from 1977 and 1983 may worked at the bank of england, and from 1985 to 1997 as a financial consultant and senior advisor in international affairs at the association for payment clearing services. may's parents died during this period, her father in a car accident in 1981 and her mother of multiple sclerosis a year later. may served as a councillor for the london borough of merton from 1986 to 1994, where she was chairman of education (1988–90) and deputy group leader and housing spokesman (1992–94).