Female political leaders

Until the 20th century, the few women with political ambitions had to operate in the background as the "power behind the throne", backing up their husbands or lovers. As women got the vote in more and more countries, they began to climb the ladder. Many women that have got to the top in politics have been tougher, more decisive, and more practical than male leaders.

Female political leader	Dates of office	Position	Comments
Sirimavo Bandaranaike	1960-65, 1970-77, 1994-2000	Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)	The first female head of government in modern times. Paved the way for Gandhi, Meir and the "Iron Lady" herself.
Indira Gandhi	1966-77 & 1980-84	Prime Minister of India	India's aging power-brokers thought that Nehru's daughter would be a push-over. They got a dreadful shock...
Golda Meir	1969-74	Prime Minister of Israel	This strong-willed "grandmother of the Jewish people" won a magnificent victory over Arab aggression.
Elisabeth Domitien	1975-76	Prime Minister of Central African Republic
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo	1979-80	Prime Minister of Portugal
Margaret Thatcher	1979-90	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom	The "Iron Lady" struck fear into the hearts of trade unionists, the Soviet gerontocracy and enemies of freedom everywhere.
Eugenia Charles	1980-95	Prime Minister of Dominica
Gro Harlem Brundtland	1981, 1986-89, 1990-96	Prime Minister of Norway
Corazon Aquino	1986-92	President of the Philippines
Benazir Bhutto	1988-90 & 1993-96	Prime Minister of Pakistan	The first female head of government in a Muslim country.
Kazimira Prunskiene	1990-91	Prime Minister of Lithuania
Mary Robinson	1990-97	President of Ireland
Edith Cresson	1991-92	Prime Minister of France	Included because female leaders can sometimes be just as rubbish as male ones. When someone as useless as Cresson becomes PM, you know that women are starting to achieve equality with men.
Khaleda Zia	1991-96, 2001-06	Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Hanna Suchocka	1992-93	Prime Minister of Poland
Kim Campbell	1993	Prime Minister of Canada
Sylvie Kinigi	1993-94	Prime Minister of Burundi
Agathe Uwilingiyimana	1993-94	Prime Minister of Rwanda	Assassinated in the Rwandan Genocide
Tansu Ciller	1993-96	Prime Minister of Turkey
Chandrika Kumaratunga	1994	Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Claudette Werleigh	1994-95	Prime Minister of Haiti
Chandrika Kumaratunga	1994-2005	President of Sri Lanka
Sheikh Hasina	1996-2001, 2009-present	Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Janet Jagan	1997	Prime Minister of Guyana
Janet Jagan	1997-99	President of Guyana
Jenny Shipley	1997-99	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Helen Clark	1999-2008	Prime Minister of New Zealand
Mame Madior Boye	2001-02	Prime Minister of Senegal
Megawati Sukarnoputri	2001-04	President of Indonesia
Maria das Neves	2002-04	Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe
Anneli Jäätteenmäki	2003	Prime Minister of Finland
Angela Merkel	2005-present	Chancellor of Germany	"The Second Iron Lady", "The Second Iron Chancellor"... She talks a lot of sense to irresponsible governments of other European countries.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf	2006-present	President of Liberia
Sarah Palin	2006-09	Governor of Alaska
Pratibha Patil	2007-12	President of India
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	2007-present	President of Argentina
Corina Casanova	2008-present	Chancellor of Switzerland
Michelle Bachelet	2006-10 & 2014-present	President of Chile
Julia Gillard	2010-2013	Prime Minister of Australia
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé	2011-12	Prime Minister of Mali
Yingluck Shinawatra	2011-14	Prime Minister of Thailand
Dilma Rousseff	2011-present	President of Brazil
Helle Thorning-Schmidt	2011-present	Prime Minister of Denmark
Joyce Banda	2012-14	President of Malawi
Portia Simpson-Miller	2012-present	Prime Minister of Jamaica
Alenka Bratusek	2013-14	Prime Minister of Slovenia
Aminata Touré	2013-14	Prime Minister of Senegal
Park Geun-hye	2013-present	President of South Korea
Erna Solberg	2013-present	Prime Minister of Norway
Ana Jara	2014-15	Prime Minister of Peru
Ewa Kopacz	2014-present	Prime Minister of Poland
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca	2014-present	President of Malta
Laimdota Straujuma	2014-present	Prime Minister of Latvia
Nicola Sturgeon	2014-present	First Minister of Scotland	A straight-talking, no-nonsense lady with a reputation for competence but not compromise.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic	2015-present	President of Croatia
Saara Kuugongelwa	2015-present	Prime Minister of Namibia
Simonetta Sommaruga	2015-present	President of Switzerland