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Meet Britain's second female PM

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Theresa May replaces David Cameron as UK's prime minister

Mrs Theresa May, the new Conservative Party leader, became Britain's prime minister yesterday, three weeks after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

She is Britain's second female leader after the late Margaret Thatcher.

A shrewd politician, Mrs May, 59, takes power at a tumultuous time.

Here are some facts about her.

Husband: Philip May

He built a career as a fund manager for Prudential Portfolio Managers, de Zoete & Bevan, and Deutsche Asset Management.

Since 2005, he has worked as a relationship manager for Capital Group.

Long-serving home secretary

Mrs May has served in the Cabinet post of home secretary longer than anyone else since the 19th century. She has held the post - overseeing the nation's domestic security and immigration agencies - since 2010.

Educated at Oxford

Mrs May was born into a middle-class family. She attended state schools and was educated at Oxford where, at a dance in 1976, she was introduced to her husband by fellow student Benazir Bhutto, who would become the first female prime minister of Pakistan.

No children

She is the oldest leader to become prime minister since Mr James Callaghan in 1976, and is the first prime minister without children since Mr Ted Heath, who became PM in 1970.

Personality

She said she owns 100 recipe books. On a BBC radio show in 2014, she chose Abba's Dancing Queen and pieces by Mozart and Elgar as records she would listen to on a desert island.

Church-goer

She attends church in the picturesque village of Sonning, where she lives with her husband. Its charms have attracted other high-profile neighbours including Hollywood actor George Clooney and his wife Amal.

Sources: The New York Times, BBC, AFP

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