Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Theresa May, left, at the start of an audience in Buckingham Palace, London, where she invited the former Home Secretary to become prime minister and form a new government on Wednesday. APLondon: Britain's tough former interior minister Theresa May became prime minister on Wednesday, promising to champion social justice and rise to the challenge of leading the country out of the European Union.
In a surprise move, May also appointed former London mayor Boris Johnson as the British foreign minister.
May, 59 assumed office after an audience with Queen Elizabeth and drove straight to her new home of 10 Downing Street, vacated hours earlier by David Cameron, whose resignation after the vote to leave the EU brought her to power.
"We will rise to the challenge. As we leave the European Union we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us," she said.
Cameron stepped down after Britons rejected his entreaties to stay in the EU last month with a decision to get out that severely undermines European efforts to forge greater unity and creates economic uncertainty across the 28-nation bloc.
David Cameron (L) speaks at the dispatch box with Theresa May (C) on the front bench during his last Prime Minister's Questions. AFPMay must now try to limit the damage to British trade and investment as she renegotiates the country's ties with its 27 EU partners. She will also attempt to unite her divided Conservative party and a fractured nation in which many, on the evidence of the vote, feel angry with the political elite and left behind by the forces of globalization.
New PM's promise – your interests first
In comments addressed to ordinary Britons, she spoke of the 'burning injustice' suffered by large sections of society: poor people facing shorter life expectancy; blacks treated more harshly by the criminal justice system; women earning less than men; the mentally ill; and young people struggling to buy homes.
Cameron orders spicy Indian food for 'last supper' as British PM
Acknowledging the struggles faced by many people, May declared: "The government I lead will be driven not be the interests of the privileged few, but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives."
Boris Johnson as foreign minister
Shortly afterwards, her office announced that foreign minister Philip Hammond would become finance minister, replacing George Osborne whose determination to balance Britain's books made him synonymous with austerity.
Boris Johnson. File photoThe appointment of Boris Johnson as foreign minister was indeed a surprise as he was a leading figure in the victorious 'Leave' campaign in Britain's European Union membership referendum last month. May was in the 'Remain' band and she later stated that 'Brexit means Brexit'.
Johnson had been considered the front-runner to become prime minister himself before being sidelined by moves against him within the ruling Conservative Party.
Johnson's role in Britain's negotiations over its future relationship with the EU is likely to be limited because May is expected to create a new ministerial post focused exclusively on Brexit issues.
Nevertheless, as foreign minister, Johnson, who has never previously held a cabinet post, will have to address questions about the country's role in the world after its exit from the EU and he will inherit Britain's often difficult relationship with Russia.
May also spoke of the 'precious bond' between the nations of the United Kingdom, implicit recognition of the tensions generated by the referendum in which England and Wales chose to quit the EU, but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay, raising the possibility of a new Scottish vote on independence.
US congratulates May
The United States congratulated May and said it was confident in her ability to steer Britain through the Brexit negotiations.
"Based on the public comments we've seen from the incoming prime minister, she intends to pursue a course that's consistent with the prescription that President Obama has offered," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
An official photograph showed May curtsying to a smiling Queen Elizabeth, for whom she is the 13th prime minister in a line that started with Winston Churchill.
She is also Britain's second female head of government after Margaret Thatcher.
Divorce talks
EU leaders, keen to move forward after the shock of 'Brexit', want May to launch formal divorce proceedings as soon as possible to help resolve the uncertainty.
Britain's outgoing PM David Cameron (2nd L), is applauded after prime minister's questions in the House of Commons, in central London, Britain in this still image taken from video. Parliament TV/Handout via REUTERSBut she has said the process should not be launched before the end of year, to give time for Britain to draw up its negotiating strategy.
Outside Downing Street, a group of demonstrators chanted: 'What do we want? Brexit! When do we want it? Now!'
Although she favored Britain remaining in Europe, May has repeatedly declared that 'Brexit means Brexit' and that there can be no attempt to reverse the referendum outcome.
The shock vote partly reflected discontent with EU rules on freedom of movement that have contributed to record-high immigration - an issue on which May, as interior minister for the past six years, is politically vulnerable.
But EU leaders have made clear that free movement is a fundamental principle that goes hand-in-hand with access to the bloc's tariff-free single market, a stance that will hugely complicate May's task in hammering out new terms of trade.
Outgoing British prime minister David Cameron (L) waves outside 10 Downing Street with his family (L-R) his daughter Nancy Gwen, son Arthur Elwen, daughter Florence Rose Endellion and his wife Samantha Cameron in central London on Wednesday before going to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. AFP"My advice to my successor, who is a brilliant negotiator, is that we should try to be as close to the European Union as we can be for the benefits of trade, cooperation and of security," Cameron told parliament in his last appearance before resigning.
Appearing later in Downing Street with his wife Samantha and their three children, he delivered his parting remarks to the nation after six years dominated by the Europe question and the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
"It's not been an easy journey and of course we've not got every decision right," he said, "but I do believe that today our country is much stronger."
In parliament, Cameron took the opportunity to trumpet his government's achievements in generating one of the fastest growth rates among western economies, chopping the budget deficit, creating 2.5 million jobs and legalizing gay marriage.
Yet his legacy will be overshadowed by his failed referendum gamble, which he had hoped would keep Britain at the heart of a reformed EU.
(With agency inputs)
