Theresa May signals she will oversee sharp change in direction when she becomes Prime Minister

THERESA May has signalled she plans to oversee a sharp change in direction for the Tories when she becomes Prime Minister on Wednesday night.

The Home Secretary outlined a number of key policies in a speech ahead of her imminent move into Downing Street, but said that “Brexit means Brexit”.

She promised ";a different kind of Conservatism", designed to create "a country that works not for a privileged few but for every one of us" at her campaign launch this morning.

But by this afternoon she knew she would be enacting her vision for a society that "works for everyone” after Andrea Leadsom, her only remaining rival to replace David Cameron, pulled out.

Positioning herself firmly in the Tories' One Nation tradition, she said she wanted to help “rich and poor, north and south, urban and rural, young and old, male and female, black and white, sick and healthy, public sector, private sector, those with skills and those without".

Mrs May - who was a low-profile supporter of Remain in the recent EU referendum campaign - sought to reassure Eurosceptics that there will be no going back on the vote for Brexit.

There will be "no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it by the back door and no second referendum", she said.

And adding: "Brexit means Brexit and we're going to make a success of it."

But there was a great deal to unsettle traditional Conservative supporters in the remainder of her speech.

In a radical package of reforms to get tough on "irresponsible" business behaviour, the PM-in-waiting set out plans for:

• Worker and consumer representation in the boardroom
• Binding shareholder votes on top corporate salaries
• Changes to the bonus system to require the disclosure of targets and to ensure bonus payouts are aligned with the long-term interests of the company
• Publication of "pay multiple" data showing the ratio between the salaries of top bosses and workers
• Tougher competition law to stop abuses by utility companies and banks
• A "proper industrial policy" allowing the Government to block damaging takeover bids for British companies
• A crackdown on individual and corporate tax avoidance and evasion - naming Amazon, Google and Starbucks as companies who have a "responsibility to pay your taxes"
• New Treasury backing for investment in major infrastructure projects, as well as more house-building, action to reduce energy prices and "an industrial strategy to get the whole economy firing"

Mrs May acknowledged the "great strides" taken under David Cameron and George Osborne on reducing the deficit and presiding over economic recovery following the 2008 crash.

But she left no doubt of her belief in shortcomings in the Government's record, warning of the "frustration" of ordinary working people at their experience of austerity Britain.

While the Government had overseen a lot of public sector reform, there has not been "nearly as much deep economic reform", she said.

Ordinary people have made "real sacrifices" in terms of job losses and pay cuts since 2008, but have seen taxes like VAT rise, energy bills rocket, job security decline and housing become difficult to afford, she said.

Some were "exploited by unscrupulous bosses", others were "out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration".

Meanwhile a growing divide had developed between a prosperous older generation and "struggling" younger people and a "chasm" between wealthy London and the rest of the country.

The rock-bottom interest rates and quantitative easing implemented by the Bank of England to shore up the economy had helped home-owners at the expense of those who cannot afford to buy property.

"When you add all of these things up, the only surprise is that there is so much surprise in Westminster about the public's appetite for change," said Mrs May.

"And make no mistake, the referendum was a vote to leave the European Union, but it was also a vote for serious change."

She added: "We need to reform the economy to allow more people to share in the country's prosperity. We need to put people back in control of their lives.

"We need to give more people more opportunity. And we need to get tough on irresponsible behaviour in big business."

Mrs May insisted her agenda was "completely consistent with Conservative principles", which valued not only markets but also communities and believed in society as well as individuals.

She cited former Tory leaders Robert Peel, Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher - as well as Liberal Unionist Joseph Chamberlain - in the climax of her speech.

Mrs May said: "Throughout history it has been the Conservative Party's role to rise to the occasion and to take on the vested interests before us, to break up power when it is concentrated among the few, to lead on behalf of the people.

"It has been our strength as a party that at moments of great national change, we have understood what needed to be done.

“And believe me, nobody should doubt that this is another of those moments of great national change."