As Theresa May makes a bid for prime minister we look at her first foray into politics

As Theresa May makes a bid to become the next Conservative prime minister, ITV Meridian looks back at when the home secretary made her first moves into Westminster.

May, 59, made her first successful foray into politics when she won the 1997 local election campaign to win the seat of Maidenhead.

In the archive footage, May - wearing a raincoat and a trilby hat - said she had no expectations of what Westminster would entail and said she thinks "it is better to actually get there and find out".

She has stayed true to her sensible side and emphasised that she was not a "showy politician" when making her pitch for prime minister.

After just two years of being an MP, she was appointed Shadow Education and Employment Secretary in 1999.

May was also the first woman appointed to Chairman of the Conservative Party in July 2002.

May told ITV Meridian nineteen years ago how she put everything on hold during her first election campaign and her home had a phrase - ATE - "after the election".

In the archive footage, ITV Meridian gets a rare inside look into her personal life.

She said she dresses the same as she previously did when she worked in business - she started her career at the Bank of England - and doesn't always don the Tory blue.

In the footage, she said: "We actually let people just be themselves."

ITV Meridian asked her then if she would bet on her winning the Maidenhead seat, to which she replied: "I never bet on election victories, I'm sorry. I never bet on any election result."

This time around she is the bookies favourite and won 199 votes, followed by Andrea Leadsom on 84 and Mr Gove, on 46, in the second MPs' ballot.

But she made the same remark today saying she "doesn't like to predict" the outcome of elections.

Watch the full archive report: Theresa May was elected MP for Maidenhead at the 1997 General Election.