Theresa May

Theresa May, 2016.

Theresa Mary, Lady May (/təˈriːzə/;[1] 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 in David Cameron's cabinet as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016, and has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead in Berkshire since 1997. May was the UK's second female prime minister after Margaret Thatcher, and the first woman to hold two of the Great Offices of State. Ideologically, May identifies herself as 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 for Durnsford in Merton. After two attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she was elected as MP for Maidenhead at the 1997 general election. From 1999 to 2010, May held several roles in shadow cabinets. She was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2003.

Following 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 Conservative success in the 2015 general election, she became the longest-serving Home Secretary in over 60 years. During her tenure she 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 introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, deportation of Abu Qatada and creation of the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency. May supported the unsuccessful Britain Stronger in Europe campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union.

Feminism

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.

Same-sex Relationships

In 1998, May voted against lowering the age of consent for homosexual acts. May was also a supporter of Section 28, calling a failed repeal in 2000 to be "a victory for commonsense". She was absent for the vote when it was successfully repealed in 2003. She also voted against the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that allowed same-sex couples to adopt.

Beginning in 2012, however, May expressed support for the introduction of same-sex marriage by recording a video for the Out4Marriage campaign, 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". In May 2013, May voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. In 2017, May apologised for her past votes while taking credit for helping advance LGBT rights within her party.

Hostile Environment Policy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Office_hostile_environment_policy

Windrush Scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windrush_scandal

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