Theresa May's political career in pictures

Theresa May is to step down on 7 June after nearly three years as prime minister.

Here are some of the images defining the career of only the second woman to do the job.

Theresa May (far right, then Theresa Brasier) was beaten by her classmate Rosalind Hicks-Greene (centre) in a mock contest for the role of prime minister in 1974. Friends recall her early ambitions to be the UK's first female leader - Margaret Thatcher beat her to the role by entering Downing Street in 1979.

After school, Mrs May (second left) became heavily involved in student politics at University of Oxford.

Mrs May was elected as MP for Maidenhead in Berkshire in May 1997, having previously run in North West Durham, a safe Labour seat.

Mrs May was appointed home secretary in 2010 when the Conservatives joined with the Liberal Democrats to form the first coalition government in almost 70 years.

As home secretary, Mrs May caused a stir at the annual conference of the Police Federation in 2014 by saying that corruption problems were not limited to "a few bad apples", and threatening to end the federation's automatic right to enrol officers as its members.

Following David Cameron's resignation as prime minister after the the Remain campaign lost the EU referendum, Mrs May became Conservative leader in July 2016. She received the backing of 199 MPs in the second ballot of MPs, with her remaining rival, Andrea Leadsom, stepping aside rather than taking the contest to a full vote among party members.

Mrs May was invited to form a new government by the Queen on 13 July 2016, making her the country's second female prime minister.

Mrs May and her husband Philip waved to gathered media at No 10 on the day she took office. She promised to prioritise working people, "not the mighty nor the wealthy nor the privileged".

Mrs May was also welcomed by staff at Downing Street after she replaced David Cameron.

In January 2017, Mrs May embarked on a two-day visit to the US, becoming the first world leader to meet Donald Trump after he became president. The pair briefly held hands as they walked down the colonnade of the White House, with the picture making newspaper front pages around the world.

Following denials that she would call one, May called announced a snap election in April 2017, to be held on 8 June.

Mrs May set out on her election campaign trail with the slogan "Strong, stable leadership in the national interest".

On the campaign trail, Mrs May was confronted by a woman in Abingdon Market, Oxford about cuts to disability benefits.

While campaigning in Mevagissey, Cornwall, Mrs May was photographed eating chips.

The general election resulted in the Conservatives losing their majority.

The election result was seen as a humiliation for Mrs May. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged her to resign, but she said her party would "ensure" stability in the UK.

On 14 June 2017, Mrs May visited the scene of the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people.

At the Conservative Party annual conference in Manchester in October 2017, protester-comedian Simon Brodkin handed Mrs May a mock P45 (employee leaving form).

Mrs May cut a lonely figure in a widely-used photo of her waiting for a bilateral meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk during an EU summit in Brussels in October 2017.

In 2018, Mrs May danced on to stage to the tune of Abba's Dancing Queen at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

On 14 November 2018, Mrs May met ministers in Downing Street to brief them on the 585-page EU withdrawal agreement, following months of negotiations.

On 15 January this year, the House of Commons held a "meaningful vote" on the negotiated deal. Mrs May is seen here on the previous day, giving a televised speech at the Portmeirion factory in Stoke-on-Trent. MPs voted by 432 votes to 202 to reject the deal - the largest defeat for a sitting government in history.

On 13 March 2019, MPs again rejected Mrs May's deal, with only 16 days to go until the deadline to leave the EU.

Mrs May arranged a short delay to Brexit, but her plans suffered a third defeat in the House of Commons, meaning that she had to ask the EU for a later deadline. They agreed a date of 31 October.

An attempt to bring a fourth vote on her Brexit agreement with the EU angered many Conservatives, with more and more MPs demanding Mrs May's resignation. Announcing in Downing Street that she would step down as Tory leader on 7 June, she was close to tears as she said it had been an honour "to serve the country I love".

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