On Monday, July 11, British Home Secretary Theresa May was confirmed as the new leader of the Conservative Party with "immediate effect" and set to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister of Britain. Cameron announced his resignation on June 24, a day after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservative 1922 committee that oversaw the leadership campaign confirmed that May, the only remaining candidate in the Tory leadership battle after her rival Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the contest, is now the new leader of the party "with immediate effect".
The announcement came after outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that May will be his successor as leader of the Conservative Party and decided to step down to pave the way for her to become the next British Prime Minister.
Cameron offered his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, July 13.
In a brief statement outside 10 Downing Street, Cameron said Leadsom had made "absolutely the right decision" to stand aside and that he was "delighted" May, the Home Secretary, was to succeed him.
He said a "prolonged period of transition" was not necessary.
"So tomorrow (Tuesday) I will chair my last cabinet meeting. On Wednesday I will attend the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Questions. After that I expect to go to the Palace and offer my resignation," BBC quoted him as saying.
Earlier in the day, Leadsom withdrew from the race to become Britain's next Prime Minister, saying that May is "ideally placed to implement Brexit on the best possible terms for the British people."
"I wish Theresa May the very greatest of success, I assure her of my full support," Efe news quoted her as saying.
May, who supported the "remain" vote during the UK referendum on its membership of the European Union will be the second female British Prime Minister.
Conservative Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990.
Theresa May is the daughter of a Church of England vicar and has been often compared with Margaret Thatcher.
Even before entering Downing Street, May, now 59, made history by becoming the longest serving Home Secretary in more than 100 years.
No wonder, she won substantial support from her Conservative party in the leadership race, polling 199 votes to her rival and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom's 84.
Holding the post of Home Secretary since 2010 and an MP for Maidenhead from 1997, May became famous in early years in politics for her exuberant choice of footwear.
Her vicar father died following a car crash when she was only 25. May's middle-class background is said to be more in keeping with the last female occupant of Downing Street, Margaret Thatcher (1979–90).
May went to Oxford University for studies. There, she met her husband Philip, a president of the Oxford Union, in 1976.
Media reports say they were introduced at a Conservative disco by Benazir Bhutto, another student who would later go on to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
May will be the oldest leader to enter Downing Street since James Callaghan in 1976 and will be the first Prime Minister since Ted Heath who does not have children.
May, who has become a role model for aspiring female MPs, told prospective candidates before the 2015 election: "There is always a seat out there with your name on it."
In politics, her stand on social issues gained her more prominence. She backed same-sex marriage, said in 2012 that the legal limit for abortion should be lowered from 24 to 20 weeks and, along with most Conservative MPs, voted against an outright ban on fox hunting.
And with a strong personality, she firmly ruled out bringing forward the day of the next election, set for May 2020.
May has pledged to forge a new role for Britain outside the European Union.
One of the biggest problems she faces is the new trade arrangements her government will have to strike up with the European Union and with other countries.
One of her first major decisions is to invoke Article 50 of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty to set in motion the process of the country's exit from the EU.