Theresa May

Infobox Politician


honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name=Theresa May
honorific-suffix = MP
imagesize=150px
office = Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
term_start = 6 December, 2005
term_end =
leader = David Cameron
predecessor = Oliver Heald
successor = Incumbent
office2 = Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
term_start2 = 6 May 2005
term_end2 = 6 December 2005
leader2 = Michael Howard
predecessor2 = Julie Kirkbride
successor2 = Hugo Swire
office3 = Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(also Secretary of State for Transport)
term_start3 = 6 November 2003
term_end3 = 6 May 2005
leader3 = Michael Howard
predecessor3 = Tim Collins (Transport)
David Lidington (Environment)
successor3 = Alan Duncan
office4 = Chairman of the Conservative Party
term_start4 = 23 July 2002
term_end4 = 6 November 2003
leader4 = Iain Duncan Smith
predecessor4 = David Davis
successor4 = Liam Fox
office5 = Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
term_start5 = 18 September 2001
term_end5 = 23 July 2002
leader5 = Iain Duncan Smith
predecessor5 = Archie Norman
successor5 = Tim Collins
office6 = Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment
leader6 = William Hague
term_start6 = 2 December 1998
term_end6 = 18 September 2001
predecessor6 = David Willetts
successor6 = Damian Green
constituency_MP7 = Maidenhead
parliament7 =
term_start7 = 1 May 1997
term_end7 =
majority7 = 6,231 (13.6%)
predecessor7 = "Constituency created"
successor7 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1956|10|01|df=yes
birth_place = Eastbourne, Sussex
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Philip May
party = Conservative
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = St Hugh's College, Oxford
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Theresa Mary May (born in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, on 1 October 1956 as Theresa Mary Brasier) is a British politician, former chairman of the Conservative Party, and Member of Parliament for Maidenhead. She is currently the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Minister for Women.

Early life

May studied at St Hugh's College, Oxford and obtained an MA in Geography. From 1985 to 1997, she worked as a financial consultant, and was also a councillor in 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 she stood (and lost) in the safe Labour seat of North West Durham and then unsuccessfully contested the 1994 Barking by-election. In the 1997 general election she was elected the Conservative MP for Maidenhead.

Member of Parliament

Having entered parliament she soon became a member of William Hague's front-bench team as Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women (1998 – June 1999). May 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 retained her services in the Shadow Cabinet, moving her to the Transport portfolio. In this role she opposed then Transport Secretary Stephen Byers in the period leading up to his resignation.

May was appointed the first female chairman in July 2002. During her speech at the 2002 Conservative Party Conference while making a point about why her party must change, she controversially stated that the Conservatives were currently perceived as the "nasty party". In 2003, she was sworn of the Privy Council. After Michael Howard became Conservative leader that year, he made May Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment. However in June 2004 she was moved to the new position of Shadow Secretary of State for the Family. After the 2005 election her portfolio was expanded and she became Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whilst remaining Shadow Secretary of State for the Family. David Cameron appointed her Shadow Leader of the House in December 2005 after his accession to the leadership.

Personal life

May is known for her love of shoes; in the register of members interests she declared that she had ' [received a] discount card on the purchase of shoes from Russell & Bromley which has the potential to be of registrable value.' She is married to Philip May and lives in Sonning, Berkshire.

tyles

* Miss Theresa Brasier (1956–?)
* Mrs Philip May (?–1997)
* Mrs Philip May MP (1997–2003)
* The Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP (2003–)

ee also

* Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK)

External links

* [http://www.tmay.co.uk/ Theresa May MP] official website
* [http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&personID=4790 Conservative Party — Theresa May MP]
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Theresa+May/ ePolitix.com — Theresa May] profile
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3441,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: Theresa May MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/theresa_may/maidenhead TheyWorkForYou.com — Theresa May MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Theresa_May&mpc=Maidenhead The Public Whip — Theresa May MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/274.stm BBC News — Theresa May] profile 10 February, 2005
* [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Society_and_Culture/Politics/Parties/Conservative/MPs/May,_Theresa/ Open Directory Project — Theresa May] directory category

Audio clips

* [http://www.wpradio.co.uk/mp3s/TheresaMay.mp3 "WPRadio"] Discussing the [http://www.women2win.com/ Women2Win campaign] on Women's Parliamentary Radio