List of international prime ministerial trips made by Theresa May
This is a list of international prime ministerial trips made by Theresa May, who served as the 54th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 13 July 2016 until her resignation on 24 July 2019. Theresa May has made 73 trips to 33 countries during her premiership.
The number of visits per country:
- One visit to Argentina, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Kenya, North Macedonia, Malta, Nigeria, Norway, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain and Turkey
- Two visits to Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Switzerland
- Three visits to Netherlands and Poland
- Four visits to Italy and the United States
- Nine visits to Germany
- Ten visits to France
- Twenty-seven visits to Belgium
2016
| Country | Location | Dates | Details |
| Berlin | Inaugural visit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to discuss Germany–United Kingdom relations while the United Kingdom prepares for Brexit, insisting that the UK intends to retain the "closest economic links" with European countries despite withdrawing from the European Union. May has said that the UK does not plan to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union within the year, saying that the UK needs time to secure a "sensible and orderly departure" from the EU. | ||
| Paris | May met with French President François Hollande in Paris to discuss France–United Kingdom relations while the United Kingdom prepares for Brexit, insisting that the UK intends to retain the "closest economic links" with European countries despite withdrawing from the European Union. | ||
| Rome | May met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome to discuss the UK's relationship with the European Union following Brexit. The two premiers agreed to maintain the "closest possible economic ties" once the UK leaves the EU. Renzi said that Brexit negotiations should be as "efficient as possible" and suggested the use of a timeline. During a press conference, May said that the UK government would guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK to be protected under the condition that the rights of UK citizens living in other EU member states would also be guaranteed. | ||
| Bratislava | May met with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava to discuss the UK's relationship with the European Union following Brexit. | ||
| Warsaw | May met with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło in Warsaw to discuss the UK's relationship with the European Union following Brexit. | ||
| Hangzhou | In her first trip outside of Europe as prime minister, May travelled to China to attend the G-20 summit meeting in Hangzhou. | ||
| New York City | May travelled to New York City to participate in the General Debate of the seventy-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, where she also gave her first address to the General Assembly. She also held bilateral meetings with world leaders including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Malcolm Turnbull, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Hassan Rouhani, Shinzō Abe, Joseph Muscat, John Key, Nawaz Sharif and President Erdoğan of Turkey. She also attended a reception for American companies operating in the United Kingdom. | ||
| Kongens Lyngby | May met with Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen at the Marienborg in Kongens Lyngby, near Copenhagen. Løkke said that the Danish and British governments will aim for a "friendly divorce" as the United Kingdom would trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union by the end of March 2017. Both prime ministers "firmly agreed" to "stand up for free trade" between Denmark and the UK as the latter prepares for its Brexit negotiations. | ||
| The Hague | May met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Hague to gain the Netherlands' support ahead of the United Kingdom's Brexit negotiations. Both prime ministers discussed enhancing and maintaining Netherlands–UK relations ahead of the negotiations. | ||
| Madrid | May met with acting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a working lunch at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid to discuss the effect of Brexit on Spain–United Kingdom relations and the proposed second Scottish independence referendum, to which Rajoy said that Spain supports a "continued integrity" of the United Kingdom. May pledged to protect the interests of Spaniards in the United Kingdom amid the effects of the Brexit negotiations, while Rajoy also pledged a similar commitment to the Britons in Spain. They may have also discussed the disputed status of Gibraltar. | ||
| Brussels | May attended her first European Council summit, where the European migrant crisis, trade, and Russia were on the agenda. May also laid out her approach for the Brexit negotiations, which includes triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union by the end of March 2017. | ||
| New Delhi, Bangalore | In her first bilateral trip outside Europe and first trade mission, May met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss India–United Kingdom trade relations following Brexit and to inaugurate the India–UK Tech Summit. In New Delhi, she also visited the India Gate and the Gandhi Smriti, and met with President Pranab Mukherjee. In Bangalore, May met with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, visited school children at the Stonehill Government School, toured the Dynamatic Technologies facility, and visited the Halasuru Someshwara Temple. | ||
| Germany | Berlin | May met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and United States President Barack Obama to discuss trade, the Ukrainian crisis, the Syrian Civil War, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. | |
| Manama | May attended a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Manama and held bilateral meetings with each leader of the member states to discuss security cooperation, trade and investment, the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars, and Iran. She also met with investors, Royal Navy personnel of the UK Joint Expeditionary Force on, and the Bahraini youth. May became the first British Prime Minister and woman leader to participate in the Gulf Cooperation Council summit. | ||
| Belgium | Brussels | May attended the European Council summit. |
2017
| Country | Location | Dates | Details |
| Davos | May addressed and met with business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reassuring them of their relationship amid her government's Brexit plans. | ||
