Office Quietly Deletes Letter To Michael Gove on Islamic Extremism (But It's Still on Google)|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/may-deletes-letter-to-gove-but-its-still-on-internet|url-status=live|work=BuzzFeed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140609053948/http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/may-deletes-letter-to-gove-but-its-still-on-internet|archive-date=9 June 2014|access-date=19 June 2014}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27750921 |title=Michael Gove apologises over 'Trojan Horse' row with Theresa May |work=BBC News|date=8 June 2014 |access-date=8 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140608014040/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27750921 |archive-date=8 June 2014}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/07/cameron-gove-may-extremism-row |title=Furious Cameron slaps down Gove and May over 'Islamic extremism' row |first1=Toby |last1=Helm |first2=Daniel |last2=Boffey |first3=Warwick |last3=Mansell |newspaper=The Observer |location=London |date=7 June 2014 |access-date=8 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607230120/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/07/cameron-gove-may-extremism-row |archive-date=7 June 2014}}

May 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.[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/04/maria-miller-culture-secretary-cabinet-reshuffle Maria Miller becomes culture secretary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303051641/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/04/maria-miller-culture-secretary-cabinet-reshuffle |date=3 March 2017 }}, The Guardian, 4 September 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.

May's appointment as Minister for Women and Equalities was controversial, and was met with criticism by many in the LGBT community{{cite news|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/05/12/analysis-how-pro-gay-is-the-new-home-secretary-and-minister-for-equality-theresa-may/|title=Analysis: How pro-gay is the new home secretary and minister for equality Theresa May?|date=12 May 2010|work=Pink News|access-date=28 October 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125165020/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/05/12/analysis-how-pro-gay-is-the-new-home-secretary-and-minister-for-equality-theresa-may/|archive-date=25 November 2010}}{{cite web|date=15 May 2010|title=43,000 people call for David Cameron to sack Theresa May over poor gay voting record|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/05/15/40000-people-call-for-david-cameron-to-sack-new-homophobic-equality-minister-theresa-may/|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Pink News}}{{cite web|date=14 May 2010|title=Campaigners call for Theresa May to be removed as Equalities Minister|url=https://leftfootforward.org/2010/05/campaigners-call-for-theresa-may-to-be-removed-as-equalities-minister/|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Left Foot Forward}} due to May's record of consistently opposing LGBT rights from 1997 to 2004:{{cite web|date=25 April 2017|title=All the anti-gay stances Theresa May has taken in her political career|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-lgbt-rights-gay-commons-vote-same-sex-marriage-gay-adoption-tim-farron-a7702326.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426153318/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-lgbt-rights-gay-commons-vote-same-sex-marriage-gay-adoption-tim-farron-a7702326.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 April 2017|access-date=2 August 2020|website=The Independent}} she voted against equalising the age of consent in 1998, she spoke in favour of Section 28 in 2001,{{cite web|title=We Found an Old Student Paper Interview with Theresa May Discussing Her Views On 'Promoting Homosexuality'|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/d38mww/we-discovered-an-old-interview-with-theresa-may-where-she-talks-about-her-views-on-promoting-homosexuality|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Vice|date=27 July 2017 }} and she spoke against greater adoption rights for homosexuals in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=40382&dmp=826|title=Theresa May MP, Maidenhead, Homosexuality – Equal rights|work=The Public Whip|access-date=28 October 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515034824/http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=40382&dmp=826|archive-date=15 May 2010}}{{cite news |url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/from-senior-to-junior-demoted-tories-lose-seats-at-the-top-table-83529w3t7p2 |title=From senior to junior – demoted Tories lose seats at the top table |last1=Coates |first1=Sam |first2=Susz |last2=Jagger |date=14 May 2010 |work=The Times |location= London |access-date=28 October 2010}}{{subscription required}} May later stated, during an appearance on the BBC's Question Time in 2010, that she had "changed her mind" on gay adoption.{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8696102.stm |title=I've changed my mind on gay adoption, says Theresa May |date=20 May 2010 |work=BBC News|access-date=28 October 2010}} Writing for PinkNews in June 2010, May detailed proposals for improving LGBT rights including measures to tackle homophobia in sport, advocating British society's need for "cultural change".{{cite news |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/06/18/theresa-may-says-sportsmen-and-newspaper-editors-must-take-action-against-homophobia/ |title=Theresa May says sportsmen and newspaper editors must 'take action' against homophobia |date=18 June 2010 |work=Pink News |access-date=29 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625002640/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/06/18/theresa-may-says-sportsmen-and-newspaper-editors-must-take-action-against-homophobia |archive-date=25 June 2010}}

In July 2010, May stated she would be supporting the previous Labour Government's Anti-Discrimination Laws enshrined in the Equality Act 2010 despite having previously opposed it.{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10496993.stm |title=Labour to stick with Labour's Equality Act |date=2 July 2010 |work=BBC News|access-date=3 July 2010}} The Equality Act came into effect in England, Wales and Scotland on 1 October 2010.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11446650 |title=New equality rights in workplace come into force |date=1 October 2010 |work=BBC News|access-date=1 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001042455/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11446650 |archive-date=1 October 2010}} She did however announce that a clause she dubbed "Harman's Law"{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/8138053/Theresa-May-axes-Harmans-Law.html |title=Theresa May axes Harman's Law |last=Hope |first=Christopher |date=17 November 2010 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120015437/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/8138053/Theresa-May-axes-Harmans-Law.html |archive-date=20 November 2010}} which would have required public bodies to consider how they can reduce socio-economic inequalities when making decisions about spending and services{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6159537/Middle-classes-to-lose-out-under-Harmans-equality-plan.html |title=Middle classes to lose out under Harman's equality plan |last=Kirkup |first=James |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=18 November 2010 |date=9 September 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912140042/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6159537/Middle-classes-to-lose-out-under-Harmans-equality-plan.html |archive-date=12 September 2009}} would be scrapped on the grounds that it was "unworkable".{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11771302 |title= Theresa May shelves 'equality duty' on councils |work=BBC News|access-date= 18 November 2010 |date= 17 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101118074437/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11771302 |archive-date= 18 November 2010 }}

{{Further|2016 Conservative Party leadership election}}

In June 2016, May announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party to succeed David Cameron, who resigned following the outcome of the European Union membership referendum in which 52 per cent of voters voted in favour of leaving the EU. May 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 per cent of people choosing May as their preferred candidate to be prime minister.{{cite web |last=Carr |first=Harry |date=30 June 2016 |title=Theresa May Is Britons' Favourite For PM – Poll |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1719848/theresa-may-is-britons-favourite-for-pm-poll |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702045052/http://news.sky.com/story/1719848/theresa-may-is-britons-favourite-for-pm-poll |archive-date=2 July 2016 |access-date=2 July 2016 |publisher=Sky News |quote=The other candidates lagged far behind, with Michael Gove on 9%}}

May's supporters included a number of Cabinet ministers, such as Amber Rudd, Chris Grayling, Justine Greening, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Fallon and Patrick McLoughlin.{{cite news |last=Asthana |first=Anushka |date=1 July 2016 |title=Tory party leadership: support for Theresa May surges as Gove struggles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/01/support-for-theresa-may-as-tory-party-leader-surges-as-gove-campaign-struggles |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701234700/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/01/support-for-theresa-may-as-tory-party-leader-surges-as-gove-campaign-struggles |archive-date=1 July 2016 |access-date=2 July 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}} 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.{{cite news |date=6 July 2016 |title=Tory leadership: Theresa May tops first vote but Liam Fox out |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36718196 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705195213/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36718196 |archive-date=5 July 2016 |work=BBC News |quote=She added: "I am the only candidate capable of delivering these three things as prime minister, and tonight it is clear that I am also the only one capable of drawing support from the whole of the Conservative Party."}} The two candidates with the fewest votes, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb, immediately announced their support for May.{{cite news |last=Asthana |first=Anushka |title=May takes big lead as Fox and Crabb drop out |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/theresa-may-conservative-leadership-contest-andrea-leadsom-michael-gove-first-round-vote |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706161909/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/theresa-may-conservative-leadership-contest-andrea-leadsom-michael-gove-first-round-vote |archive-date=6 July 2016 |access-date=6 July 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}} May 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.{{cite news |date=8 July 2016 |title=Theresa May v Andrea Leadsom to be next prime minister |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36737426 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708001014/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36737426 |archive-date=8 July 2016 |access-date=8 July 2016 |work=BBC News}} Afterwards, May stated that she was delighted with her support among MPs, and she progressed to a vote of the Conservative Party membership against Leadsom.{{cite news |last=Cowburn |first=Ashley |date=7 July 2016 |title=Tory leadership election |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-leadership-election-andrea-leadsom-theresa-may-michael-gove-conservative-next-prime-minister-a7125406.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708045902/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-leadership-election-andrea-leadsom-theresa-may-michael-gove-conservative-next-prime-minister-a7125406.html |archive-date=8 July 2016 |access-date=7 July 2016 |newspaper=The Independent |location=London}}

In July, Leadsom announced her withdrawal from the leadership contest hours after May 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.{{cite web |date=11 July 2016 |title=May to take over as UK PM by Wednesday |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7939901e-4756-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712233009/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7939901e-4756-11e6-8d68-72e9211e86ab.html |archive-date=12 July 2016 |work=Financial Times}} As the sole remaining candidate, May was formally declared Leader of the Conservative Party that evening.{{cite news |date=13 July 2016 |title=Theresa May to succeed Cameron as UK PM on Wednesday |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36768148 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711161227/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36768148 |archive-date=11 July 2016 |access-date=11 July 2016 |work=BBC News |quote=The timing of the handover of power from David Cameron looks set to be after PM's questions on Wednesday.}}{{cite news |date=11 July 2016 |title=Theresa May gives first speech as leader of the Conservative party |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/11/theresa-may-launches-conservative-leadership-bid-as-andrea-leads/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711104910/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/11/theresa-may-launches-conservative-leadership-bid-as-andrea-leads/ |archive-date=11 July 2016 |access-date=11 July 2016 |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London}}

{{Main|Premiership of Theresa May}}

File:Theresa May (2016) 02.jpg

On 13 July 2016, two days after becoming Leader of the Conservative Party, May was appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the second female British prime minister after Margaret Thatcher.{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/queen-received-audience-right-honourable-theresa-may|title=The Queen received in audience The Right Honourable Theresa May|last=Adam.Vallance|website=The Royal Family |date=12 July 2016|access-date=17 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818170601/https://www.royal.uk/queen-received-audience-right-honourable-theresa-may|archive-date=18 August 2016}}{{cite news |title= PM-in-waiting Theresa May promises 'a better Britain' |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36768148 |access-date= 18 April 2017 |work=BBC News|date= 11 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170125064900/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36768148 |archive-date= 25 January 2017 }} Addressing the world's media outside 10 Downing Street, May said that she was "honoured and humbled" to become prime minister. On becoming prime minister, May 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 May" said there was no need for such an election.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36769898 |title=Tributes for David Cameron at his final cabinet as UK PM |author= |date=12 July 2016 |work=BBC News|access-date=12 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712112741/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36769898 |archive-date=12 July 2016}} In a speech after her appointment, May 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."{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-36789572 |title=Theresa May: Word unionist 'very important to me' |date=13 July 2016 |work=BBC News|access-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714214126/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-36789572 |archive-date=14 July 2016}} By 15 July, May 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.{{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=14 July 2016 |title=Theresa May's decisive reshuffle draws line under Cameron era |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/14/theresa-mays-decisive-reshuffle-draws-line-under-cameron-era |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=15 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714203907/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/14/theresa-mays-decisive-reshuffle-draws-line-under-cameron-era |archive-date=14 July 2016}}

