Britain’s second female prime minister is the daughter of a vicar a former Bank of England employee who joined Parliament in 1997. Her rise to the top political job in England was steep and sudden. After Prime Minister David Cameron failed to persuade his countrymen to remain in the European Union he felt obliged to resign his post. Enter May who until that point had served as Home Secretary for six years a position that is widely regarded as the end of political careers not a stepping stone to greater heights. But May 59 is against all odds the newest resident of 10 Downing Street.
A Mixed Vote
May voted to remain in the EU “very reluctantly” according to insiders and colleagues because she wanted to remain loyal to David Cameron. Upon taking office however she acknowledged that the British people had spoken and “Brexit means Brexit.”
Good Manners
Despite just being given a day’s notice that she was to become prime minister enter Downing Street and form her own cabinet May kept a long planned dinner engagement with Chief Rabbi Efraim Mirvis at his home in Hendon North West London. Rabbi Mirvis took the opportunity to praise her turning up seeing in her act a sure sign of deep friendship with the Jewish community.
Strong Impressions
On her first visit toIsraelin June 2014 Mrs. May stopped at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial calling the Shoah “the most terrible crime of history.” On her return toLondon she told the Conservative Party Friends of Israel that in the face of threats from Hamas Hezbollah ISIS andIran Israelmust “maintain a strong defence and security capability and be prepared to deploy it if necessary.”
