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 The wax figure of May, stepping out of Number
10 Downing Street in a red power suit and leopardskin
kitten-heeled shoes, was unveiled by Madame Tussauds, a waxworks
museum that is one of London's top tourist attractions.
The real May, meanwhile, was battling multiple crises at once,
with several of her cabinet ministers embroiled in scandals,
open strife in her party over how to deliver Brexit and
persistent debate about her suitability for the job.
"Whilst her policies may be questioned we can guarantee our wax
figure of the prime minister is most definitely strong and
stable," said Edward Fuller, general manager of Madame Tussauds,
poking fun at an election campaign slogan that backfired on May.
Presenting herself as pillar of "strong and stable leadership",
May called a snap election in June expecting to win by a hefty
margin, but her campaign failed to inspire the voters and she
instead lost her parliamentary majority.
Since then, her divided government has lurched from one crisis
to another, with May's humiliation culminating in a speech at
her party conference during which a prankster joined her on
stage and letters fell off a slogan behind her.
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 There was none of that sense of chaos and drift
in the scene presented by Madame Tussauds, which shows a smiling
May holding a smart black folder and stepping forward from the
famous black door of her Downing Street office.
The red suit worn by the wax figure is the same as the one
donned by May for a visit to the White House during which she
held hands with U.S. President Donald Trump -- one of the most
widely published images of her term as prime minister.
The real May also wore the red suit on election night in June,
an unhappy occasion that saw her appear on stage to acknowledge
victory in her local electoral district even as the scale of the
debacle on the national scale was becoming clear.
The wax May will now reside at the museum in close proximity to
the likenesses of other world leaders including Trump and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon)
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