May'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.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-wrapup-idUSKCN0ZU1HE |title=May builds new-look Brexit cabinet to steer EU divorce |last1=Holton |first1=Kate |last2=Pitas |first2=Costas |date=14 July 2016 |work=Reuters |access-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715155255/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-wrapup-idUSKCN0ZU1HE |archive-date=15 July 2016}}{{cite news |last=Hughes |first=Laura |date=14 July 2016 |title=Theresa May appoints Justine Greening and Liz Truss after mass cull of old government sees Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan axed |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/14/theresa-mays-cabinet-reshuffle-who-will-join-boris-johnson-and/ |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |access-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714072212/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/14/theresa-mays-cabinet-reshuffle-who-will-join-boris-johnson-and/ |archive-date=14 July 2016}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/theresa-may-becomes-britains-prime-minister |title=Theresa May appeals to centre ground but cabinet tilts to the right |first=Heather |last=Stewart |date=13 July 2016 |work=The Guardian |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713235732/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/theresa-may-becomes-britains-prime-minister |archive-date=13 July 2016}} 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."{{cite web |url=http://www.itv.com/news/2016-07-14/may-appoints-right-wing-cabinet-for-left-wing-agenda/ |title=May appoints right wing cabinet for left wing agenda |last=Peston |first=Robert |date=14 July 2016 |publisher=ITV News |access-date=16 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715155006/http://www.itv.com/news/2016-07-14/may-appoints-right-wing-cabinet-for-left-wing-agenda/ |archive-date=15 July 2016}} Although May 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.{{cite news |last1=James |first1=William |last2=MacLellan |first2=Kylie |title=May Builds New-Look Brexit Cabinet to Steer EU Divorce |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-wrapup-idUSKCN0ZU1HE |date=15 July 2016 |work=Reuters |access-date=15 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715155255/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-wrapup-idUSKCN0ZU1HE |archive-date=15 July 2016}} Other key appointees included Amber Rudd as Home Secretary and Philip Hammond as Chancellor of the Exchequer.{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/who-is-david-davis-a-profile-of-britains-new-minister-for-brexit/ |title= Who is David Davis? A profile of Britain's new 'Brexit Secretary' |work= The Daily Telegraph |date= 14 July 2016 |access-date= 15 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160715023920/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/who-is-david-davis-a-profile-of-britains-new-minister-for-brexit/ |archive-date= 15 July 2016 }}

{{Main|First May ministry}}

File:Vladimir Putin and Theresa May (2016-09-04) 02.jpg during the G20 summit in Hangzhou]]

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.{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/29/hinkley-point-c-why-has-government-delayed-final-approval |title= Why have ministers delayed final approval for Hinkley Point C? |work= The Guardian |location= London |date= 29 July 2016 |access-date= 31 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160730205353/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/29/hinkley-point-c-why-has-government-delayed-final-approval |archive-date= 30 July 2016 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/30/theresa-may-delayed-hinkley-point-chinese-beijing-vince-cable |title=Theresa May 'raised objections to project as home secretary' |work=The Guardian |date=30 July 2016 |access-date=31 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731203845/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/30/theresa-may-delayed-hinkley-point-chinese-beijing-vince-cable |archive-date=31 July 2016}} 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2015/10/nick-timothy-the-government-is-selling-our-national-security-to-china.html|title=Nick Timothy: The Government is selling our national security to China|website=Conservative Home|date=20 October 2015|access-date=31 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731135519/http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2015/10/nick-timothy-the-government-is-selling-our-national-security-to-china.html|archive-date=31 July 2016}}

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."{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ODnL6mawWk&t=1173&lc=z12idn3rokrgjnbnh23afzv5dtrafzqj504 |people=Members of the House of Commons |date=18 July 2016 |title= Trident Debate – Theresa May Vs Jeremy Corbyn – UK Parliament – Nuclear Weapons Vote |medium=Video recording |access-date=18 July 2016 |time=19 minutes and 33 seconds in |location=House of Commons, London |publisher=EU Debate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119214822/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ODnL6mawWk&t=1173&lc=z12idn3rokrgjnbnh23afzv5dtrafzqj504 |archive-date=19 November 2016}}

On 20 July, May 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, May 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, May had also announced that in the wake of the referendum, Britain would relinquish the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which passes between member states every six months on a rotation basis, and that the UK had been scheduled to hold in the second half of 2017.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36841066 |title=Brexit: Theresa May says talks won't start in 2016 |work=BBC News|date=20 July 2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720014459/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36841066 |archive-date=20 July 2016}}{{cite news |first1=Rowena |last1=Mason |first2=Philip |last2=Oltermann |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/20/angela-merkel-backs-theresa-mays-plan-not-to-trigger-brexit-this-year |title=Angela Merkel backs Theresa May's plan not to trigger Brexit this year |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 July 2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720232931/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/20/angela-merkel-backs-theresa-mays-plan-not-to-trigger-brexit-this-year |archive-date=20 July 2016}}

May supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and defended selling arms to Saudi Arabia,{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/arms-sales-saudi-arabia-theresa-may-staunch-defence-keep-people-streets-britain-safe-a7230836.html |title= Theresa May claims selling arms to Saudi Arabia helps 'keep people on the streets of Britain safe' |newspaper= The Independent |location= London |date= 7 September 2016 |access-date= 1 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161003144638/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/arms-sales-saudi-arabia-theresa-may-staunch-defence-keep-people-streets-britain-safe-a7230836.html |archive-date= 3 October 2016 }} which is accused of committing war crimes in Yemen,{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/24/yemen-britain-human-rights-inquiry |title= UK accused of blocking UN inquiry into claim of war crimes in Yemen |newspaper= The Guardian |location= London |date= 25 September 2016 |access-date= 1 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161001100326/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/24/yemen-britain-human-rights-inquiry |archive-date= 1 October 2016 }} insisting that Britain's close relationship with Saudi Arabia was "helping keep people on the streets of Britain safe".{{cite news |url= https://www.ft.com/content/48f18e56-7506-11e6-b60a-de4532d5ea35 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/48f18e56-7506-11e6-b60a-de4532d5ea35 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Theresa May rejects calls for UK to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia |newspaper= Financial Times |location= London |date=7 September 2016 |access-date=1 October 2016}}

File:President Donald Trump and PM Theresa May Joint Press Conference, January 27, 2017.jpg in Washington, D.C., January 2017]]

On 21 January 2017, following the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President, the White House announced that May would meet the President on 27 January, making her the first foreign leader to meet Trump since he took office on 20 January.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38707524 |title=Theresa May to meet Donald Trump on Friday – White House |work=BBC News|date=21 January 2017 |access-date=21 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121204203/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38707524 |archive-date=21 January 2017}} In a joint press conference, May indicated an interest in increased trade between the United States and the United Kingdom. She also affirmed a desire to maintain an American involvement in NATO.{{cite news |url= https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/27/512007797/in-meeting-with-trump-u-k-prime-minister-pushes-for-future-trade-deal |title= In Meeting With Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Pushes For Future Trade Deal |publisher= NPR |location= Washington DC |date= 27 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170129130901/http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/27/512007797/in-meeting-with-trump-u-k-prime-minister-pushes-for-future-trade-deal |archive-date= 29 January 2017 }} May was criticised by members of major parties, including her own, for refusing to condemn Trump's Executive Order 13769, as well as for inviting Trump to a state visit with Queen Elizabeth II.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38784199 |title=Theresa May fails to condemn Donald Trump on refugees |date=28 January 2017 |work=BBC News|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130232017/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38784199 |archive-date=30 January 2017}}{{cite news |url=http://nordic.businessinsider.com/theresa-may-critisied-for-not-condemning-donald-trump-muslim-ban-2017-1?r=US&IR=T |title=Theresa May is at heart of a political storm over her 'weak' response to Trump's Muslim ban |work=Nordic Business Insider |date=29 January 2017 |last=Payne |first=Adam |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202062705/http://nordic.businessinsider.com/theresa-may-critisied-for-not-condemning-donald-trump-muslim-ban-2017-1?r=US&IR=T |archive-date=2 February 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/petition-to-cancel-trump-visit-to-uk-hits-1-million-signatures/article33822031/ |title=British PM Theresa May faces tough lesson over Trump's U.S. entry ban |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |date=30 January 2017 |last=Waldie |first=Paul |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319115034/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/petition-to-cancel-trump-visit-to-uk-hits-1-million-signatures/article33822031/ |archive-date=19 March 2017}}

In January 2017, when it came to light that a Trident test had malfunctioned in June 2016, May refused to confirm whether she knew about the incident when she addressed parliament.{{cite news |title= Britain's May faces pressure after reports of Trident test malfunction |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-missiles-idUSKBN1550WX?il=0 |access-date= 22 January 2017 |work= Reuters |date= 22 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170122014236/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-missiles-idUSKBN1550WX?il=0 |archive-date= 22 January 2017 }}{{cite news |last1=Siddique |first1=Haroon |last2=Mason |first2=Rowena |title=May refuses to confirm whether she knew about Trident 'malfunction' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/22/ltrident-malfunction-cover-up-claims-labour-urges-investigations |access-date=22 January 2017 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=22 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122122100/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/22/ltrident-malfunction-cover-up-claims-labour-urges-investigations |archive-date=22 January 2017}}{{cite news |title=Theresa May 'faith' in Trident after test 'malfunction' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38708823 |access-date=22 January 2017 |work=BBC News|date=22 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122090153/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38708823 |archive-date=22 January 2017}}

May's Chancellor, Philip Hammond, continued government policies of freezing benefits in his 2017 budget.[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/welfare/2017/03/what-welfare-changes-did-philip-hammond-make-his-budget-2017 What welfare changes did Philip Hammond make in his Budget 2017?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317002556/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/welfare/2017/03/what-welfare-changes-did-philip-hammond-make-his-budget-2017 |date=17 March 2017 }} New Statesman

{{main|2017 United Kingdom general election}}

In May 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".{{cite news|title=May to seek snap election for 8 June|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39629603|access-date=18 April 2017|publisher=BBC|date=18 April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418101352/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39629603|archive-date=18 April 2017}} May had previously ruled out an early election on five occasions over nine months.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/five-times-theresa-may-no-10-ruled-snap-general-election/#|title=Five times Theresa May ruled out a snap general election – Coffee House|date=18 April 2017|website=The Spectator|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418111721/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/04/five-times-theresa-may-no-10-ruled-snap-general-election/|archive-date=18 April 2017}} 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.{{cite news|title=General election campaigning begins as MPs back June poll|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39643804|access-date=19 April 2017|work=BBC News|issue=19 April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419143625/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39643804|archive-date=19 April 2017}}

Unveiling the Conservative manifesto in Halifax on 18 May, May promised a "mainstream government that would deliver for mainstream Britain".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39956541|title=Conservative manifesto: Theresa May targets mainstream Britain'|date=18 May 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=18 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517233142/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39956541|archive-date=17 May 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-price-controls-energy-bills-ed-miliband-freeze-general-election-2017-latest-a7725271.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-price-controls-energy-bills-ed-miliband-freeze-general-election-2017-latest-a7725271.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May lays out plan for state to control energy prices|work=The Independent|last=Stone|first=Jon|date=8 March 2017|access-date=21 October 2020}}{{cbignore}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/18/theresa-may-launches-conservative-manifesto-for-community-and-country|title=May signals break with Thatcherism in manifesto for 'country and community'|last1=Mason|first1=Rowena|date=18 May 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 May 2017|last2=Stewart|first2=Heather|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518133532/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/18/theresa-may-launches-conservative-manifesto-for-community-and-country|archive-date=18 May 2017}} The manifesto was noted for its intervention in industry, lack of tax cuts and increased spending commitments on public services.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39965837|title=Conservative manifesto: Theresa May's 'mainstream' pitch|last=Kuenssberg|first=Laura|date=18 May 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=18 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519222727/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39965837|archive-date=19 May 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39960311|title=Conservative manifesto summary: Key points at-a-glance|date=18 May 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=18 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518122902/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39960311|archive-date=18 May 2017}}

