Theresa May

About

Lady Theresa May served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019 — the second woman ever to hold the office. Her premiership marked the culmination of 21 years of continuous service in Parliament, having held a total of 14 ministerial or shadow ministerial posts, serving as the first female chairman of the Conservative Party and the longest-serving Conservative home secretary in more than a century.

In her time as prime minister, Lady May led the UK through some of the of the most consequential events in Britain’s recent geopolitical history. Her tenure included a commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making the UK the first major global economy to set such a goal; delivery of the formal notification of the UK’s intention to leave the European Union; the establishment of the British Government’s Race Disparity Unit to examine the treatment of people with different backgrounds across public services, in the workplace, and the criminal justice system; and the coordination of responses to multiple incidents of international and domestic terrorism on British soil, including a March 2018 use of a chemical nerve agent for which there was evidence of Russian state culpability.

Lady May currently works with over 20 charitable and voluntary organisations, including JDRF, the type 1 diabetes charity; the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society; Thames Hospice; the Aldersgate Group, a business organisation which champions environmental sustainability; the Anti-Slavery Collective and a range of other organisations, including those supporting action on domestic abuse and mental health issues. In October 2023, she launched the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking to reinstate the global momentum on tackling these issues.

Courses Taught

GLBL 7116: Democracy in a Changing World