2016 Conservative Party leadership election in the context of "Secretary of State for Defence"

Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (/təˈriːzə/; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead from 1997 to 2024, and has been a member of the House of Lords since August 2024. May was the second female British prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher, and the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State. May is a one-nation conservative.

May grew up in Oxfordshire and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford. After graduating in 1977, she worked at the Bank of England and the Association for Payment Clearing Services. She also served as a councillor on Merton London Borough Council. After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she was elected MP for Maidenhead at the 1997 general election. From 1999 to 2010, May held several roles in shadow cabinets and was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2003. Following the formation of the coalition government after the 2010 general election, May was appointed home secretary and minister for women and equalities, giving up the latter role in 2012. Reappointed after the Conservatives won the 2015 general election, she became the longest-serving home secretary in more than 60 years. During her tenure as home secretary, she pursued reform of the Police Federation, implemented a harder line on drugs policy and further restricted immigration. She oversaw the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, the deportation of Abu Qatada and the creation of the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency. Although she supported the Remain campaign, May supported Brexit following the outcome of the 2016 referendum. She was elected and appointed prime minister unopposed, succeeding David Cameron.

Theresa May served as home secretary from 2010 until 2016. As a member of David Cameron's first government May was appointed as home secretary on 12 May 2010, shortly after Cameron became prime minister, and continued in the post as part of the second Cameron government following the 2015 general election. She held the post until she succeeded Cameron as prime minister on 13 July 2016. May was the second woman to be appointed as home secretary (after Jacqui Smith), and the fourth woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State.

The longest-serving home secretary since James Chuter Ede over 60 years previously, May pursued reform of the Police Federation, implemented a harder line on drugs policy including banning khat and brought in further restrictions on immigration. She oversaw the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, police investigations including Operation Yewtree, the deportation of Abu Qatada and the creation of the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency.