Theresa May becomes the UK's Prime Minister today after her only remaining rival in the Tory leadership race, Andrea Leadsom, dropped out earlier this week.
David Cameron holds his final Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon and May will be in office by the evening.
Regarded as one of the party's more liberal high-profile figures, she describes herself as a "one-nation conservative". So what does she stand for and how has she voted in the past?
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Brexit
May officially supported the Remain camp, but says she accepts the vote of the people and that "Brexit is Brexit". She has vowed to be "bloody difficult" with EU bosses in negotiations and wants an "orderly" exit, pledging not to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty before the end of 2016.
Immigration
In 2010, her first year as Home Secretary, May pledged to bring net immigration down to less than 100,000. In 2015, it had reached 330,000. Earlier this year, she limited permanent non-EU immigration to people making more than £35,000 a year.
Education
May voted in favour of raising the tuition fee cap to £9,000 a year. However, she initially voted against introducing the fees.
Economy
May has consistently voted for cuts in welfare spending and supported the controversial "bedroom tax". She has also presided over huge budget cuts to the police service.
Foreign policy
May voted in favour of the interventions in Iraq in 2003 and for action in Syria in 2013 (which was vetoed) and again in 2015 (which went through). She wants to replace Trident with a new nuclear weapons system.
Gay rights
May voted in favour of same-sex marriage in 2013 but voted against gay adoption in 2002 and against the repeal of Section 28 in 2000.
Environment
May has voted against measures to prevent climate change and in favour of culling badgers.
Human rights
May has argued for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, claiming it caused the delays to the extraditions and deportations of various extremists.
Surveillance
May is a keen supporter of the investigatory powers bill, known as the "snooper's charter", which seeks to extend the powers of state surveillance. Dr Gus Hosein, the executive director of Privacy International, believes the legislation will be pushed through once she is prime minister. "It is a sad reality that the referendum – where people declared they wanted more control over their lives – is going to result in the most draconian surveillance law in the democratic world," he told technology website Alphr.
Social mobility
At the launch of her leadership campaign earlier this week, May said she wanted to "make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few but for every single one of us", singling out the rise in VAT and how it had become harder for people to buy their own home. However, The Independent says May has consistently voted to raise VAT since 2010 and voted against building 100,000 affordable homes in 2013 and a ban on estate agents charging tenant fees the following year.
