Theresa May is the new Conservative Party leader and will become the UK’s second female prime minister on Wednesday, taking charge at one of the most turbulent times in recent political history.The 59-year-old home secretary’s carefully cultivated image of political dependability and unflappability appears to have made her the right person at the right time as the fallout from the UK’s vote to leave the EU smashed possible rivals out of contention.Long known to have nurtured leadership hopes,Mrs May whose friends recall her early ambition to be the UK’s first female PM could have reasonably expected to have had to wait until at least 2018 to have a shot at Downing Street.But the EU referendum which David Cameron called and lost the year after leading the party to its first election win in 23 years turned political certainties on their head and, as other candidates fell by the wayside after the PM’s own resignation,Mrs May emerged as the unity candid ate to succeed him.PM-in-waiting
Mrs May has been swamped with protestations of goodwill from fellow Tories in hope of preferment but it would be a pity if she did not make the most of the moment by going out of her way to form a genuinely inclusive Cabinet,one which includes Brexiteers as well as those who,like herself, were Remainers The referendum is over; Mrs May has declared that Brexit means Brexit and the Cabinet she forms should include individuals of all talents including those who did not back her as leader, her former opponents and those who differed from her in office. It is a time for magnanimity, not bearing old grudges, and those with most to offer are not necessarily her closest allies. Indeed, she must now consider not only Cabinet appointments but, crucially, who should guide the Brexit negotiations.That calls for formidable political intelligence and negotiating skills.
Theresa May promises a better Britain Also she said:Together we will build a better Britain.Theresa May promis ed to build a better Britain and to make the UK’s EU exit a success after she was announced as the new Tory leader and soon-to-be PM.Speaking outside Parliament,Mrs May said she was honour ed and humbled”to succeed David Cameron, after her only rival in the race withdrew on Monday.Mr Cameron will tender his resignation to the Queen after PMQs on Wednes day.Mr Cameron who has been UK prime minister since 2010, decided to quit after the UK’s Brexit vote.She said her leadership bid had been based on the need for strong, proven leadership the ability to unite both party and country and a positive vision for Britain’s future.A vision of a country that works not for the privileged few but that works for every one of us because we’re going to give people more control over their lives and that’s how, together, we will build a better Britain.
Theresa May: We need proven leader ship to neg otiate the best deal.Date of birth:1 October 1956 (aged 59)Job:MP for Maiden head since 1997.Home Secretary since May 2010.Education: Mainly state-educated at Wheatley Park Compreh ensive School with a brief time at an independent school;St Hugh’s College,Oxford.Family:Married to Philip May.Hobbies.Cooking she says she owns 100 recipe books. Occasional mountain walks.On BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 2014,she chose Abba’s Dancing Queen and Walk Like A Man, from the musical Jersey Boys, among her picks,alongside Mozart and Elgar.On her party’s future:(It is) nothing less than the patriotic duty of our party to unite and to govern in the best interests of the whole country.We need a bold, new positive vision for the future of our country a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us.Says people want more than just a Brexit PM and has vowed to unify the Leave and Remain factions in the party.Even before entering Downing Street, she made history by becoming the second longest serving home secretary in the past 100 years.The daughter of a Church of England vicar,Hubert,who died from injuries sustained in a car crash when she was only 25, Theresa May’s middle class background has more in keeping with the last female occupant of Downing Street, Margaret Thatcher, than her immediate predecessor.
Theresa May married her husband Philip in 1980 Born in Sussex but raised largely in Oxfordshire, Mrs May both of whose grand mothers are repor ted to have been in domes tic service attended a state primary an independent convent school and then a grammar school in the village of Wheatley, which became the Wheatley Park Comprehe nsive School during her time there.The young Theresa Brazier,as she was then,threw herself into village life, taking part in a pantomime that was produced by her father and working in the bakery on Satur days to earn pocket money.The young Theresa Brazier at a func tion in the village hall.Like Margaret Thatcher, she went to Oxford University to study and, like so many others of her generati on, found that her personal and political lives soon became closely intertwin ed.In 1976, in her third year, she met her husband Philip,who was presi dent of the Oxford Union, a well-known breeding ground for future political leaders.The story has it that they were introduced at a Conservative Association disco by the subsequent Pakista ni prime minister Benazir Bhutto.They married in 1980.Her university friend Pat Frankland, speak ing in 2011 on a BBC Radio 4 profile of the then home secretary, said:I cannot remember a time when she did not have political ambitions.I well remember, at the time, that she did want to become the first woman prime minister and she was quite irritated when Margaret Thatcher got there first.Theresa May is seen here as a child with her parents Hubert and Zaidee.