File:Theresa May and FM Arlene Foster.jpg (DUP) leader Arlene Foster]]

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40001221|title=General election: Theresa May changes social care plans|date=22 May 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=22 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522113910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40001221|archive-date=22 May 2017}} 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".{{cite news|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-care-osborne-idUKKBN18I160|title=May to change social care pledge, George Osborne says|date=22 May 2017|agency=Reuters UK|access-date=22 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522120119/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-care-osborne-idUKKBN18I160|archive-date=22 May 2017}} 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."{{cite web | title=Theresa May's 9 U-turns | website=Financial Times | url=https://www.ft.com/content/e021c208-3ede-11e7-9d56-25f963e998b2 | access-date=29 May 2017 | last=Mance | first=Henry | date=22 May 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528072532/https://www.ft.com/content/e021c208-3ede-11e7-9d56-25f963e998b2 | archive-date=28 May 2017 }}

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2017/jun/08/live-uk-election-results-in-full-2017|title=UK election 2017: full results|work=The Guardian|date=9 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608235407/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2017/jun/08/live-uk-election-results-in-full-2017|archive-date=8 June 2017|last1=Franklin|first1=Will|last2=Osborn|first2=Matt|last3=Cage|first3=Feilding}}{{cite news|title=Conservatives agree pact with DUP to support May government|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40403434|access-date=26 June 2017|work=BBC News|date=26 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626102729/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40403434|archive-date=26 June 2017}}

{{main|Second May ministry}}

Less than two weeks after the 2017 State Opening of Parliament, May ordered a full public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal.{{cite web |title=PM statement on contaminated blood inquiry: 11 July 2017 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-statement-on-contaminated-blood-inquiry-11-july-2017 |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom }} For this she was widely praised as successive governments going back to the 1980s had refused such an inquiry, some though speculated that May had simply been forced to announce the inquiry after a group legal action and news of fresh evidence were brought by Jason Evans.{{cite web |title=Government 'knew risks of contaminated blood months before making it public', son of victim claims |url=http://www.itv.com/news/central/2017-06-22/fight-for-justice-after-dad-given-contaminated-blood/ |website=ITV News |date=22 June 2017 }}{{cite news |last1=Worley |first1=Will |title=New evidence in NHS tainted blood scandal |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/new-evidence-in-nhs-tainted-blood-donation-scandal-28d0qmggs |work=The Times |date=4 July 2017 }} Additionally, Andy Burnham had threatened to take evidence to the police if an inquiry were not announced.{{cite news |title=Contaminated blood scandal: Labour's Burnham threatens to go to police |url=https://news.sky.com/story/contaminated-blood-scandal-labours-burnham-threatens-to-go-to-police-10942488 |publisher=Sky News}} With over 1,000 core participants, the Infected Blood Inquiry is the biggest public inquiry ever held in the UK.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/24/infected-nhs-blood-inquiry-opens-with-tribute-to-victims |title=Infected blood victims 'may still not know they have hepatitis C' |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=24 September 2018 |work=The Guardian |access-date=15 January 2019}}

May is the first British prime minister to visit Buenos Aires after the Falklands War.[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-theresa-may-becomes-first-pm-to-visit-buenos-aires "Prime Minister Theresa May becomes first PM to visit Buenos Aires"]. Government of the United Kingdom. 30 November 2018. In November 2017, May said the actions of Myanmar Army and police against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar "looks like ethnic cleansing"."[https://news.sky.com/story/theresa-may-myanmar-must-take-responsibility-for-rohingya-crisis-11125483 Theresa May vows to tackle 'inhuman destruction of Rohingya people']". Sky News. 14 November 2017. 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, May suffered no defeats in whipped votes in the House of Commons.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-brexit-bill-key-amendment-7-dominic-grieve-whips-eu-exit-package-anna-soubry-chuka-a8101636.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-brexit-bill-key-amendment-7-dominic-grieve-whips-eu-exit-package-anna-soubry-chuka-a8101636.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May 'could face first Commons' defeat on Brexit bill next week' on key amendment|date=9 December 2017|work=The Independent|access-date=30 December 2017}}{{cbignore}} On 13 December 2017, May 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/13/tory-brexit-rebels-inflict-major-defeat-on-theresa-may|title=Tory Brexit rebels inflict major defeat on Theresa May|last1=Stewart|first1=Heather|date=14 December 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=30 December 2017|last2=Walker|first2=Peter|last3=Elgot|first3=Jessica}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/stephen-hammond-fired-sacked-brexit-rebellion-tory-mp-theresa-may-latest-a8108691.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/stephen-hammond-fired-sacked-brexit-rebellion-tory-mp-theresa-may-latest-a8108691.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The Tories have sacked their own vice-chairman after he helped defeat the Government over Brexit|date=13 December 2017|work=The Independent|access-date=30 December 2017}}{{cbignore}}

{{Expand section|1=Needs May's response to the Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal|section=1|date=June 2022|small=no|talksection=Template talk:Expand section#When should this template be used?}}

File:Theresa May and Vladimir Putin (2019-06-29) 02.jpg, 2019]]

May accused Russia of "threatening the international order", "seeking to weaponise information" and "deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories". She further suggested the country had been meddling in the 2017 German federal election"[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-russia-election-meddling-warning-cyber-warfare-latest-uk-a8053161.html Theresa May warns Russia over election meddling and vows to protect UK]". The Independent. 13 November 2017. in contradiction of German government officials and security experts, who had dismissed the possibility."[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-cyber/germany-sees-no-sign-of-cyber-attack-before-sept-24-election-idUSKCN1BU2KE Germany sees no sign of cyber attack before Sept. 24 election]". Reuters. 19 September 2017.

May's government accused Russia for orchestrating the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. The UK's official assessment of this incident was supported by 28 other countries, who expelled an unprecedented total of 153 Russian diplomats. May said in the House of Commons on 12 March:

{{blockquote|It is now clear that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia. This is part of a group of nerve agents known as 'Novichok'. Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations; the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Mr Speaker, there are therefore only two plausible explanations for what happened in Salisbury on 4 March. Either this was a direct act by the Russian State against our country. Or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-commons-statement-on-salisbury-incident-12-march-2018|title=PM Commons statement on Salisbury incident: 12 March 2018|date=12 March 2018|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|access-date=15 March 2018|archive-date=13 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713080114/https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-commons-statement-on-salisbury-incident-12-march-2018|url-status=live}}}}

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."[http://www.theweek.co.uk/91374/china-applauds-auntie-theresa-may-for-sidestepping-human-rights-issue China applauds 'Auntie' Theresa May for sidestepping human rights issue]". The Week. 2 February 2018. 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."

In 2017, Islamic State terrorist Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman was foiled in a plot to assassinate May at Downing Street.{{cite news|date=31 August 2018|title=How a plot to kill Theresa May in Downing Street was foiled|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44872883|access-date=4 November 2021}}

In May 2018, during a three-day state visit to the UK by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, May declared that Britain is a "true friend" of Turkey, but she added that "It is important that in defence 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/42566c81-ed95-49fe-b8bd-ec0aae9f8cf3 |title=UK's May uses phrase 'Kurdish terrorism' during Erdogan visit as Kurds protest in London|work=Kurdistan 24|date= 15 May 2018|access-date=13 July 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/president-erdogan-theresa-may-post-brexit-trade-turkey-a8351531.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/president-erdogan-theresa-may-post-brexit-trade-turkey-a8351531.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Post-Brexit, the UK will need Turkey for trade – and Erdogan is using that to his advantage|work=The Independent|date= 14 May 2018|access-date=13 July 2018}}{{cbignore}}"[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-39485083 Theresa May defends UK ties with Saudi Arabia]". BBC News. 4 April 2017.

On 4 December 2018, on a motion passed by MPs by 311 to 293 votes,{{cite news |last=Kentish |first=Benjamin |title=Theresa May government found in contempt of parliament over failure to publish full Brexit legal advice |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/contempt-parliament-vote-theresa-may-brexit-legal-advice-government-geoffrey-cox-a8667091.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/contempt-parliament-vote-theresa-may-brexit-legal-advice-government-geoffrey-cox-a8667091.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=26 May 2019 |work=The Independent |date=4 December 2018}}{{cbignore}} the May Government was found in contempt of Parliament; the first government to be found in contempt in history.{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/mps-gear-up-for-marathon-five-day-brexit-deal-debate-11571280|title=Govt found in contempt of Parliament for first time in history over Brexit legal advice|publisher=Sky News|access-date=4 December 2018}} 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.

In December 2018, May faced a vote of 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, Sir Graham Brady required for the vote of confidence to be held.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46535739 |title=Theresa May awaits result of Tory MPs' confidence vote |work=BBC News|date=12 December 2018 |access-date=16 December 2018}} May won the vote with 200 Conservative MPs voting for her, compared to 117 voting against.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-wins-vote-confidence-conservative-leadership-brexit-deal-eu-vote-a8679986.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-wins-vote-confidence-conservative-leadership-brexit-deal-eu-vote-a8679986.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May wins critical vote of confidence from Conservative MPs, thwarting Brexiteer rebels|work=The Independent|last1=Watts|first1=Joe|last2=Buchan|first2=Lizzy|date=12 December 2018|access-date=12 December 2018}}{{cbignore}} As part of her speech to the Parliamentary Conservative Party before the confidence vote was opened, it was reported that May 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. May later confirmed this to BBC News Political editor, Laura Kuenssberg after meeting EU leaders, including Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46547246 |title=PM pledges not to fight next election |date=12 December 2018 |work=BBC News |access-date=13 December 2018 }}

{{main|2019 vote of confidence in the May ministry}}

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 premiership, citing May's refusal to set the date for the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal before Christmas, and instead pushing it back to mid-January.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46599895|title=Labour makes no-confidence move against PM|date=17 December 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=17 December 2018}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46600850|title=Brexit: Cabinet 'ramps up' no-deal planning|date=18 December 2018|access-date=18 December 2018|work=BBC News}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/jan/15/brexit-vote-parliament-latest-news-may-corbyn-gove-tells-tories-they-can-improve-outcome-if-mays-deal-passed-politics-live|title=Brexit vote: Jeremy Corbyn tables no-confidence motion after May defeat – Politics live|last1=Rawlinson|first1=Kevin|last2=Sparrow|first2=Andrew|date=15 January 2019|website=The Guardian|access-date=15 January 2019|last3=Henley|first3=Jon|last4=Sparrow|first4=Andrew|last5=Henley|first5=Jon|last6=Inman|first6=Phillip}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46885828|title=PM's Brexit deal rejected by huge margin|date=15 January 2019|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 January 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-15/may-loses-brexit-vote-in-a-landslide-throwing-deal-into-disarray|title=May Loses Brexit Vote in Landslide, Faces Confidence Vote|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=15 January 2019|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|access-date=15 January 2019}} The motion was defeated by 325 votes to 306; a majority of 19.

