Theresa May A tough pragmatist
Incoming prime minister Theresa May is a tough, hard-working pragmatist who now has the task of uncoupling Britain from the European Union, and of uniting her country and her party.
May took over yesterday as Britain's second female prime minister after fellow Conservative Margaret Thatcher, succeeding David Cameron after he resigned in the wake of the shock vote for Brexit on June 23.
The 59-year-old, who has been Cameron's interior minister for the past six years, had officially backed her boss's campaign to stay in the EU.
But she kept a low profile, emerging relatively unscathed after the vote and presenting herself as the leader who could unify a nation deeply split by the referendum.
She insists "Brexit means Brexit" but has promised to work for the best deal for Britain outside the bloc.
In an unguarded moment, senior Conservative Ken Clarke labelled her a "bloody difficult woman" -- a description that May has embraced.
"The next person to find that out will be Jean-Claude Juncker," she reportedly told MPs, referring to Brexit negotiations with the European Commission president.
May became a Conservative lawmaker in 1997, holding the post of party chairman before entering the cabinet after the Conservatives won the 2010 general election.
May was born Theresa Brasier in the southern English seaside town of Eastbourne in 1956.
Her father Hubert was a pastor, one of several points which has drawn comparisons between her and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Her education -- at a series of little-known state and private schools -- has been contrasted with the elite Etonian background of Cameron and many of his inner circle.
Like Cameron, she attended Oxford University, where she met her husband, a banker. They were reportedly introduced by Benazir Bhutto, who later became Pakistani premier, and were married in 1980.
May worked in finance, including at the Bank of England, before being elected.
May's job for the past six years, home secretary, is viewed as one of the hardest jobs in government which has wrecked a string of other political careers.
A source who has worked closely with her told AFP on condition of anonymity she has "always got up three hours before everybody else and knows five times more than anyone else in the room".
"Theresa is not going to do anything radical... she's incredibly risk-averse, a safe pair of hands," the source said.
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