The second female prime minister of the United Kingdom, May aimed to become a prime minister who changed the fate of the country, like Margaret Thatcher, when she took office.
May, who became known as “Maybot” with her cold demeanor and the dance she performed during the opening of the Conservative Party Congress in 2018, caused the country to be divided more permanently around Brexit, which was divided politically and class.
Who is Theresa May?
Born in Sussex in 1956, Theresa Mary Brasier studied geography at Oxford University.
She got married in 1980 to Philip May, whom the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, introduced her at a party at Oxford University. She worked in various financial institutions before starting her political career.
Theresa Mary, Lady May (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 served as the representative of Merton Council in London from 1986 to 1994. Having failed twice to be elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Conservative Party, May managed to enter Parliament in 1997.
Reduced the number of immigrants in the country
May, whose political career accelerated after that, took many positions in shadow cabinets until 2010 and was appointed as interior minister in 2010. She was frequently criticized for her immigration policies during this tenure. As a result of May's policies, the number of non-EU immigrants in the country has decreased considerably. Foreign students were also affected by the aggressive policies against immigrants. Due to the 'deport first, then listen to your complaint' attitude, long-term UK residents have been unfairly detained, their work permits revoked and some even deported.
One of May's key policies was the major constraints she made to the police budget. Under May's administration, the police department's budget was cut by 20 percent. Some studies attribute the increasing crime rates in major cities and the terrorist attacks in 2017 to these restrictions.
Prime Minister who failed to achieve Brexit
Prime Minister David Cameron resigned from his post after the Brexit referendum held in the UK in 2016 decided to leave the EU. When Theresa May took over as prime minister from Cameron, the Conservative Party had a majority in parliament. However, May, who wanted to strengthen her hand in the Brexit process, underestimated Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and led the country to early elections in June 2017.
As a result of the early elections, May lost her power in the party, while the Conservative Party lost its majority in the House of Commons.
May received the support of the Northern Ireland-based Democratic Unionist Party for the minority government by promising an additional £1 billion in aid to the region. As a result, the early election process destabilized the country politically and the Brexit process took longer than expected.
Undoubtedly, May's biggest failure was the three-time parliamentary rejection of the deal she prepared to remove the country from the European Union (EU). Unsuccessful in resolving issues such as the smooth running of trade with the EU and the open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, May lost support both among the public and within the party.
Acknowledging that she would not be able to achieve Brexit, May resigned from her post as prime minister on June 7, 2019, with a farewell speech with tears in her eyes. Unable to realize Brexit, which was the reason for her taking over the Prime Ministry, May will be remembered for her voluntarily leading the country to the early general elections, her anti-immigrant policies, her cold attitude after the Grenfell fire, in which 72 people died, and the restrictions on the police budget.