{{Main|Parliamentary votes on Brexit}}

In January 2019, May'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 ("first meaningful vote"). It was the largest majority against a United Kingdom government in history.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46885828|title=PM's Brexit deal rejected by 230 votes|date=15 January 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=15 January 2019}}

In March, May 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 ("second meaningful vote").{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Heather |title=MPs ignore May's pleas and defeat her Brexit deal by 149 votes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/12/mps-ignore-mays-pleas-and-defeat-her-brexit-deal-by-149-votes |work=The Guardian |date=12 March 2019 |access-date=12 March 2019}} May was then again defeated by 58 votes in the Commons (286 in favour and 344 against) on the withdrawal deal but not the political declaration ("third meaningful vote").{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47745831|title=What Brexit deal did MPs reject?|last=Edgington|first=Tom|date=29 March 2019|access-date=29 March 2019}}

{{see also|2019 Conservative Party (UK) leadership election}}

File:Theresa May declares resignation.jpg

{{blockquote|I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold – the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.|author=Theresa May's resignation statement, 24 May 2019}}

On 27 March 2019 at a meeting of the 1922 Committee, May 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47725529|title=May vows to quit if Brexit deal passed|date=27 March 2019|access-date=27 March 2019}} 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 May 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47752017|title=MPs reject May's EU withdrawal agreement|date=29 March 2019|access-date=29 March 2019}}

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48011201|title=PM to face grassroots no-confidence vote|work=BBC News|date=22 April 2019|access-date=22 April 2019}} 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 May would step down from office.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48032990 |title=Theresa May: Senior Tories rule out early challenge to PM |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=24 April 2019 |access-date=24 April 2019}}

On 24 May she confirmed that she would resign as Conservative Party leader on 7 June,{{cite news |title=Latest as May makes statement outside No 10 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-48394091 |access-date=24 May 2019 |work=BBC News}} 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48379730 |title=Theresa May resigns over Brexit: What happened? |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=24 May 2019 |access-date=24 May 2019}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48550452|title=Theresa May officially steps down as Tory leader|publisher=BBC|date=7 June 2019|access-date=7 June 2019}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/06/new-tory-leader-could-avoid-immediate-confidence-vote |work=The Guardian |date=6 June 2019 |author=Rowena Mason |title=Next Tory leader could face immediate confidence vote}}

In one of May's last Prime Minister's Questions, Barry Sheerman, the Labour MP for Huddersfield, urged May not to "cut and run" and instead reconsider her resignation. May responded by saying she would return to the role of a backbench MP after leaving office.{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-may-resignation-prime-minister-backbench-mp-what-pms-did-after-resigning/|title=What will Theresa May do next? Outgoing prime minister will stay on as backbencher MP – here's how long other premiers lasted|last=Chaplain|first=Chloe|date=23 July 2019|website=i|access-date=25 July 2019}}

On 24 July 2019, May ended her consecutive service at the frontbench since 1998 when she had been appointed Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women. Mick Davis, who was the Chairman of the British Conservative Party which selected her premiership, exited that post along with May.{{cite news|url=https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/sir-mick-davis-resigns-as-chief-executive-of-the-conservative-party/|work=Jewish News|date=24 July 2019|accessdate=12 October 2020|title=Sir Mick Davis resigns as chief executive of the Conservative Party}}

{{Main|List of departures from the second May ministry}}

May'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,{{cite web |url= https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2019/ministers |title=Ministers |date=17 January 2019 |publisher=The Institute for Government |access-date=3 April 2019}} with resignations impacting the functioning of the government.{{cite news|url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/situations-vacant-struggle-to-fill-seats-of-power-left-empty-by-rebellious-mps-r72pn2dqp |title=Brexit: Struggle to fill seats of power left empty by rebellious MPs |first=Henry |last=Zeffman |date=27 March 2019 |work=The Times |location= London |access-date=3 April 2019}} In less than three years, May received more resignations than Thatcher (11 years) or Blair (10 years). The Chief Whip Julian Smith described May's Cabinet as exhibiting the 'worst cabinet ill-discipline in history'.{{cite news |url= https://news.sky.com/story/chief-whip-julian-smith-attacks-ministers-for-worst-cabinet-ill-discipline-in-history-11681222 |title=Chief whip Julian Smith attacks ministers for 'worst cabinet ill-discipline in history' |publisher=Sky News |date=1 April 2019 |first=Aubrey |last=Allegretti |access-date=3 April 2019}}

{{See also|Leadership approval opinion polling for the 2019 United Kingdom general election#Preferred Prime Minister polling}}

May 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 May was a suitable PM while only 23% believed that the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn would make a good prime minister.{{cite web |url=https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3762/Two-in-three-say-Labour-should-change-leader-before-next-General-Election.aspx |title=Two in three say Labour should change leader before next General Election |author= |date=14 July 2016 |publisher=Ipsos MORI |access-date=18 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920200435/https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3762/Two-in-three-say-Labour-should-change-leader-before-next-General-Election.aspx |archive-date=20 September 2016}}

A ComRes poll taken in September 2016 after her election suggested May 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".{{cite news |title=Theresa May hugely popular among voters, who see her as in touch with 'ordinary people', poll finds |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-conservatives-popularity-ratings-public-support-a7327726.html |work=The Independent |date=24 September 2016 |access-date=17 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318172717/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-conservatives-popularity-ratings-public-support-a7327726.html |archive-date=18 March 2017}}

At the beginning of 2017, nearly six months after becoming prime minister, a ComRes found May 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.{{cite news |title=Theresa May 'more popular than David Beckham' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/theresa-may-david-beckham-brexit-who-is-more-popular-a7574841.html |work=The Independent |date=11 February 2017 |access-date=17 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318090120/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/theresa-may-david-beckham-brexit-who-is-more-popular-a7574841.html |archive-date=18 March 2017}}{{cite news |title=Theresa May's 'honeymoon' is a record for a modern Conservative prime minister, pollsters say |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-mays-honeymoon-is-a-record-for-a-modern-conservative-prime-minister-pollsters-say-a7524561.html |work=The Independent |date=13 January 2017 |access-date=18 April 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419110203/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-mays-honeymoon-is-a-record-for-a-modern-conservative-prime-minister-pollsters-say-a7524561.html |archive-date=19 April 2017}}

The Conservative Party had a 21-point lead over Labour in a poll released the day before May announced a snap election{{cite news|title=May's Conservatives take 21-point lead ahead of UK snap election – ICM poll|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-may-poll-idUKKBN17K20W|access-date=18 April 2017|agency=Reuters UK|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418210424/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-may-poll-idUKKBN17K20W|archive-date=18 April 2017}} but this lead narrowed substantially.[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/27/corbyn-cuts-mays-lead-voter-approval-ratings Tory nerves fray as Jeremy Corbyn narrows Theresa May's lead in new poll] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170528151019/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/may/27/corbyn-cuts-mays-lead-voter-approval-ratings |date=28 May 2017 }} The Guardian In mid-June, following the election, a YouGov poll showed that May's popularity had dropped to a rating of −34.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn-less-popular-election-2017-campaign-leader-conservative-labour-poll-yougov-a7792006.html|title=Theresa May is now almost as unpopular as pre-campaign Jeremy Corbyn, finds YouGov poll|work=The Independent|date=16 June 2017|access-date=16 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615163328/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn-less-popular-election-2017-campaign-leader-conservative-labour-poll-yougov-a7792006.html|archive-date=15 June 2017}} In April 2018, May had a higher approval rating than Corbyn for the first time since the general election, leading him by −13 to −23.{{cite news|url=https://yougov.co.uk/news/2018/04/09/public-sees-theresa-may-more-favourably-jeremy-cor/|title=The public sees Theresa May more favourably than Jeremy Corbyn for the first time since the election|last=Smith|first=Matthew|date=9 April 2018|publisher=YouGov|access-date=4 June 2018}}

Plans to reform social care came to dominate the Conservative election campaign during the 2017 snap election, with some arguing it ultimately cost May her majority.{{cite book |last1= Ross|first1= Tim|last2= MocTague|first2= Tom|date= 2017|title= Betting The House: The Inside Story Of The 2017 General Election|location= London|publisher= Biteback Publishing Ltd|pages= xi, 189, 242, 251, 254, 255, 258, 259, 275, 277, 340, 360|isbn= 9781785902956}}{{cite book |last= Shipman|first= Tim| date= 2017|title= Fall Out: A Year Of Political Mayhem|location= London|publisher= William Collins|pages= 278, 287, 288, 289, 293, 296, 298, 299, 300, 303, 305, 307, 308, 312, 330|isbn= 9780008264383}} May's promised green paper on the future of adult social care was plagued by frequent delays, ultimately never materialising during her premiership.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-social-care-house-lords-report-green-paper-conservatives-a8986716.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-social-care-house-lords-report-green-paper-conservatives-a8986716.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May condemned over 'national scandal' of social care failure as 400,000 people stripped of help|last=Merrick|first=Rob|date=9 July 2019|work=The Independent|access-date=4 February 2020}}{{cbignore}} 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 May's premiership, compared to just 3% who said it was slightly better.{{cite report |date= January 2020|title= Sector Pulse Check: The impact of the changes to the social care sector in 2019|url=https://www.hft.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Hft-Sector-Pulse-Check-2019.pdf|publisher= Hft|pages= 2, 4, 24 |access-date= 4 February 2020}}

{{One-nation conservatism}}

May has identified herself with the one-nation conservative position within her party.{{cite news |last=Quinn |first=Ben |title=Theresa May sets out 'one-nation Conservative' pitch for leadership |date=30 June 2016 |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/30/theresa-may-sets-out-one-nation-conservative-pitch-for-leadership |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160930173955/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/30/theresa-may-sets-out-one-nation-conservative-pitch-for-leadership |archive-date=30 September 2016}}

Since coming into prominence as a front-bench politician, May's public image has divided media opinion, especially from some in the traditionalist right-wing press.{{cite news|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/politics/all/11498/to-all-intents-and-purposes-theresa-may-may-as-well-not-exist.thtml |title=To all intents and purposes, Theresa May may as well not exist |last=Heffer |first=Simon |date=20 September 2003 |work=The Spectator |access-date=27 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719161511/http://www.spectator.co.uk/politics/all/11498/to-all-intents-and-purposes-theresa-may-may-as-well-not-exist.thtml |archive-date=19 July 2010}} Commenting on May's debut as Home Secretary, Anne Perkins of The Guardian observed that "she'll be nobody's stooge",{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/12/theresa-may-nobodys-stooge|title=Theresa May will be nobody's stooge|last=Perkins|first=Anne|date=12 May 2010|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021222929/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/12/theresa-may-nobodys-stooge|archive-date=21 October 2013}} while Cristina Odone of The Daily Telegraph predicted her to be "the rising star" of the Coalition Government.{{cite news|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100040523/theresa-may-will-prove-to-be-the-rising-star-of-the-coalition-government/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715054658/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100040523/theresa-may-will-prove-to-be-the-rising-star-of-the-coalition-government/|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 July 2012|title=Theresa May will be the star of the coalition government|last=Odone|first=Cristina|date=21 May 2010|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=27 October 2010}} Allegra Stratton, then with The Guardian, praised May as showing managerial acumen.{{cite news|url=http://www.ethosjournal.com/home/item/272-may-days|access-date=19 June 2014|title=May days|date=September 2011|work=Ethos|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403014123/http://www.ethosjournal.com/home/item/272-may-days|archive-date=3 April 2012}}

Describing her as a liberal Conservative, the Financial Times characterised May 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.{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=George |last2=Warrell |first2=Helen |title=Theresa May: Britain's Angela Merkel? |date=25 July 2014 |work=Financial Times |location=London |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/896aaa54-12bf-11e4-93a5-00144feabdc0.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703044351/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/896aaa54-12bf-11e4-93a5-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=3 July 2016}} Conversely, in The Independent, Rebecca Glover of the Policy Innovation Research Unit contrasted May to Boris Johnson, claiming that she was "staunchly more conservative, more anti-immigration, and more isolationist" than he was.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-conservative-party-leader-shes-no-progressive-conservative-a7109121.html |title=Don't be misled by Theresa May – she's no progressive Conservative |last=Glover |first=Rebecca |date=1 July 2016 |work=The Independent |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316194446/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theresa-may-conservative-party-leader-shes-no-progressive-conservative-a7109121.html |archive-date=16 March 2017}}