| United States | Philadelphia, Washington metropolitan area | May met with Congressional Republicans at their biannual joint retreat in Philadelphia, on 26 January. May addressed both the House Republican Conference and the Senate Republican Conference, where she called on U.S. lawmakers not to renounce the Iran nuclear deal and to support international organizations like NATO and the United Nations. Following this, May travelled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House. She was the first head of government to meet with Trump since his inauguration. The two leaders discussed trade relations ahead of the Brexit negotiations, NATO, the Syrian Civil War, relations with Russia, and counter-terrorism. May also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. | |
| Ankara | May travelled to Turkey and met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım. May became the first Western leader to visit Turkey following the attempted coup in the Summer of 2016. May discussed free trade agreements with Turkey after Brexit process, including the establishment of a joint working group to lay the groundwork for a free trade agreement. May also discussed counter-terrorism, fight against ISIL and ongoing reunification talks on Cyprus. In addition, May also agreed a £100 million defence deal with Turkey, in order to help Turkey develop their own fighter jets. May also laid a wreath at the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern-day Turkey. | ||
| Dublin | May met with Taoiseach Enda Kenny ahead of the Brexit negotiations triggering Article 50, to which May and Kenny expressed their desires for a "seamless, frictionless" border between the Republic and Northern Ireland. | ||
| Valletta | May attended the EU summit, where the European migrant crisis, the presidency of Donald Trump, and Brexit were discussed. This summit gave May the opportunity to discuss with other EU leaders her government's plans for triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to withdraw from the EU, as the Parliament reads the bill required for withdrawal. She departed Valletta in the afternoon as the other EU leaders discussed Brexit without her. | ||
| Belgium | Brussels | May attended the European Council summit. | |
| Amman | May visited Jordan and met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, in order to hold talks about refugees, security and the Middle East crisis. May announced a new UK–Jordan initiative to tackle terrorism, and develop new capabilities to strike Daesh. May also confirmed a plan to improve co-operation between the two nations in countering extremism in the region. | ||
| Riyadh | May visited Saudi Arabia, in order to hold talks about counter terrorism, security, the Middle East crisis as well as future trade links. May met with the Saudi Minister of Energy to discuss energy policy, as well as investment opportunities on the London Stock Exchange. May also met with the Saudi Interior Minister to discuss terrorism and security. On 5 April, May met with King Salman of Saudi Arabia to discuss security and trade. May was honoured by King Salman with the Order of King Abdulaziz. | ||
| Belgium | Brussels | May travelled to Belgium to attend the NATO summit in Brussels. | |
| Italy | Taormina | May travelled to Italy to attend the G7 summit meeting in Taormina. She chaired a session on counter-terrorism. | |
| France | Paris, Saint-Denis | May visited France and met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. They also attended a football match between France and England. | |
| Belgium | Brussels | May attended the European Union summit. | |
| Germany | Berlin | May met with other European heads of state and government, as part of the preparations for the G20 summit. | |
| France | Strasbourg | May paid tribute to former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. | |
| Germany | Hamburg | May traveled to Germany to attend the G-20 summit meeting in Hamburg. | |
| Belgium | Ypres | May traveled to Belgium for the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. | |
| Tokyo | May traveled to Japan to improve relations with the country and discuss a potential new UK-Japan trade agreement for the period after Brexit concludes. Her visit also involved discussions surrounding threats which North Korea's nuclear missile tests posed to Japan. She met with, among others, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. and Emperor Akihito. During a joint press conference in Tokyo, Abe and May pledged agreement to a new economic deal between both Britain and Japan, as well as British and Japanese companies, which would in the future expand on the current EU-Japan deal following the completion of Brexit. | ||
| Ottawa | May traveled to Canada on her first ever visit to the country to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to further deepen the strong bond between the two countries, where they discussed issues of mutual interest, including innovation, security, climate change, China, Islamaphobia, trade and advancing gender equality. May and Trudeau later held a joint press conference as well. May also showed solidarity with Canada and Bombardier over their dispute with Boeing as Bombardier have a factory in Northern Ireland and expressed optimism for Trudeau's promise of a "seamless" transition concerning UK-Canadian trade relations following the completion of Brexit. | ||
| United States | New York City | May travelled from Canada to New York to attend the UN General Assembly alongside the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, though it was later announced that Johnson's separate UN meeting was cancelled and that he would fly back with May. It will be the second speech May makes to the UN. After arriving in New York, May held a press conference about Brexit and her relationship with Johnson and also held a special meeting with President Trump's daughter Ivanka and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. On September 20, May held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Rouhani announced that Iran was ready to expand ties to Britain in all fields, citing Britain's support of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. She also attended a major UN Security Council meeting which saw the passage of a UN resolution on peacekeeping reforms and met with US Vice President Mike Pence. May would later address the UN General Assembly and warned tech firms to go "further and faster" in removing extremist content promoting terrorism, as well as other issues. She also met with US President Donald Trump on the General Assembly sidelines to discuss trade, security, defense and foreign relations between Britain and the United States of America. | |
| Italy | Florence | May visited Florence to give a landmark speech on Brexit. She claimed to want a transitional period after Britain's exit from the EU, to allow time to discuss a trade deal, whilst still paying money into the EU budget. May also announced that the UK will "honour its commitments" so as to not make other EU countries pay more or receive less during the current EU budget period. | |
