
As he lent in to give his wife a peck on the cheek, the husband of new prime minister Theresa May looked every inch the supportive 'first husband' today as he evoked memories of a similar show of affection dished out by the Iron Lady's Denis Thatcher 30 years ago.

Mrs May will become Britain's second woman prime minister on Wednesday evening after she was handed power by Andrea Leadsom today.

Just like Margaret Thatcher the current Home Secretary had a burning desire to lead the country and enjoys the love and support of her 'rock' husband of 36 years, Philip May.

Now the couple are set to enter Downing Street as her extraordinary rise to the very top of British politics was completed by Mrs Leadsom's shock decision to quit the Tory leadership battle today.

And this afternoon Mr May bore an uncanny resemblance to Denis Thatcher as he posed for photographs with the new prime minister outside Westminster.

He kissed his wife before the couple both waved to the camera in two separate moments that produced almost identical photographs of Margaret Thatcher and her husband in 1985.

As he lent in to give his wife a peck on the cheek, the husband of new Prime Minister Theresa May, left, looked every inch the supportive 'first husband' today as he evoked memories of a similar show of affection dished out by the Iron Lady's Denis Thatcher 30 years ago, right

This afternoon Philip May bore an uncanny resemblance to Denis Thatcher as he and his wife both waved to the camera (pictured left) in an image that was almost identical to one of Margaret Thatcher and her husband outside 10 Downing Street in May 1989 (right)

Mrs May, pictured at Henley Festival on Friday, previously told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs that her husband had been a 'huge support' when her parents died

Spitting image: Philip May stands alongside wife Theresa today (left) while Denis Thatcher is pictured with his wife Margaret in 1989 (right)

Couple: Theresa May with her husband Philip, who has often been compared to Lady Thatcher's quiet and supportive husband Denis

It came as Mrs May released an extraordinary set of unseen private pictures charting her life, and her strong relationship with husband Philip, who she married in 1980.

One powerful image shows her standing proudly with her new husband at her side on their wedding day and offers a rare insight into the private life of the new prime minister.

The couple met while studying at Oxford, where the future Mrs May had told friends she wanted to be prime minister, and tied the knot four years later.

Philip May has quietly been supporting his wife throughout her escalating career as he, like Denis Thatcher, follows a financial career, as an adviser to wealthy clients.

Mr and Mrs Thatcher met through the Conservative party while Mr and Mrs May met at a Tory disco and bonded over their shared love of cricket. Denis' passion was rugby.

In 1997 when Mrs May was first elected to Parliament Mr May stood proudly by her as she wore a blue suit remarkably similar to the one Mrs Thatcher donned when she became prime minister in 1979.

The Mays, who married in September 1980, live together in an immaculate home in Sonning, Berkshire, where the neighbours include George and Amal Clooney and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

They met at Oxford and her then boyfriend and future husband — two years her junior — was the toast of the debating chamber. A friend of Benazir Bhutto, the future Prime Minister of Pakistan who was to be assassinated in 2007.

Theresa May married her husband Peter in 1980 at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Wheatley in Oxfordshire. To the left of Philip are his parents John and Joy May. To the right of Mrs May is her clergyman father Hubert, maternal grandmother Violet Barnes and her mother Zaidee in a wheelchair

The couple met while studying at Oxford, where the then Theresa Brasier had told friends she wanted to be prime minister (pictured together in 1977)

Mrs May attended church on Sunday morning with her husband Philip near her Maidenhead constituency in Berkshire this weekend

It was Benazir who introduced Philip to Theresa at a Conservative association disco — he the centre of much attention, she the barely-noticed ex-grammar schoolgirl and vicar's daughter.

The couple married soon after he graduated, but he still persuaded her to return to debate him over whether 'sex is great'.

Those who knew the Mays in their early married days say banker Philip was the one thought more likely to go into politics.

It was presumed Theresa would be the wage-earner as she, too, had gone into the City and become a great success.

But then she was elected to Merton Borough Council, had success running local schools and her political ambition was stoked.

One friend said of Philip: 'He's supportive but not competitive. He's reserved, kind, polite. He's also a bit shy.'

Another told the Guardian: 'Philip is really lovely. He's just a regular, nice guy who's bright like she is. They still totally love each other and have a great friendship. He is good for her because he's aware she's home secretary but she's still just Theresa to him…When they're together, they seem younger.'

He also clearly loves and admires his wife, when asked if Mrs May was a beauty he replied: 'Was? She still is'.

The couple have no children, for health reasons, which is said to be of great regret to them.

In a rare comment on the matter Mrs May said in 2012: 'I think if you talk to anybody who would like to have had children… I mean, you look at families all the time and you see there is something there that you don't have'.