During her leadership campaign, May 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{{cite news |last=Coates|first= Sam |url= https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/may-vows-to-crack-down-on-greed-of-big-business-bbg9q0plf |title=May vows to crack down on greed of big business |work=The Times |location= London |date=11 July 2016 |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 July 2016}} (although she later claimed that the last pledge was not to be mandatory{{cite news|last1=Asthana|first1=Anushka|last2=Walker|first2=Peter|title=Theresa May: I won't force companies to appoint workers to their boards|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/21/theresa-may-force-firms-appoint-workers-boards-cbi|access-date=10 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=21 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404180612/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/21/theresa-may-force-firms-appoint-workers-boards-cbi|archive-date=4 April 2017}}), policies that The Guardian describes as going further than the Labour Party's 2015 general election manifesto.{{cite news|title=Theresa May's economy speech – Analysis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/jul/11/andrea-leadsom-apologises-to-theresa-may-politics-live?page=with%3Ablock-5783a105e4b0ea445f0fe2bf|access-date=12 July 2016|work=The Guardian|date=11 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714180913/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/jul/11/andrea-leadsom-apologises-to-theresa-may-politics-live?page=with:block-5783a105e4b0ea445f0fe2bf|archive-date=14 July 2016}}

File:First Minister meets the Prime Minister at Bute House (cropped).jpg, Nicola Sturgeon, at Bute House, Edinburgh]]

After she became prime minister, May'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."{{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=14 July 2016 |title=Theresa May appeals to centre ground but cabinet tilts to the right |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/theresa-may-becomes-britains-prime-minister |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London, UK |access-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713235732/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/13/theresa-may-becomes-britains-prime-minister |archive-date=13 July 2016}}

May 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-fox-hunting-conservatives-tories-ban-bring-back-repeal-hunting-act-general-election-2017-a7737881.html|title=Theresa May says she supports fox hunting because other ways of killing foxes are 'cruel'|date=16 May 2017|website=The Independent|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008160704/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-fox-hunting-conservatives-tories-ban-bring-back-repeal-hunting-act-general-election-2017-a7737881.html|archive-date=8 October 2017}}

After the Conservatives' manifesto for the 2017 election was released, some people, including Fraser Nelson of The Spectator,{{cite news |url= https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/red-theresas-manifesto/ |title=Red Theresa's manifesto |last=Nelson |first=Fraser |author-link= Fraser Nelson |date=20 May 2017 |website=The Spectator |location= London |access-date=30 May 2017}} 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".{{cite news |last=Wright |first=Ben |title=General Election 2017: Is Theresa May a 'Red Tory'? |work=BBC News |date=17 May 2017 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39946611 | access-date=30 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170601011059/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39946611 |archive-date=1 June 2017 }}{{cite web |last1=Cooper |first1=Charlie |title=Theresa May's 'Red Tory' plan for Brexit Britain |website=Politico Europe |date=18 May 2017 |url=http://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-red-tory-plan-conservative-election-manifesto-for-brexit-negotiations-britain/ |access-date=30 May 2017 |last2=McTague |first2=Tom |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170518143456/http://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-red-tory-plan-conservative-election-manifesto-for-brexit-negotiations-britain/ |archive-date=18 May 2017}}

May praised the former prime minister Winston Churchill and has a portrait of Churchill on the wall of her study. May'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."{{cite news |title=Winston Churchill: Theresa May says she has portrait of wartime PM in her study amid row over John McDonnell comments |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/winston-churchill-theresa-may-john-mcdonnell-villain-labour-tonypandy-miners-a8779111.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/winston-churchill-theresa-may-john-mcdonnell-villain-labour-tonypandy-miners-a8779111.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Independent |location= London |date=15 February 2019}}{{cbignore}}

May welcomed the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying that "no one is above the law."{{cite news |title=Julian Assange's arrest draws fierce international reaction |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/wikileaks-julian-assange-arrest-international-reaction |publisher=Fox News |date=11 April 2019}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/julian-assange-what-happens-next-after-embassy-arrest-11692316 |title=Julian Assange: What happens next after embassy arrest |publisher=Sky News |date=13 April 2019 |access-date=25 May 2019}}{{cite news|last=Dixon |first=Emily |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/11/uk/julian-assange-arrested-gbr-intl/index.html |title=WikiLeaks' Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London |publisher=CNN |date=11 April 2019 |access-date=25 May 2019}}

File:May meets with Aung San Suu Kyi in 2016.jpg and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in September 2016]]

In 2003, May voted to approve the invasion of Iraq and in 2013 voted in favour of British military intervention in the Syrian civil war.{{cite web|last=karl-mcdonald|date=26 May 2017|title=How Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May and Tim Farron voted on war|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/jeremy-corbyn-theresa-may-tim-farron-voted-war-67935|access-date=6 November 2021|website=i}}

The 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/29/hinkley-point-c-why-has-government-delayed-final-approval|title=Why have ministers delayed final approval for Hinkley Point C?|author=Graham Ruddick|date=29 July 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=9 November 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/30/theresa-may-delayed-hinkley-point-chinese-beijing-vince-cable|title=Theresa May 'raised objections to project as home secretary'|author=Daniel Boffey|date=30 July 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=9 November 2016}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2015/10/nick-timothy-the-government-is-selling-our-national-security-to-china.html|title=Nick Timothy: The Government is selling our national security to China|date=20 October 2015|publisher=Conservative Home|access-date=9 November 2016}}

Politicians and human rights activists urged Theresa May's government to vote against Saudi Arabian retention of the membership of the UN Human Rights Council.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/saudi-arabia-un-human-rights-council-theresa-may-expel-she-should-enough-a7199066.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/saudi-arabia-un-human-rights-council-theresa-may-expel-she-should-enough-a7199066.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May should expel Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Council, but that's not enough to absolve the UK|author=Allan Hennessy|date=19 August 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=9 November 2016}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-human-rights-un-united-nations-uk-british-elected-behead-a7140501.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-human-rights-un-united-nations-uk-british-elected-behead-a7140501.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=British government refuses to rule out re-electing Saudi Arabia to UN human rights council|author=Jon Stone|date=16 July 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=9 November 2016}}{{cbignore}} 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-human-rights-council-theresa-may-abuses-yemen-executions-a7198346.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/saudi-arabia-human-rights-council-theresa-may-abuses-yemen-executions-a7198346.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May urged to vote against Saudi Arabia remaining on Human Rights Council over abuses|author=Joe Watts|date=18 August 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=9 November 2016}}{{cbignore}} May defended selling arms to Saudi Arabia stating that close ties with the country "keep people on the streets of Britain safe".{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/arms-sales-saudi-arabia-theresa-may-staunch-defence-keep-people-streets-britain-safe-a7230836.html|title=Theresa May claims selling arms to Saudi Arabia helps 'keep people on the streets of Britain safe'|last1=Merrick|first1=Rob|date=7 September 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=5 June 2017}}

Prior to her premiership, May 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 Philip Hammond has suggested that the government's Autumn Statement may be used to "reset" economic policy.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36864099|title=Chancellor may 'reset' economic policy in Autumn Statement|work=BBC News|date=22 July 2016|access-date=4 September 2016}}

In 2015, while May 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 in the force and community policing risked terror attacks in the city due to the lack of resources to undertake proper intelligence and anti-terrorist measures.{{cite news |url= http://www.businessinsider.com/theresa-may-warned-by-manchester-police-that-cuts-risked-terror-attack-2017-5?r=UK&IR=T |title=Theresa May was warned by Manchester police officer that cuts risked terror attack in the city |last1=Bienkov |first1=Adam |date=26 May 2017 |work=Business Insider |access-date=26 May 2017}}{{cite news |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/theresa-may-army-deployment-manchester-bombing-police-federation-police-cuts-steve-white_uk_5925d9f0e4b062f96a336e5f |title=Theresa May's Police Cuts Exposed By Manchester Bombing Army Deployment – Police Federation |last1=Waugh |first1=Paul |date=24 May 2017 |work=HuffPost |access-date=26 May 2017}}{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34875077 |title=Police cuts: Terror response warning to home secretary |date=20 November 2015 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 May 2017}}

In May and Hammond's 2017 budget, continued government policies were confirmed regarding freezing benefits.[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/welfare/2017/03/what-welfare-changes-did-philip-hammond-make-his-budget-2017 What welfare changes did Philip Hammond make in his Budget 2017?] New Statesman

May'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.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38120604|title=Executive pay: Companies could be forced to reveal pay gap|work=BBC News|date=27 November 2016|access-date=23 February 2017}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Greg |title=New executive pay transparency measures come into force |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-executive-pay-transparency-measures-come-into-force |website=Gov.Uk |publisher=Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy |access-date=21 December 2019}}

Before her premiership began, May 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."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/nils-pratley-on-finance/2016/jul/11/theresa-may-plan-workers-boardroom-reform-extraordinary-tories|title=Theresa May's plan to put workers in boardrooms is extraordinary | Politics|date=11 July 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=23 February 2017}} May aimed to put workers' and consumers' representatives on boards to make them more accountable.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/02/theresa-may-tory-conference-workers-on-boards|title=Workers on boards: the idea is not going away | Business|author=Sean Farrell|date=2 October 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=23 February 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/theresa-may-board-corporate-plan-germany-france-productivity-economics-a7132221.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/theresa-may-board-corporate-plan-germany-france-productivity-economics-a7132221.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Theresa May's plan to put workers on boards is borrowed from Germany and France|author=Stephanie Baker|date=12 July 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=23 February 2017}}{{cbignore}} May 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".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38044015|title=Theresa May bids to reassure business on Brexit 'cliff-edge' –|work=BBC News|date=21 November 2016|access-date=23 February 2017}}

Following the impact of Blue Planet II in 2017, the May administration outlined plans to approve further green policy. A particular focus has been on plastic and its impact on the environment. Her government's "25 Year Environment Plan" was published in January 2018:{{cite web |last1=Gove |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Gove |last2=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |author-link2=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |date=11 January 2018 |title=25 Year Environment Plan – 'A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment', sets out what we will do to improve the environment, within a generation. |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan |access-date=1 October 2021 |website=gov.uk}} targets were set for achievement of a number of environmental benefits with dates ranging from 2025 to 2060.Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan/25-year-environment-plan-our-targets-at-a-glance At a glance: summary of targets in our 25 year environment plan], published 11 January 2018, updated 17 February 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023 In March 2018, May announced plans for a plastic deposit scheme modelled on a similar policy in Norway to boost recycling.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43563164|title=Drinks bottles and can deposit return scheme proposed|work=BBC News|date=27 March 2018}}

{{expand section|1=details about Chequers plan and defeat of withdrawal agreement|date=February 2019}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Asa |title=Theresa May wants you to stay in the EU. Has she blown her chances of ever being Tory leader? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/25/theresa-may-wants-you-to-stay-in-the-eu-has-she-blown-her-chance/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=25 April 2016 |location=London |access-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709050829/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/25/theresa-may-wants-you-to-stay-in-the-eu-has-she-blown-her-chance/ |archive-date=9 July 2016}}{{cite news |last1=McTague |first1=Tom |title=Theresa May, the anti-Boris who just might be Britain's next PM |url=http://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-the-anti-boris-who-just-might-be-britains-next-pm/ |website=Politico Europe |date=3 June 2016 |access-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604144807/http://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-the-anti-boris-who-just-might-be-britains-next-pm/ |archive-date=4 June 2016}} It was speculated by political journalists that May had sought to minimise her involvement in the debate to strengthen her position as a future candidate for the Conservative party leadership.{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Asa |title=Theresa May's silence speaks volumes about her leadership ambitions |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/16/theresa-mays-silence-speaks-volumes-about-her-leadership-ambitio/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=16 June 2016 |access-date=10 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625130623/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/16/theresa-mays-silence-speaks-volumes-about-her-leadership-ambitio/ |archive-date=25 June 2016}} Some in David Cameron's ministry likened May to a "submarine" on the issue of Brexit due to her perceived indifference towards the referendum and the EU.{{cite news |last=Dominiczak |first=Peter |title=Theresa May accused of leaving David Cameron to 'fight alone' during the EU Referendum, according to former No 10 director | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/24/theresa-may-accused-of-leaving-david-cameron-to-fight-alone-duri/ |work=The Telegraph |date=24 September 2016 }}

In a leaked recording prior to the Brexit referendum, May stated:

{{blockquote|I think the economic arguments are clear. I think being part of a 500-million trading bloc is significant for us. I think, as I was saying to you a little earlier, that one of the issues is that a lot of people will invest here in the UK because it is the UK in Europe. If we were not in Europe, I think there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need to develop a mainland Europe presence rather than a UK presence? So I think there are definite benefits for us in economic terms.[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/25/exclusive-leaked-recording-shows-what-theresa-may-really-thinks-about-brexit Exclusive: what Theresa May really thinks about Brexit shown in leaked recording] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026091230/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/25/exclusive-leaked-recording-shows-what-theresa-may-really-thinks-about-brexit |date=26 October 2016 }} The Guardian}}

May 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".

