Profile: Theresa May

Theresa May, who is the second woman to hold the post of home secretary, after Jacqui Smith, faces the task of preserving her political reputation in one of Whitehall's "elephant trap" jobs. A former policy high-flier in the City, May is the first big winner of the coalition, having been promoted from shadow work and pensions spokeswoman. She will also be the minister for women, equality and diversity. She was elected to the Commons in 1997 after lengthy experience in local politics on Merton council, south London, and was fast-tracked to the shadow cabinet. In 2002 Iain Duncan Smith made her the first woman Conservative party chairman. As well as making an impact with her "kitten-heeled" shoes, she also famously told party activists that they were seen as "the nasty party". In-tray: • Immigration: working out how the proposed cap on skilled migrants entering Britain from outside the EU will operate. • ID cards: scrapping of these, biometric passports and other elements of the "great repeal bill/freedom bill", including curbs on growth of the surveillance state and an end to police collection of DNA from innocent people. • Policing: managing the way through a head-on clash with chief constables over Conservative plans for directly elected police commissioners and Lib Dem plans for directly-elected police authorities. • Counter-terrorism: reviewing the "preventing violent extremism" programme, plus a possible ban on Hizb-ut-Tahrir, and consolidation of "reams" of security laws.