[00:00.00]British Prime Minister Theresa May took office Wednesday, [00:05.28]becoming the country¡¯s second woman leader after Margaret Thatcher. [00:10.76]May was formally appointed by Queen Elizabeth after a meeting at Buckingham Palace. [00:20.67] The new prime minister succeeded David Cameron, [00:24.36] who stepped down after Britain voted to leave the European Union. [00:30.84]May is already being compared to Thatcher, the iconic former leader known [00:36.77] as the ¡°Iron Lady.¡± [00:41.86]Thatcher, a Conservative, was Britain¡¯s longest-serving prime minister [00:47.18] of the 20thcentury, holding office from 1979 to 1990. Besides being [00:55.41] Britain¡¯s first female prime minister, she was also the first woman [01:00.89] to lead a major Western democracy. [01:06.48]One of the main comparisons between the two women is that May, 59, [01:12.67] will be leading Britain through a historically important time. [01:18.34] She will be in charge of overseeing the country¡¯s complex transition out of the EU. [01:24.50]Before last month¡¯s referendum, also referred to as ¡°Brexit,¡± [01:32.46] May campaigned with Cameron for Britain to stay in the EU. [01:39.34] Since the vote, she has pledged to help the country [01:42.93]¡°forge a new role for ourselves in the world.¡± [01:47.89]Britain¡¯s stock market and currency plunged after [01:51.71] the Brexit vote and economists have predicted more [01:55.90]challenges ahead. This week, the EU¡¯s economic affairs [02:01.64]commissioner warned Britain¡¯s economic growth could drop [02:06.30] 2.5 percent as a result of Brexit. [02:11.99]Britain will also be faced with negotiating separate trade [02:16.20] and political relationships with EU member nations. Cameron [02:22.88] called May ¡°a brilliant negotiator¡± Wednesday and urged [02:27.76]her to maintain close ties with EU states. [02:33.53]Earlier this week, May said her goal would be to ¡°negotiate [02:38.21]the best deal for Britain in leaving the EU.¡± She said she would [02:43.66]also aim to ¡°make a success¡± of Brexit. [02:48.82]It is clear that May will need to rely on her negotiating skills, [02:54.53] as well as those of others, to lead Britain through the Brexit process. [03:01.56] Thatcher was considered a tough negotiator from day one and she built on [03:06.09] that reputation throughout her career. [03:11.21]Thatcher maintained a firm stance on separatist movements in Northern [03:15.53] Ireland. She also used strong language when addressing the Soviet [03:19.96] Union and its nuclear expansion during the Cold War. [03:26.85]Whether May will adopt this same approach to her public statements [03:33.82]and negotiating style remains to be seen. [03:36.94]On her first day in office, May appointed Boris Johnson, a leading [03:41.15]supporter of Brexit, as the new foreign secretary. She is expected to [03:47.65]appoint a special minister to guide the Brexit process and be a chief negotiator. [03:54.42]Perhaps the most interesting parallels the two women share can be [04:01.17]seen in a historical context. [04:06.05]May faces Brexit uncertainties and a declining economy. [04:10.08]Thatcher came into office at a time when Britain was going through [04:12.29] political and economic turmoil. Labor disputes throughout the 1970s [04:24.75]led to widespread strikes and high unemployment. There was public [04:27.93] anger over high taxes, power shortages and trash in the streets. [04:33.48]In 1976, economic conditions got so bad that Britain¡¯s currency [04:40.19]collapsed and nearly led the country into bankruptcy. Thatcher [04:46.35]was elected on a platform of fighting the recession and dealing [04:50.99]strictly with labor organizations seen as causing unrest. [04:56.23]May will also have to deal with the global problem of terrorism, [05:02.71] which has directly hit Britain in the past. [05:07.51]Thatcher faced persistent terror problems and was targeted herself [05:11.38]in a bombing in 1984. Thatcher was not hurt in the attack, [05:17.31]which was claimed by the Irish Republican Army. [05:22.72]Just weeks before she took office, Thatcher¡¯s spokesman on Northern [05:28.23]Ireland was killed in a car bombing as he drove out of a parking [05:31.22] garage. The IRA claimed responsibility for that attack too. [05:38.54]Both Thatcher and May started as cabinet ministers in Conservative [05:44.16]governments before winning as prime minister. Thatcher served as [05:49.91]education secretary under the government of Edward Heath. [05:54.84]In her six years as Home Secretary, May has been in charge of [05:59.44]the country¡¯s immigration, citizenship and national security. [06:05.67] All of those areas were big issues during the campaigns of both [06:13.29]sides during the Brexit debate. [06:15.30]I¡¯m Bryan Lynn.