May's public reticence during the referendum campaign resulted in tensions with David Cameron and his pro-EU team.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/leaked-recordings-reveal-theresa-may-s-pro-eu-stance-ahead-of-brexit-vote-a7380286.html Leaked recordings reveal Theresa May's pro-EU stance ahead of Brexit vote] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001211444/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/leaked-recordings-reveal-theresa-may-s-pro-eu-stance-ahead-of-brexit-vote-a7380286.html |date=1 October 2017 }} The Independent{{cite web|date=26 October 2016|title=UK PM May outlined Brexit fears pre-referendum|url=https://www.dw.com/en/uk-pm-may-outlined-brexit-fears-pre-referendum/a-36155785|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026234527/http://www.dw.com/en/uk-pm-may-outlined-brexit-fears-pre-referendum/a-36155785|archive-date=26 October 2016|access-date=30 September 2016|publisher=Deutsche Welle}} Following the referendum and her election as party leader, May 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".{{cite news | title=Theresa May prête à un Brexit sans accord | website=Le Figaro |location= Paris |date=29 May 2017 |url= http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2017/05/29/97001-20170529FILWWW00354-theresa-may-prete-a-un-brexit-sans-accord.php |trans-title=Theresa May ready for Brexit without a deal |language=fr |access-date=29 May 2017 |quote=La Première ministre britannique Theresa May a répété lundi qu'elle était prête à quitter la table des négociations sur le Brexit sans avoir obtenu d'accord avec l'Union européenne si les conditions ne sont pas satisfaisantes pour la Grande-Bretagne. | url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170529234210/http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2017/05/29/97001-20170529FILWWW00354-theresa-may-prete-a-un-brexit-sans-accord.php |archive-date=29 May 2017 }}{{cite news | title=May says prepared to leave EU without a Brexit deal | website=Reuters UK | date=29 May 2017 |url= http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-may-idUKKBN18P21R| url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170529214000/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-may-idUKKBN18P21R |archive-date=29 May 2017|access-date=29 May 2017}} The Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, said it was "disappointing that Theresa May 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 Theresa May 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, Theresa May 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."

File:Put It To The People March -14, London, UK (40484849683).jpg at a 2019 protest against leaving the EU{{cite web|last=Company|first=Tampa Publishing|title=Goodman: Americans should look in the mirror before mocking United Kingdom|url=https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/goodman-americans-should-look-in-the-mirror-before-mocking-united-kingdom-20190405/|access-date=3 October 2021|website=Tampa Bay Times}}]]

On 22 September 2017, May officially made public the details of her Brexit proposal during a speech in Florence,{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUFpahcEOX8 |title=Theresa May's Brexit speech in Florence – watch live |via=YouTube |date=22 September 2017 |access-date=22 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922144629/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUFpahcEOX8 |archive-date=22 September 2017}} urging the European Union to maintain a transitional period of two years after Brexit during which trade terms remain unaltered.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41355642|title=Keep EU trade as it is until 2021 – May|date=22 September 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=22 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922161141/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41355642|archive-date=22 September 2017}} During this period, the UK would also continue to honour its budget commitments of about €10 billion per annum, and accept immigration from Europe.{{cite news |url= http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/21/europe/uk-may-brexit-speech-florence/index.html |title=UK PM seeks to break Brexit deadlock |first=Laura |last=Smith-Spark |publisher=CNN |access-date=22 September 2017 |date=21 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170922025432/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/21/europe/uk-may-brexit-speech-florence/index.html |archive-date=22 September 2017}} Her speech was criticised by leading Eurosceptic Nigel Farage.{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/22/great-brexit-betrayal-continues-theresa-may-showed-florence/ |title=The great Brexit betrayal continues: Theresa May in her naivety has sold the British people out to Brussels |last=Farage |first=Nigel |date=22 September 2017 |work=The Telegraph|access-date=22 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170923002546/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/22/great-brexit-betrayal-continues-theresa-may-showed-florence/ |archive-date=23 September 2017}} The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed May's proposal as "constructive," but said it also "must be translated into negotiating positions to make meaningful progress."{{cite news |url= http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/the-latest-brexit-chief-welcomes-constructive-speech/eKv8542YSNWjBQCDclPX2M/ |title=The Latest: EU's Brexit chief welcomes 'constructive' speech |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Dayton Daily News |date=22 September 2017 |access-date=22 September 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170923002029/http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/the-latest-brexit-chief-welcomes-constructive-speech/eKv8542YSNWjBQCDclPX2M/ |archive-date=23 September 2017 }}

May did not initially wish to give MPs a vote on withdrawal from the European Union.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-brexit-article-50-brussels-negotiating-strategy-brussels-a7386156.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-brexit-article-50-brussels-negotiating-strategy-brussels-a7386156.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Brexit: Theresa May urged to 'remember her words' after calling for MPs right to veto European talks in 2007|author=Ashley Cowburn|date=29 October 2016|work=The Independent|access-date=9 November 2016}}{{cbignore}} 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 May appealed to the Supreme Court.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37857785|title=Brexit court defeat for UK government –|date=3 November 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=9 November 2016}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37909299|title=Scottish government seeks to intervene in Brexit case –|date=3 November 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=9 November 2016}} In the end the Supreme Court required a vote in the UK parliament.

May 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.[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/11/brexit-trigger-article-50-theresa MPs slam Theresa May over lack of a plan if Brexit talks collapse] The Guardian. 11 March 2017. 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".[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/25/phil-hogan-ireland-eu-commissioner-brexit-chaos Irish warn Theresa May: change course or risk Brexit chaos] The Observer. 25 November 2017.

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-no-deal-theresa-may-border-force-criminals-national-audit-office-talks-a8598206.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-no-deal-theresa-may-border-force-criminals-national-audit-office-talks-a8598206.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=It's too late to prepare UK borders for no deal Brexit National Audit Office tells Theresa May|author=Rob Merrick|work=The Independent|date=24 October 2018}}{{cbignore}}

On 5 February 2019, May 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.{{cite news |title=Theresa May's Belfast speech in full |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/theresa-mays-belfast-speech-full-15784614 |publisher=Belfast Live |date=5 February 2019}}{{cite news |title=Theresa May makes Brexit speech in Belfast |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/theresa-may-makes-brexit-speech-in-belfast-37785606.html |work=The Belfast Telegraph |date=5 February 2019}}

It was reported in 2020 that former MI6 operative Christopher Steele accused May, while Boris Johnson was foreign secretary, of ignoring claims that Russia may have secretly funded Brexit. Steele accuses May'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."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/22/boris-johnson-theres-may-ignored-claims-russia-had-likely-hold-over-donald-trump-ex-spy-christopher-steele-claims|title=Johnson and May ignored claims Russia had 'likely hold' over Trump, ex-spy allege|author=Dan Sabbagh|work=The Guardian|date=22 June 2020}}

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". Stewart 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/21/russia-report-reveals-uk-government-failed-to-address-kremlin-interference-scottish-referendum-brexit|title=Russia report reveals UK government failed to investigate Kremlin interference|date=21 July 2020|website=The Guardian}}

In 2005, May co-founded the mentoring and pressure group Women2Win. This group and May'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.{{cite news |last1=Gill |first1=Martha |title=Theresa May's positive legacy? She's a feminist champion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/15/theresa-may-legacy-feminist-champion-women |access-date=21 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=15 July 2019 |location=London}}{{cite news |last1=Lagan |first1=Aine |title=Theresa May's Resigned, But The Next Female PM Will Owe Her More Than We Realise |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/theresa-may-resigns_uk_5ce7d0e6e4b010ec43ac95ac |access-date=21 August 2019 |work=HuffPost |date=24 May 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Crosbie |first1=Virginia |title=The number of female Tory MPs has almost quadrupled since 2005 – and all we did was ask |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/suffragettes-centenary-women-vote-tories-theresa-may-women2win-female-mps-a8197551.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/suffragettes-centenary-women-vote-tories-theresa-may-women2win-female-mps-a8197551.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=21 August 2019 |work=The Independent |date=6 February 2018 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}

In 1998, May voted against lowering the age of consent for homosexual acts.{{cite web|title=Crime and Disorder Bill 35{{snd}}Reduction of Age of Consent for Homosexual Acts to 16|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/divisions/pw-1998-06-22-311-commons/mp/10426|website=They Work For You|access-date=11 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903075714/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/divisions/pw-1998-06-22-311-commons/mp/10426|archive-date=3 September 2017}} May was also a supporter of Section 28, calling a failed repeal in 2000 to be "a victory for commonsense".{{cite news|title=Ministers back down on gay ban|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/850113.stm|work=BBC News|date=25 July 2000}} She was absent for the vote when it was successfully repealed in 2003.{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10426/theresa_may/maidenhead/divisions?policy=826|title=Theresa May|work=They Work For You|access-date=11 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624184717/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10426/theresa_may/maidenhead/divisions?policy=826|archive-date=24 June 2017}} She also voted against the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that allowed same-sex couples to adopt.{{cite web |last=Saeed |first=Saim |date=27 July 2017 |title=Theresa May: Tories and I were 'wrong' on gay rights in the past |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-tories-gay-rights/ |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=Politico}}

Beginning in 2012, however, May expressed support for the introduction of same-sex marriage by recording a video for the Out4Marriage campaign,{{cite news |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/05/24/breaking-news-home-secretary-theresa-may-comes-out4marriage/ |title=Home Secretary Theresa May comes @Out4Marriage |work=Pink News |date=24 May 2012 |access-date=24 May 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526015939/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/05/24/breaking-news-home-secretary-theresa-may-comes-out4marriage/ |archive-date=26 May 2012}} 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".{{cite news|last1=Mulholland|first1=Hélène|title=Theresa May records video in support of gay marriage|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/24/theresa-may-video-gay-marriage|access-date=11 July 2016|work=The Guardian|date=24 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717181647/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/24/theresa-may-video-gay-marriage|archive-date=17 July 2016}} In May 2013, May voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales.{{cite web|title=Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill{{snd}}Third Reading: Recent Votes{{snd}}TheyWorkForYou|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/divisions/pw-2013-05-21-11-commons/mp/10426|website=TheyWorkForYou|access-date=3 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903080645/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/divisions/pw-2013-05-21-11-commons/mp/10426|archive-date=3 September 2017}} In 2017, May apologised for her past votes while taking credit for helping advance LGBT rights within her party.

