'Brexit means Brexit' (2016)
Her mantra on taking office after the EU referendum
Prime Ministers · 21st century
Theresa May
1956– · British
Conservative
In office: 2016–2019
Theresa May, Britain's second woman prime minister, took office after the Brexit referendum having been Home Secretary for six years. She triggered Article 50 but lost her majority in the 2017 snap election and relied on the DUP; her withdrawal agreement suffered the largest Commons defeat of any government in history. She resigned in 2019, stayed on as an MP until 2024, and now sits in the Lords as Baroness May of Maidenhead.
How to spot them
- ▸'Brexit means Brexit'; 'strong and stable'
- ▸Second woman prime minister; previously a long-serving Home Secretary
- ▸Chequers plan and the record Commons defeat of January 2019
- ▸Leopard-print kitten heels; danced on stage to 'Dancing Queen'
- ▸Admitted the naughtiest thing she had done was running through fields of wheat
In office
Triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (2017)
Formally notified the EU of the UK's intention to leave on 29 March 2017
The 2017 snap election and the DUP confidence-and-supply deal (2017)
A 'strong and stable' campaign ended with a hung parliament
The Chequers plan (2018)
Proposal for post-Brexit relations that prompted David Davis and Boris Johnson to resign
Record Commons defeat of the Brexit withdrawal agreement (2019)
Lost by 432 votes to 202 on 15 January 2019, a majority of 230 against
The coughing fit and falling letters conference speech (2017)
Speech disrupted by a prankster handing her a P45, a persistent cough and a collapsing backdrop
Legislating for net zero emissions by 2050 (2019)
The UK became the first major economy to set a legal net zero target
Key ideas
- Warned in 2002 that the Conservatives were seen as 'the nasty party'
- As Home Secretary oversaw the 'hostile environment' policy, later linked to the Windrush scandal
- Modern Slavery Act 2015 was her Home Office legacy
Quick-fire facts
- •Born in Eastbourne in 1956; studied geography at St Hugh's College, Oxford
- •Met her husband Philip at Oxford, introduced by Benazir Bhutto
- •Worked at the Bank of England before entering politics
- •MP for Maidenhead 1997–2024
- •Home Secretary 2010–2016
- •Has type 1 diabetes
- •Her premiership saw the Grenfell Tower fire (2017) and the Salisbury Novichok poisonings (2018)
- •Created a life peer as Baroness May of Maidenhead in 2024
Drill it — 8 cards
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Sources
- GOV.UK — History of Theresa May