After graduating with a degree in Geography,May went to work in the City, initially starting work at the Bank of England and later rising to become head of the European Affairs Unit of the Associa tion for Payment Clearing Services.But it was already clear that she saw her future in politics She was elected as a local councillor in Merton,south London,and served her ward for a decade, rising to become deputy leader.However, she was soon setting her sights even higher.Mrs May,who has become a confidante as well as role model for aspiring female MPs told prospective candida tes before the 2015 election that there is always a seat out there with your name on.In her case like that of Margaret Thatcher it took a bit of time for her to find hers. She first dipped her to in the water in 1992,where she stood in the safe Labour seat of North West Durham coming a distant second to Hilary Armstrong, who went on to become Labour’s chief whip in the Blair government. Her fellow candidates in that contest also included a very youthful Tim Farron,who is now Lib Dem leader.
Two years later,she stood in Barking east London,in a by-election where with the Conser vative gover nment at the height of its unpopu larity she got fewer than 2,000 votes and saw her vote share dip more than 20%.But her luck was about to change The Conservati ves electoral fortunes may have hit a nadir in 1997,when Tony Blair came to power in a Labour landslide, but there was a silver lining for the party and for the aspiring politician when she won the seat of Maidenhead in Berkshire.Mrs May first stood for Parliament in 1992 in NorthWest.Durham.Theresa May has described her husband Philip as her rock.An early advocate of Conservati ve modernisation in the wilderness years that followed,Mrs May quickly joined the shadow cabi net in 1999 under William Hague as shadow edu cation secretary and in 2002 she became the party’s first female chairman under Iain Duncan Smith.
Her social attitudes are slightly harder to pin down.Mrs May has been the most senior female Cabinet minister for the past six years.One of Westmin ster’s shre wdest as well as toughest opera tors,Mrs May’s decision to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU but to do so in an unders tated way and to frame her argument in relatively narrow securi ty terms reaped dividends after the divisive camp aign.During what turned out to be a short-lived leadership campaign, Mrs May played strongly on her weight of experience, judgement and reliability in a time of crisis.While her wider political appeal is,as yet, untested,Mrs May will not have to face a general election until May 2020 unless she decides to seek a fresh mandate something she has seemingly ruled out.While the early years of Mrs May’s time in Downing Street may be dominated by the process of divorcing the UK from the EU.She will face as tough a task,some say even tougher, than any of her recent predecessors in Downing Street
Mrs May will then go to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen and receive her invitation to form a government Theresa May should then be in place as UK prime minister by Wednes day evening it is not yet clear when the Cameron family will move out of No 10.Earlier, in a brief statement outside No10,Mr Cameron said he was delighted that Mrs May was to succeed him in Downing Street.He said a prolonged period of transition was not necessary,and added:So tomorrow she will chair her last cabinet meeting.On Wednesday she will attend the House of Commons for Prime Ministe r’s Questions.After that I expect to go the Palace and offer my resign ation.The prime minister praised Mrs May as strong and compete nt and he said she was “more than able to provide the leadership the UK needs in the coming years.She will have my full support,he added.Key dates for the new PM 18 July.Parliament due to vote on Trident renewal 19 July Possible date for her first cabinet meeting 20 July First PMQs as prime minister 5 September Parliament returns from summer recess.2-5 October Conservative Party annual conference 20 October Her first Europea n Council meeting as prime minister.Announcing her decision to pull out of the contest,Mrs May would now have to decide the make-up of her new cabinet, she said.Mr Cameron annou nced his intention to resign as prime minister on 24 June,after finding himself on the losing side of the EU referendum, with the UK voting by 52% to 48% in favour of leaving
Obviously, there is now demand for a general election to validate Mrs May’s premiership. It’s certainly true that she was elected neither by the Conservative Party nor by the nation. But then Gordon Brown didn’t have a direct mandate either.There may well be a case for her to call one before the end of this fixed-term parliament but not just yet. The need for a period of stability overrides the desirability of another democratic exercise.The markets have cheered up with her appointment.What they need, as ever, is stability.The City is still coming to terms with Brexit; it doesn’t need more uncertainty.Mrs May now has a difficult balancing act:she must take account of the demand expressed in the referendum for a reduction in net migration she failed in this as Home Secretary with the need to secure the greatest possible access to European markets. It’s easier said than done but it actually helps that she was a Remainer she may have more sympathy from Brussels on that account.Right now, she is surfing a tide of goodwill and must make the most of it.There is a lot to do
Rayhan Ahmed Topader