File:Clarke, May and Duncan 2019.jpg and Sir Alan Duncan in October 2019]]

After leaving 10 Downing Street, May took her place on the backbenches, remaining an MP to "devote her full time" to her constituency of Maidenhead, Berkshire.{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-48797835 |title=Theresa May 'looking forward' to being backbench MP |work=BBC News |date=28 June 2019 |access-date=25 July 2019}} In the 2019 general election she was re-elected as the constituency's MP.{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50772311 |title=Theresa May re-elected with reduced majority |work=BBC News |date=13 December 2019 |access-date=13 December 2019}}

In May 2020, May criticised Dominic Cummings when he broke lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |date=30 May 2020 |title=Theresa May 'understands the anger' of constituents over Dominic Cummings' Durham flit |url=https://www.wokinghampaper.co.uk/theresa-may-understands-the-anger-of-constituents-over-dominic-cummings-durham-flit/ |access-date=22 July 2020 |website=The Wokingham Paper |archive-date=22 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722001022/https://www.wokinghampaper.co.uk/theresa-may-understands-the-anger-of-constituents-over-dominic-cummings-durham-flit/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last1=Glaze |first1=Ben |last2=Kirkham |first2=Jenny |date=29 May 2020 |title=Theresa May criticises Dominic Cummings after lockdown breach |url= https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/theresa-latest-criticise-dominic-cummings-18334318 |access-date=22 July 2020 |work=Liverpool Echo}} She abstained in the vote on the second lockdown in Parliament.{{cite news |date=11 November 2020 |title=Covid: Tory MPs form group to oppose future lockdowns |work=BBC News |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-54892107 |access-date=18 May 2021}}

On 13 July 2021, May was one of 24 Conservative MPs who voted against their party, defying the whip for the first time in 24 years, over the government's proposal to cut its foreign aid budget. She criticised 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."{{cite news |title=UK parliament backs foreign aid cut after PM Johnson sees off rebellion |url= https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-parliament-backs-foreign-aid-cut-after-pm-johnson-sees-off-rebellion-2021-07-13/ |work=Reuters |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210713153630/https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-parliament-backs-foreign-aid-cut-after-pm-johnson-sees-off-rebellion-2021-07-13/ |archive-date=13 July 2021 |date=13 July 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |first=Dan |last=Bloom |title=Boris Johnson's deadly cuts to the world's poorest set to face High Court battle |url= https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-s-deadly-cuts-to-the-world-s-poorest-set-to-face-high-court-battle/ar-AAMdLbz?li=BBoPRmx |work=The Mirror |location= London |access-date=16 July 2021 |date=16 July 2021 }}{{cite web |title=International Aid: Treasury Update |url= https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-13/debates/92FD1E80-7F3E-461D-AC25-F6B79E503131/InternationalAidTreasuryUpdate#contribution-27DB7DBF-0A0D-4ADB-B46D-B338F39DBC5A |website=Hansard – UK Parliament |access-date=16 July 2021 |date=13 July 2021 }}

Amid the Partygate scandal, May was critical of Boris Johnson after the publication of the summary of the Sue Gray report, stating "either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn't understand what they meant and others around him, or they didn't think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?"{{cite news |date=31 January 2022 |title=Theresa May attacks as Boris Johnson reels from Partygate report |url= https://www.politico.eu/article/theresa-may-attacks-as-boris-johnson-reels-from-partygate-report/ |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=Politico }}{{cite news |date=31 January 2022 |title=May leads Tory anger against PM over No 10 parties |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60204842 |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=BBC News}}

On 16 March 2022, Russia banned May from visiting the country over its invasion of Ukraine.{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61126391 |title= Ukraine war: Russia bans Boris Johnson from country over Ukraine war |work=BBC News |date=16 April 2022 |access-date=20 April 2022}}

In September 2023, the House of Commons official portrait of May by artist Saied Dai was unveiled.{{cite news |date=5 September 2023 |title=Theresa May: Portrait of former prime minister unveiled |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66713976 |access-date=5 September 2023}} In a radio interview with Nick Robinson she said that her Brexit deal would have been better and that she regretted saying "nothing has changed".{{cite news |date=13 September 2023 |title=Theresa May: My Brexit deal would have been better for UK |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66786650 |access-date=14 September 2023}} Also in that month, May's book titled The Abuse of Power - Confronting Injustice in Public Life was published.{{Cite news |last=Rawnsley |first=Andrew |date=3 September 2023 |title=The Abuse of Power: Confronting Injustice in Public Life by Theresa May review – blind to her own failings |work=The Observer |location= London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/03/the-abuse-of-power-confronting-injustice-in-public-life-by-theresa-may-review-blind-to-her-own-failings |access-date=7 October 2023}} In October 2023, May appeared as the guest star in 2 episodes of The Rest Is Politics: Leading, hosted by Alastair Campbell, and a former minister in her government, Rory Stewart.

In March 2023, May was reselected as the Conservative candidate for Maidenhead at the 2024 general election,{{cite tweet |title=On Friday 24th March, Maidenhead Conservative Association selection committee adopted Rt.Hon @theresa_may as our parliamentary candidate. We look forward to continuing to work alongside her to deliver for the residents and communities within the Maidenhead constituency. |user=MCA_Tories |number=1639623914572709889 |access-date=13 June 2023 |via=Twitter }} however in March 2024, May announced that she would not seek re-election as an MP at the general election, joining a record number of Conservative MPs standing down at the election. May said she is spending much of her time on causes "close to my heart": "These causes have been taking an increasing amount of my time. Because of this, after much careful thought and consideration, I have realised that, looking ahead, I would no longer be able to do my job as an MP in the way I believe is right and my constituents deserve."{{cite news |url=https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/gallery/maidenhead/195180/maidenhead-mp-theresa-may-to-stand-down-at-next-election.html |title=Maidenhead MP Theresa May to stand down at next election |work=Maidenhead Advertiser |date=8 March 2024 |first=David |last=Lee |access-date=8 March 2024}}{{cite news |date=8 March 2024 |title=Theresa May to stand down as MP at next election |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68509239 |access-date=8 March 2024 |work=BBC News}} Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called May a "relentless campaigner" who had been "fiercely loyal" to Maidenhead, and added that she "defines what it means to be a public servant". Her predecessor David Cameron called her "a brilliant public servant" who could "hold her head high", and said she had done much to "modernise the Conservative Party and promote women in public life".{{cite news |date=2024-03-08 |title=Theresa May: Conservative ex-PM to stand down at next election |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68509239 |access-date=2024-06-12 |work=BBC News }} Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer thanked May for her service, saying that she had "served this House and her constituents with a real sense of duty" and added that her "unwavering commitment to ending modern slavery is commended by all of us."{{Cite journal |date=2024-03-13 |title=Hansard |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-03-13/debates/0F85365D-BD56-4647-B8B5-EC356A1BD132/Engagements?highlight=modern%20slavery#contribution-14D02CF1-9D60-404B-93EC-3C951E915099 |journal=Hansard}} She was succeeded as MP for Maidenhead by Liberal Democrat Joshua Reynolds, the first liberal MP to be elected to represent this constituency in over 100 years.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-05 |title=Liberal Democrats win election in Maidenhead after years of Conservative rule |url=https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/24434806.maidenhead-election-results-lib-dem-wins-first-time-decades/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Slough Observer |language=en}}

May had been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg following his retirement. 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."{{cite news |last1=Chao-Fong |first1=Leonie |date=13 June 2021 |title=Theresa May would be 'excellent' Nato chief, says defence minister |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-nato-chief-b1865083.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-nato-chief-b1865083.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |access-date=20 April 2022 |work=The Independent |location=London}}{{cbignore}}

In autumn 2024, May was named the inaugural Blue Senior Fellow at the Blue Center for Global Strategic Assessment, housed in the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale University. She served in this role at the university during spring 2025.{{Cite web |title=Theresa May named inaugural Blue Senior Fellow |url=https://jackson.yale.edu/news/theresa-may-named-inaugural-blue-senior-fellow/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs |language=en-US}}

May was nominated for a life peerage in Rishi Sunak's 2024 Dissolution Honours.{{London Gazette |date=7 August 2024 |issue=64480 |page=15222 |supp=y}}{{Cite web |title=Dissolution Peerages 2024 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dissolution-peerages-2024 |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=Pogrund |first1=Gabriel |last2=Yorke |first2=Harry |date=18 June 2024 |title=Theresa May to enter Lords but Richard Sharp misses out |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/theresa-may-to-enter-lords-but-richard-sharp-misses-out-dldx7z8v9 |access-date=18 June 2024 |newspaper=The Times |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Whannel |first=Kate |date=4 July 2024 |title=Theresa May and 'bionic' MP awarded peerages |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84975xgdwlo |work=BBC News |language=en |access-date=4 July 2024}} She was created Baroness May of Maidenhead, of Sonning in the Royal County of Berkshire, on 21 August 2024 and introduced to the House of Lords on 12 September 2024.{{London Gazette |date=28 August 2024 |issue=64499 |page=16578}}{{Cite news |date=13 September 2024 |title=Oxfordshire-bred Theresa May takes seat on red bench in Lords |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/24582903.oxfordshire-bred-theresa-may-takes-seat-red-bench-lords/ |access-date=13 September 2024 |work=Oxford Mail}}

File:Phillip and Theresa May.jpg at the Forbidden City, Beijing, in 2018]]

May has been married to Sir Philip May, an investment relationship manager,{{cite news |last1=Becket |first1=Adam |title=Who is Philip May? Theresa May's husband and closest advisor |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-philip-may-theresa-may-husband-closest-advisor-capital-group-paradise-papers-2017-11 |access-date=7 December 2018 |work=Business Insider |date=21 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816015133/https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-philip-may-theresa-may-husband-closest-advisor-capital-group-paradise-papers-2017-11 |archive-date=16 August 2018 |url-status=live}} since 6 September 1980.{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/dec/14/theresa-may-lady-in-waiting |title=Theresa May: David Cameron's lady in waiting |last=Orr |first=Deborah |date=14 December 2009 |work=The Guardian |location= London |access-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107030719/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/dec/14/theresa-may-lady-in-waiting |archive-date=7 November 2013}} It has been reported that former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto introduced the two during their time at Oxford.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/36774270 |title=Profile: Theresa May's husband Philip |work=BBC News|date=13 July 2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160719022458/http://www.bbc.com/news/36774270 |archive-date=19 July 2016}} May credits future Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for encouraging Philip to propose to her.{{cite web |last=Bryant |first=Nick |date=22 June 2023 |title=The prime minister factory: How a UK uni is shaping Australian life |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/the-prime-minister-factory-why-is-a-uk-uni-shaping-australian-life-20230518-p5d9h9.html |access-date=26 August 2023 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald }} May has expressed regret that she and her husband did not have children.{{cite news |title=I was probably goody two-shoes: Theresa May interviewed |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9762170/Theresa-May-interview-I-probably-was-Goody-Two-Shoes-at-school.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |location= London |access-date=3 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160703135423/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9762170/Theresa-May-interview-I-probably-was-Goody-Two-Shoes-at-school.html |archive-date=3 July 2016 |date=21 December 2012 |last1=Pearson |first1=Allison}} The Mays are passionate walkers, and they regularly spend their holidays hiking in the Swiss Alps.{{cite news|last1=Khomami|first1=Nadia|title=Theresa May seeks peace and quiet on Alpine walking holiday|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/12/theresa-may-seeks-peace-and-quiet-on-alpine-walking-holiday|access-date=12 August 2016|work=The Guardian|date=12 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812204523/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/12/theresa-may-seeks-peace-and-quiet-on-alpine-walking-holiday|archive-date=12 August 2016}} May is also a cricket fan, stating that Sir Geoffrey Boycott was one of her sporting heroes.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/27/prime-minister-theresa-may-spotted-watching-england-vs-pakistan/|title=Prime Minister Theresa May spotted watching England vs Pakistan at Lord's cricket ground with husband Philip|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=27 August 2016|access-date=5 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902121306/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/27/prime-minister-theresa-may-spotted-watching-england-vs-pakistan/|archive-date=2 September 2016}} She also enjoys cooking, and has said that she owns 100 cookery books. Philip has said that she "is a very good cook".{{cite news |last=Stamp |first=Gavin |title=Who is Theresa May: A profile of UK's new prime minister |work=BBC News| date=25 July 2016 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36660372 |access-date=29 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170516163755/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36660372 |archive-date=16 May 2017 }}{{cite news |title=Bins, cooking, the bedroom – Britain's Theresa May offers glimpse of private life |work=The Straits Times |location= Singapore |date=10 May 2017 |url= http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/bins-cooking-the-bedroom-britains-theresa-may-offers-glimpse-of-private-life |access-date=29 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170529081708/http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/bins-cooking-the-bedroom-britains-theresa-may-offers-glimpse-of-private-life |archive-date=29 May 2017 }}

