Theresa May is the new Conservative Party leader and will become the UK's second female prime minister on Wednesday, taking charge at one of the most turbulent times in recent political history.
The 59-year old home secretary's carefully cultivated image of political dependability and unflappability appears to have made her the right person at the right time as the fallout from the UK's vote to leave the EU smashed possible rivals out of contention.
Long known to have nurtured leadership ambitions of her own, Mrs May - whose university friends recall her ambition to be the UK's first female PM - could have reasonably expected to have had to wait until at least 2018 to have a shot at Downing Street.
But the EU referendum which David Cameron called and lost - the year after leading the party to its first election win in 23 years - turned political certainties on their head and, as other candidates fell by the wayside after the PM's own resignation, Mrs May emerged as the "unity" candidate to succeed him.
That her party should rally round her at such a time of national uncertainty is testament not only to the respect in which she is held across the party but to the fact that, in a world where political reputations can be shredded in an instant, Mrs May is the ultimate political survivor.
In the early days she may have become known for her exuberant choice of footwear - her kitten heels became famous in political circles in the noughties, while she named a lifetime subscription to Vogue as the luxury item she would take to a desert island .

www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36660372

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