May plans top team as she prepares to take over from Cameron

Theresa May was planning her Cabinet top team as she prepared to take over as the UK's prime minister from the departing David Cameron on Wednesday.

Her rapid ascent to the top of Britain's political establishment has left her just 48 hours to work out who she wants around her as she takes the UK out of the European Union after June's referendum vote to leave the 28 member bloc.

Events of recent days have moved at such a pace that May finds herself in the top job 19 days after Cameron decided to stand down having failed to convince voters to stay in the EU.

Wednesday's session of Prime Minister's Questions will be Cameron's last. He will then go to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to the Queen with May expected to follow soon after to be formally appointed.

Every supporter of May will be glancing at their phone to see if they have been offered a post in her new government.
The balancing act for Britain's second elected female leader will be to bring the hard right wing of her party and the small “c” conservatives together.

Those who campaigned loudly for Brexit, largely on an anti-immigration platform, will be keeping a close eye on May's position given she voted to remain.

"She's got a real problem of bringing the warring wings of the party together. She'll combine her own strong personal opinions about who she wants to work with, with a desire to bring the party together," said former Cabinet minister and May supporter Ken Clarke.

"To actually get the real head-bangers together on both sides and to see four years of government through will require some political skill… but she's pragmatic, she'll want to get on and do things," he said.

Overcoming the divide would not be easy, given the party's small parliamentary majority, Clarke added.

No-one should be in any doubt about May's ability to withstand pressure. She has been Home Secretary for six years, a tough post that requires tenacity. Her hardline credentials were on display earlier this year when she said Britain should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Equality policies will appeal to those in the centre as she pledged to implement measures to help the disadvantaged, but it will be the subject of Europe, long a running sore for the Conservatives, that may well define her own premiership in the same way it did her predecessor's.