THERESA May has been named the world’s 13th most powerful person – five spaces lower than her predecessor David Cameron last year.

Forbes magazine said that the PM faced 'a difficult task' in pulling the UK out of the European Union.

A number of major world figures climbed above Mrs May after being ranked below former Witney MP Mr Cameron in 2015.

These included Google founder Larry Page, Indian PM Narendra Modi, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and Chinese premier Li Keqiang.

Explaining Mrs May's ranking, Forbes said: "May will soon be charged with guiding Britain's withdrawal from the European Union without over-exposing its economy, a difficult task that will be intensified by pressure from EU member states.

"May, an Oxford graduate, will perhaps look across the pond for support. Her party has received praise from US President-elect Donald Trump, though the leaders have gotten off to an awkward start.

"In their first telephone call after Trump's election, he casually told May to `let [him] know' the next time she stopped by the United States."

A spokeswoman for the PM said she didn’t think the result would be distracting Mrs May from governing the country.