Sir Philip May
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Sir Philip John May (born 18 September 1957) is an English investment manager. He is the husband of Theresa May, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019.


Early life

May was born in Norwich in 1957. His father was a sales representative for a shoe wholesaler, while his mother taught
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. He grew up on
the Wirral Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee, Wales, River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the Ri ...
, attending school in Heswall and then Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby. May studied history at Lincoln College, Oxford, and was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1979. He succeeded future Conservative MP
Sir Alan Duncan Sir Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957) is a British former Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 201 ...
in the role before handing over the baton to journalist
Michael Crick Michael Lawrence Crick (born 21 May 1958) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He was a founding member of the ''Channel 4 News'' Team in 1982 and remained there until joining the BBC in 1990.Ian Burrel"Michael Crick: 'Cuts are hurt ...
.


Financial career

May has worked in
finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
since graduating from Oxford University. In 2005, he joined the financial group
Capital Group Capital Group is an American financial services company. It ranks among the world's oldest and largest investment management organizations, with over $2.6 trillion in assets under management. Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1931, it is pri ...
as a relationship manager; he had previously been a fund manager for de Zoete & Bevan, Prudential Portfolio Managers and Deutsche Asset Management. His former LinkedIn profile listed his focuses in work as pension fund and insurance relationship management. In regards to his persona, one of his colleagues told '' The Guardian'' that "around the office, he is a fairly head-down type of guy. There is a stereotypical investment manager with a big ego – he's not like that at all." After his wife Theresa May emerged as the remaining candidate for the Conservative Party leadership, May's employer issued a statement saying his current job does not make him responsible for investment decisions: " ayis not involved with, and doesn't manage, money and is not a portfolio manager. His job is to ensure the clients are happy with the service and that we understand their goals."


Involvement in politics

May briefly served as chairman of the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
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association before reportedly deciding to concentrate on a career in finance. Nonetheless he remained consistently active and enthusiastic as a Tory supporter, and often described as an "experienced Conservative activist". He was named in the
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in 2016. May did not attend meetings to advise the Prime Minister in any official capacity but was referred to by some as the Prime Minister's 'most trusted adviser', following her consultation with him over calling the snap general election in 2017 and her 2016 Conservative Party Conference speech. He helped to canvass voters ahead of the
2017 Copeland by-election There was a by-election in the British parliamentary constituency of Copeland on 23 February 2017 (the same day as the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election), following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Jamie Reed. Conservativ ...
and supports his wife in her
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constituency affairs. May made his first official visit as the British PM's spouse to the G20
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in July 2017 at
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. During the visit, he attended gala concerts and took boat trips with the spouses of other world leaders. On 27 January 2019, '' The Sunday Times'' reported Theresa May's chief of staff Lord Barwell broke ranks to accuse Philip May of "scuppering" plans to offer the Labour Party a permanent customs union with the EU to try to push the
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through parliament. May is said to have encouraged his wife to seek changes to the deal by removing the
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, in order for it to be approved by parliament with the support of the DUP and
Brexiteer In the wake of the referendum held in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016, many new pieces of Brexit-related jargon entered popular use.Al Jazeera. (2018)''Brexit jargon: From backstop to no deal, 17 key terms explained'' (Al Jazeera) Retrieved 2 ...
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. In July 2020, he was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in Boris Johnson's belated (2019) Dissolution Honours. He formally received the honour in October 2021 from the Prince of Wales.


Personal life

May and his future wife, then Theresa Brasier, met as undergraduates at Oxford, being introduced by
Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...
at a
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
student event. They further bonded over a shared love of
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, and were married on 6 September 1980 by Theresa's father,
Hubert Brasier Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead, (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019 ...
. As the
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, May avoided giving interviews or making public statements but did accompany his wife for a joint interview on the BBC One programme '' The One Show'' prior to the
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. During this interview, Theresa May admitted her sadness, for health reasons, she and Philip have not been able to have children, saying: "You look at families all the time and you see there is something there that you don't have". Also in the interview, May said: "I get to decide when I take the bins out. Not if I take them out", and commented, "I do the traditional boy jobs by and large." Asked about the downside to being married to the Prime Minister, May insisted it was a privilege, saying: "If you're the kind of man who expects his tea to be on the table at six o'clock every evening, you could be a disappointed man."


Arms


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Philip 1957 births Living people People educated at Calday Grange Grammar School People from Norwich Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) people English bankers Presidents of the Oxford Union Spouses of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Husbands of national leaders