About us
Home Secretary
Theresa May is the Home Secretary and minister for women and equality.
Having worked in the City before becoming an MP, Theresa has experience of life outside Westminster. She started her career at the Bank of England, and went on to hold posts at the Association for Payment Clearing.
Theresa has been involved in politics at all levels for many years. She was a councillor in the London borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994.
Theresa was elected Member of Parliament for Maidenhead in May 1997. She lives in the constituency and is an active local campaigner. She has been a keen advocate of positive action to recruit more women Tories to winnable seats and was a key architect of the ‘A list’ of preferred candidates.
Shadow Cabinet posts
Theresa has held several positions within Parliament since 1997 and has been a member of the shadow Cabinet since 1999. Her roles in the shadow Cabinet have included secretary of state for education and employment, secretary of state for transport, local government and the regions, and secretary of state for the family (culture, media and sport), and shadow leader of the House of Commons (2005-09). From 2002 to 2003, she was the first woman chairman of the Conservative Party.
Prior to her appointment to Cabinet, she was the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions (since 2009) and the shadow minister for women (since 2007).