May and her husband reside in the Thames village of Sonning{{cite news|url=https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/sonning-a-picture-perfect-british-village-where-privacy-is-protected-43080|title=Sonning: A Picture-Perfect British Village Where Privacy is Protected|last=House|first=Laura|website=mansionglobal.com|date=15 October 2016 |access-date=1 June 2019}} which is within her former constituency.{{cite web|url=https://www.sonning-pc.gov.uk/atcMP.php|title=SPC: Theresa May|website=sonning-pc.gov.uk|access-date=1 June 2019}} She is the first cousin once removed of the Labour MP Alistair Strathern.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-08 |title=Theresa May – 2023 Speech on the Loyal Address – UKPOL.CO.UK |url=https://www.ukpol.co.uk/theresa-may-2023-speech-on-the-loyal-address/ |access-date=2024-04-07 |language=en-US}}

May is a member of the Church of England and regularly worships at church (usually at St Andrew's, Sonning) on Sundays.{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Gimson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/oct/20/profile-theresa-may |title=Theresa May: minister with a mind of her own |work=The Observer |location=London |date=20 October 2012 |quote=May said: 'I am a practising member of the Church of England, a vicar's daughter.' |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113024404/https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/oct/20/profile-theresa-may |archive-date=13 January 2017}}{{cite news |first=Christopher |last=Howse |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11263458/Theresa-Mays-Desert-Island-hymn.html |title=Theresa May's Desert Island hymn |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=29 November 2014 |quote=The Home Secretary declared that she was a 'regular communicant' in the Church of England |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505190530/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11263458/Theresa-Mays-Desert-Island-hymn.html |archive-date=5 May 2015}}{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |location= London |title=Church of England and Theresa May |date=15 March 2012 |page=26}} The daughter of an Anglican priest, Hubert Brasier, May has said that her Christian faith "is part of me. It is part of who I am and therefore how I approach things".{{cite web|last=Bushfield|first=Antony|title=Theresa May: Christianity is 'part of me'|url=https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Theresa-May-Christianity-is-part-of-me|website=Premier|access-date=18 July 2016|date=24 November 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710072555/http://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Theresa-May-Christianity-is-part-of-me|archive-date=10 July 2016}} She was raised in the Anglo-Catholic or High Church tradition of Anglicanism, of which her Mirfield-trained father was a proponent.{{cite web |url = https://www.ncregister.com/blog/no-theresa-may-is-not-our-first-catholic-prime-minister |title = No, Theresa May is Not "Our First Catholic Prime Minister" |author= Joanna Bogle|date= 15 March 2017|publisher = The National Catholic Register |access-date = 27 August 2024 }}

May 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.{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/theresa-may-is-proof-that-female-politicians-dont-have-to-be-afr/|title=Theresa May is proof that female politicians don't have to be afraid of fashion|date=12 July 2016|access-date=15 July 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714225920/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/theresa-may-is-proof-that-female-politicians-dont-have-to-be-afr/|archive-date=14 July 2016}} However, she has been critical of the media focusing on her fashion instead of her achievements as a politician.{{cite news |work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8033607.stm |title=Theresa May: My Life as a female MP |date=17 June 2009 |access-date=15 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818221937/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8033607.stm |archive-date=18 August 2017}}

May was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1 in November 2012. She is treated with daily insulin injections.{{cite web |url= https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Balance-interview-with-Theresa-May/ |title=Theresa May: "Type 1 doesn't change what you can do" |work=Balace |publisher=Diabetes UK |date=7 November 2014 |access-date=4 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160820083418/https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Balance-interview-with-Theresa-May/ |archive-date=20 August 2016}}

{{Incomplete list|date=November 2020}}

; University degrees

; Chancellor, visitor, governor, and fellowships

{{Incomplete list|date=November 2020}}

{{Incomplete list|date=November 2020}}

{{Incomplete list|date=November 2020}}

• {{flagicon|Nigeria}} 30 August 2018: Abuja, Nigeria.{{cite web|title=THERESA MAY CONFERRED WITH ABUJA CITIZENSHIP|url=https://verbatimnigeria.org/2018/08/30/theresa-may-conferred-with-abuja-citizenship|last=Uche|first=Bruno|publisher=Verbatim|date=30 August 2018|access-date=31 July 2019|archive-date=25 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725074639/https://verbatimnigeria.org/2018/08/30/theresa-may-conferred-with-abuja-citizenship/|url-status=dead}}/

{{Incomplete list|date=March 2022}}

Prior to and since her appointment to Government, May has actively supported a variety of campaigns on policy issues in her constituency and at national level. 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).{{cite web |url= http://www.ruconservative.com/friends/ |title=Friends |publisher=Reading University Conservative Association |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130703185632/http://www.ruconservative.com/friends/ |archive-date=3 July 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=30 November 2012}} Her activism has earned her a number of awards.

She was nominated as one of the Society's Inspiring Women of 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=413|title=Fawcett Society|publisher=Fawcett Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822013355/http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=413|archive-date=22 August 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=16 September 2010}} In February 2013, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour described her as Britain's second-most powerful woman after Queen Elizabeth II;{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/features/power-list-100|title=Woman's Hour – The Power List 2013|publisher=BBC Radio 4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215063524/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/features/power-list-100|archive-date=15 February 2013|url-status=live}} May 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.{{cite web |url= https://www.marketors.org/News/Congratulations-to-our-Liveryman-the-Prime-Minister |title= Congratulations to our Liveryman the Prime Minister |publisher= Worshipful Company of Marketors |date=13 July 2016 |location= London |first=Alan |last=Dodds |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190906104458/https://www.marketors.org/News/Congratulations-to-our-Liveryman-the-Prime-Minister |archive-date=6 September 2019 |url-status=dead }}

In September 2017, she was listed by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world, behind Angela Merkel.{{cite web |url= https://www.forbes.com/power-women/list/ |title=The World's 100 Most Powerful Women |website=Forbes |location=New York |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170920073036/https://www.forbes.com/power-women/list/ |archive-date=20 September 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2017}}

{{Infobox emblem wide

|image = File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg

File:Arms of Theresa May.svg

|notes = Baroness May is not armigerous in her own right, but is entitled to use her husband's shield with a mascle for difference.

|escutcheon = Per fess vert and or three pallets between four roundels in bend counter changed.{{cite web|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/it-turns-out-prime-minister-theresa-may-has-norwich-city-football-club-affiliations-1-4903237|title=It turns out Prime Minister Theresa May has Norwich City Football Club affiliations|first=Annabelle|last=dickson|website=Eastern Daily Press|date=23 February 2017}}

|coronet=that of a Baroness}}

• Electoral history of Theresa May

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• Allen, Nicholas. "‘Brexit means Brexit’: Theresa May and post-referendum British politics." British Politics 13 (2018): 105-120. [https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/195281721.pdf online]
• Allen, Nicholas. "Brexit, Butchery and Boris: Theresa May and her first cabinet." Parliamentary Affairs 70.3 (2017): 633-644. [https://academic.oup.com/pa/article-pdf/doi/10.1093/pa/gsx001/17945662/gsx001.pdf online]
• Atkins, Judi, and John Gaffney. "Narrative, persona and performance: The case of Theresa May 2016–2017." British journal of politics and international relations 22.2 (2020): 293-308. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1369148120910985 online]
• Blackburn, Virginia. Theresa May-The Downing Street Revolution (Kings Road Publishing, 2016) [https://books.google.com/books?id=pcf0EAAAQBAJ&dq=theresa+May&pg=PA1 online].
• Brusenbauch Meislova, Monika. "Brexit means Brexit—or does It? The legacy of Theresa May's discursive treatment of Brexit." Political Quarterly 90.4 (2019): 681-689.
• Cole, Mike. Theresa May, the hostile environment and public pedagogies of hate and threat: The case for a future without borders (Routledge, 2019) [https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429270499/theresa-may-hostile-environment-public-pedagogies-hate-threat-mike-cole online].
• Dyson, Stephen Benedict. "Theresa May and Brexit: Leadership style and performance." British Politics 19.2 (2024): 213-233.
• Harrois, Thibaud. "Towards ‘Global Britain’? Theresa May and the UK’s Role in the World after Brexit." Observatoire de la société britannique 21 (2018): 51-73. [https://journals.openedition.org/osb/2119 online]
• Holman, Mirya R., Jennifer L. Merolla, and Elizabeth J. Zechmeister. "The curious case of Theresa May and the public that did not rally: Gendered reactions to terrorist attacks can cause slumps not bumps." American Political Science Review 116.1 (2022): 249-264. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/CCB0F99CE10065BAECA662C140F966EC/S0003055421000861a.pdf/div-class-title-the-curious-case-of-theresa-may-and-the-public-that-did-not-rally-gendered-reactions-to-terrorist-attacks-can-cause-slumps-not-bumps-div.pdf online]
• Prince, Rosa. Theresa May: The enigmatic prime minister (Biteback Publishing, 2017) [https://books.google.com/books?id=3yEQDgAAQBAJ&dq=theresa+May&pg=PT5 online].
• Schnapper, Pauline. "Theresa May, the Brexit negotiations and the two-level game, 2017–2019." in The Nested Games of Brexit (Routledge, 2022) pp. 68–79. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pauline-Schnapper/publication/340960751_Theresa_May_the_Brexit_negotiations_and_the_two-level_game_2017-2019/links/61234e230c2bfa282a633353/Theresa-May-the-Brexit-negotiations-and-the-two-level-game-2017-2019.pdf online]
• Williams, Blair E. "A tale of two women: A comparative gendered media analysis of UK Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May." Parliamentary Affairs 74.2 (2021): 398-420.
• Worthy, Ben, Jessica C. Smith, and Laura Richards-Gray. "Remind you of anyone? Comparing the gendered heroic leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May." British Politics 19.2 (2024): 288-306. [https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/files/400248830/WorthyEtal2023BPRemindYouOfAnyone.pdf online]

{{Library resources box|by=yes}}

• [http://www.tmay.co.uk/ Constituency website of Theresa May MP]
• {{Twitter}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160507164502/https://www.conservatives.com/OurTeam/Members_of_Parliament/may_theresa Profile] at the Conservative Party website

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