| Tapa Army Base, Tallinn | 28– | May visited NATO's Tapa Base with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and French President Emmanuel Macron and all displayed solidarity against Russia. She also attended a summit in the capital city of Tallinn and met with, among others, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Downing Street said May and Merkel agreed on the need to settle the issue of EU citizens' rights quickly and that Merkel also hailed ‘good progress’ in latest Brexit talks as well. | |
| Belgium | Brussels | May traveled to Brussels for a dinner meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. During their meeting, May and Juncker agreed to "accelerate" Brexit talks. | |
| Belgium | Brussels | May attended the European Union summit on Brexit to discuss the rights of EU citizens, the United Kingdom's financial commitments and Northern Ireland's border with the Republic of Ireland. | |
| Gothenburg | May attended the European Union summit on labour, jobs, social reform and economic growth across Europe, and met Donald Tusk and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to discuss Brexit ahead of trade talks in December. | ||
| Belgium | Brussels | May attended the European Union summit on the security of the Non-EU Eastern European countries Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan amid growing threats from Russia and to underline the United Kingdom's commitment to European security post Brexit. | |
| Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | May visited Saudi Arabia to strengthen trade links between the two nations for the UK post-Brexit. She met with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and to discuss Saudi Arabia's diplomatic crisis with Qatar. | |
| Taji Military Base, Baghdad | May traveled from Saudi Arabia to Iraq transiting via Jordan to visit a coalition military base in Taji to meet British and Iraqi troops. Having been kept secret for security reasons, she arrived in an RAF Hercules C-130 aircraft with information for her visit not being released until she arrived in Iraq, being the first time she had entered a zone of conflict. It is also the first time a British leader has visited the country since Gordon Brown did so in 2008. May then flew to Baghdad to meet with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and promised to bolster the United Kingdom's efforts in helping fight against Islamic State by offering £10 million over three years to increase their counter-terroism capabilities before flying back to Saudi Arabia. | ||
| Jordan | Amman | May will travel from Saudi Arabia to Jordan and meet with King Abdullah II and Prime Minister Hani Al-Mulki to discuss how the United Kingdom can support the economy of Jordan and to meet with members of the Arab Women's Enterprise Fund who have benefited from new jobs and opportunities. She will conclude her visit by addressing Jordanian parliamentarians, business leaders and media on economic reform in the country. | |
| Belgium | Brussels | May, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis, met with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk in Brussels "in a final attempt to smooth over a Brexit deal" before the EU Summit on trading relations post-Brexit on 14–15 December with the heads of governments from the other 27 member states. It was reported that the European Commission and the United Kingdom had reached a consensus on the guarantees of reciprocal citizens rights and the divorce bill, but was still yet to reach an agreement on the United Kingdom's border in Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. | |
| Belgium | Brussels | May again travels to Brussels, where European Commission President Juncker announces a "breakthrough" Brexit deal had been reached following negotiations. The deal outlines agreements on issues such as: protecting the rights of Union citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the Union; the framework for addressing the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland: and the financial settlements | |
| France | Paris | May attended the 'One Planet Summit' hosted by President Macron to mark the two year anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement. | |
| Belgium | Brussels | May attended the first day of the European Council Summit. | |
| Poland | Warsaw | May visited Warsaw to sign a defence treaty with Poland. |
2018
2019
| Country | Location | Dates | Details |
| Brussels | 7–8 February | May held Brexit talks with both European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk. | |
| Dublin | 8 February | May held talks with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar concerning the proposed Irish backstop. | |
| Brussels | 20 February | May held Brexit talks European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker | |
| Sharm-el-Sheikh | 24–25 February | Attended the first-ever Arab League-European Union summit. Held talks on Brexit with European Council President Donald Tusk. Also met with some Arab League and European Union leaders. | |
| Strasbourg | 11–12 March | May flew to Strasbourg to have talks with President Jean-Claude Junker to get last-minute further interpretation on the Northern Irish backstop in relation to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement ahead of a second 'Meaningful Vote' in the House of Commons. | |
| Brussels | 21–22 March | May attended the European Council Summit where they approved an extension of the Article 50 negotiating period until April 12th. | |
| Berlin | May held talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the EU Withdrawal Agreement. | ||
| Paris | May held talks with President Emmanuel Macron on the EU Withdrawal Agreement. | ||
| Brussels | May held talks with President Donald Tusk and attended a European Council Summit where the Article 50 process was extended until October 31, further delaying Brexit. | ||
| Paris | May attended a conference on online hate speech hosted by French President Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern organised following the Christchurch attacks. | ||
| Brussels | May attended an EU Summit about the European election. | ||
| Ver-sur-Mer | May attended the commendations of D-Day and opened the British Monument in Ver-sur-Mer with President Emmanuel Macron. | ||
| Geneva | May attended the centenary of the International Labour Organization. | ||
| Brussels | May attended a European Council Summit. | ||
| Osaka | May attended the G-20 summit meeting. | ||
| Brussels | May attended an extraordinary European Council Summit. | ||
| Poznań | May attended the 2019 Western Balkans Summit, Poznań |