Theresa May (Conservative) Member since 1997 Years in office: 13/7/2016-present Born: 01 October 1956 Nickname: None Title: None Age assumed office: 59 years Total time in office: Less than a year Theresa May - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Prime Minister Main article: Premiership of Theresa May Leadership election Further information: Conservative Party leadership election, 2016 On 30 June 2016, May announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party to replace David Cameron, who resigned after the outcome of the European Union membership referendum, in which 52% of voters voted in favour of leaving the EU. May emphasised the need for unity within the party regardless of positions about leaving the EU and said she could bring "strong leadership" and a "positive vision" for the country's future. Despite having backed a vote to remain in the EU, she insisted that there would be no second referendum, saying: "The campaign was fought... and the public gave their verdict. There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door.... Brexit means Brexit", she said, adding that Article 50 (the formal notification of Britain's exit from the EU) should not be filed until the end of 2016. On the issue of immigration, she agreed that there was a need to regain more control of the number of people who come to Britain from Europe. Under questioning she conceded that it would not be possible to completely prevent immigration to the UK. In a Sky Data Snap Poll on 30 June 47% of people said that May was their preferred Conservative candidate to be prime minister. May's supporters included a number of Cabinet ministers, such as Amber Rudd, Chris Grayling, Justine Greening, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Fallon and Patrick McLoughlin. May won the first round of voting on 5 July, receiving support from 165 MPs, while Andrea Leadsom received 66 votes and Michael Gove collected 48. According to The Guardian, May was "almost certain to be among the final two candidates." After the results were announced, May said she was "pleased" and "grateful" for the support of other MPs and confirmed that she wanted to unite the party and the UK, to negotiate the "best possible deal as we leave the EU", and to "make Britain work for everyone". The two candidates with the fewest votes, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb, immediately announced their support for May. May came in first place in the second ballot on 7 July with an overwhelming majority of 199 MPs against 84 for Leadsom and 46 for Gove, who was eliminated. Afterwards, May stated that she was delighted with her support among MPs, and she progressed to a vote of the Conservative Party membership against Leadsom. Wikinews has related news: Theresa May to become UK Prime Minister as opposition begins leadership election On 11 July, Leadsom announced her withdrawal from the leadership contest hours after May had made her first campaign speech, citing her lack of support amongst Conservative MPs as being a hindrance to becoming a credible prime minister. As the sole remaining candidate, May was declared Leader of the Conservative Party that evening. Soon after she became Leader of the Conservative Party by default on 11 July 2016, David Cameron announced that he would tender his resignation as prime minister two days later, making May the UK's second female Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher. Early days After being appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on 13 July 2016, May became only the second female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Margaret Thatcher, and the first female British Prime Minister of the 21st century.May told the media on 12 July 2016 that she was "honoured and humbled" to become Prime Minister. Responding to some calls for an early general election to confirm her mandate, "sources close to Mrs May" said there would be no such election according to the BBC. In a speech after her appointment, May emphasised the term "Unionist" in the name of the Conservative Party, reminding all of "the precious, precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland." By 15 July, May had travelled to Edinburgh to meet with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to reinforce the bond between Scotland and the rest of the country. "I'm coming here to show my commitment to preserving this special union that has endured for centuries," she explained. May also appointed new Cabinet members, in "one of the most sweeping government reshuffles for decades" described as "a brutal cull" by The Telegraph since several prominent members, including six of Cameron's ministers, were removed from their posts. The early appointments were interpreted both as an effort to reunite the Conservative Party in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union, and as "a shift to the right," according to The Guardian. ITV's Political Editor Robert Peston made the following comment: "Her rhetoric is more left-wing than Cameron's was, her cabinet is more right-wing than his was." Although May had supported remaining in the EU, she appointed prominent advocates of Brexit to key cabinet positions responsible for negotiating the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union, including Foreign Secretary, Brexit Secretary, and International Trade Secretary. Overall, of the 25 members of the May ministry (including May), seven supported Brexit, while the other 18 supported Remain. May appointed former Mayor of London Boris Johnson to Foreign Secretary, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Amber Rudd to Home Secretary and former Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond as her Chancellor of the Exchequer. May abolished the Department for Energy and Climate Change which means that now climate change is included in the scope of a new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The move was criticised by Greenpeace which expressed concern the new government failed to see the threat from climate change, by Friends of the Earth which said climate change is happening now while the new government lowers its priority and New Economics Foundation environmental economist, Stephen Devlin who said, "Tackling climate change is an era-defining challenge that must direct and determine what industries we develop, what transport infrastructure we construct, how we manage our land and what our diets look like. It requires a central co-ordinated strategy; if we leave it to the afterthoughts of other departments we will fail." The future direction of May's government over climate change is uncertain. Rachel Kyte called for commitment to investment in greener energy supply. Kyte claims investment in greener energy would stimulate the economy and boost jobs at a time of economic uncertainty. Kyte also maintains greater clarity in government energy policy is badly needed. The May Ministry delayed the final approval for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in July 2016, a project which May had objected to when she was Home Secretary. Her political adviser Nick Timothy wrote an article in 2015 to oppose China's involvement in sensitive sectors. He said that the government was "selling our national security to China" without rational concerns and "the Government seems intent on ignoring the evidence and presumably the advice of the security and intelligence agencies." May had a high approval rating during her first week as Prime Minister. The results of an Ipsos MORI survey released on 14 July indicated that 55 percent of those surveyed believed that May was a suitable PM while only 23 percent believed that the Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn would make a good Prime Minister. On 18 July 2016, when George Kerevan asked her whether she would be prepared to authorise the killing of a hundred thousand innocent persons by a nuclear strike; during the "Trident debate" inside the House of Commons; Theresa answered affirmatively: Yes. And I have to say to the honourable gentleman: the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it. Unlike some suggestions that we could have a nuclear deterrent but not actually be willing to use it, which come from the Labour Party frontbench. On 20 July, May attended her first Prime Minister's Questions since taking office, then afterwards made her first overseas trip as prime minister, vising Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the visit, May said that she would not trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon–the process for withdrawing from the European Union–before 2017, suggesting it would take time for the UK to negotiate a "sensible and orderly departure" from the EU. However, although Merkel said it was right for the UK to "take a moment" before beginning the process, she urged May to provide more clarity on a timetable for negotiations. Shortly before travelling to Berlin, May had also announced that in the wake of the referendum, Britain would relinquish the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which passes between member states every six months on a rotation basis, and that the UK had been scheduled to hold in the second half of 2017.