The future Mrs May, pictured with her mum and dad in 1961, lost both her parents when she was aged just 25

The support from Phillip, pictured standing next to Mrs May in 1980, provided crucial when her parents died

'It just didn't happen. This isn't something I generally go into, but things just turned out as they did.'

Friends see this as part of the reason she immerses herself so very deeply in her work. She is often trawling through her ministerial red boxes often until two in the morning, or, for example, firing off emails on government matters on Christmas Eve.

Being without children is something she has in common with Germany's Angela Merkel, whom she admires for 'getting things done' and who, like her, is also the daughter of a clergyman.

The support of her husband proved crucial when Mrs May's parents both died the year after the wedding, when she was aged just 25.

The then Theresa Brasier went up to St Hugh's College, Oxford, to study geography in October 1974.

Friends say she went out with a few other men but 'nobody who was special' before being introduced to Mr May by Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's future prime minister, at an Oxford Conservative disco in 1976.

They married in 1980 at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Wheatley in Oxfordshire, where Miss Brasier's father was vicar.

I think if you talk to anybody who would like to have had children… I mean, you look at families all the time and you see there is something there that you don't have. It just didn't happen. Theresa May on not being able to have children

But tragedy struck the following year when her 64-year-old father Rev Hubert Brasier died in a car crash as he drove to conduct a service.

A report of the inquest described how the vicar had been trying to cross the busy A40 outside Oxford in his Morris Marina when he was involved in a high speed collision.

He 'edged forward from the central reservation into the path of a Range Rover' and died a few hours later from head and spine injuries.

Mrs May's mother Zaidee, pictured in a wheelchair in the wedding photo, died soon afterwards after a battle with multiple sclerosis.

Mrs May has previously told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs that her husband had been a 'huge support' during such a difficult time.

She said: 'That was very important for me. He was a real rock for me.'

Alicia Collinson, a close friend at Oxford, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'It was dreadful... Theresa had Philip and Philip saw her through that. He was and remains her rock.'

Mr May was two years below his future wife when they met at Oxford, and was still studying in 1977 when she graduated and took a job at the Bank of England.

A diary story in the student newspaper Cherwell jokingly suggested that by his final year in 1979, she warned him she would end it 'if he hesitates any longer in announcing his intention to make an honest woman of the Vicar's daughter.'

The couple became engaged in the summer of that year and wed the following September. After graduating, Mr May went on to have a glittering career in the City. Other photos released by Mrs May show her as a youngster with her parents, her devoted father with his arm around her.

She is also pictured hiking in the Swiss Alps, canvassing in the North West Durham constituency in 1992, when she lost to Labour, and campaigning in her successful campaign in Maidenhead in 1997.

Theresa May has made no secret of her admiration for Margaret Thatcher as she has become the most powerful female politician in Britain since the Iron Lady.

But when the Tory leadership frontrunner entered Parliament in 1997 it is clear her inspiration was both political and sartorial.

Mrs May wore a blue power suit extraordinarily similar to the one worn by Mrs Thatcher when she swept into Downing Street in 1979.

Mrs Thatcher wore head to toe blue on many occasions in her 11 years as Prime Minister as she became an icon for many Tory supporters.

Mrs May has brushed off comparisons with Margaret Thatcher as a woman aspiring to lead her country, saying: 'Whether it's a woman or a man, what counts is the quality of the individual.'

But the similarities are obvious.

Mrs May became an MP for the first time in 1997 when she won her seat in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Within two years she was in William Hague's shadow cabinet, the same amount of time it took Mrs Thatcher to get a senior post.

Mrs May would later serve under Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard and David Cameron in opposition.

In 2010 she became the Tory Home Secretary and has been there ever since, becoming the longest-serving home secretary since Henry Matthews in 1892, overtaking Rab Butler's 2,007 days under Harold Macmillan.

The Home Secretary is a fan of a power suit but is famously unapologetic about her fancy footwear, having described her sometimes maverick choices as a conversation starter.

She once said: ‘I have no regrets (about being famous for my shoes). The good thing is that they are often an icebreaker.'

The Tory MP famously sported a pair of leopard-print kitten heels at the Conservatives’ annual party conference back in 2002...and the eye-catching footwear has kept coming ever since.

A supporter at the Conservative fundraising Black and White Ball once splashed out a cool £17,500 to go on a shoe-shopping mission with Mrs May.

And the Home Secretary even suggested once that her shoe-style had encouraged a young supporter to venture into politics: 'I was in the Commons recently and saw a young lady wearing a nice pair of shoes.