Women in charge

Internationally, the percentage of women elected to parliaments has almost doubled in the past 20 years.

Theresa May

is the newly minted PM of the UK and has quickly elevated women to senior posts in her first Cabinet. She has one of the toughest jobs in politics, handling the fallout after the Brexit vote.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

was the first woman to lead an African nation, having twice been President of Liberia. In 2011, she won a Nobel Peace Prize for furthering women’s rights.

Aung San Suu Kyi

spent 15 years under arrest and last year led the National League for Democracy to a landslide win in the first free election in Myanmar for 25 years.

Hillary Clinton’s

life changed when she stood spellbound, as a schoolgirl, listening to Martin Luther King Jnr. The former First Lady may be elected as the first female US President in November.

Angela Merkel

is steering the EU through waves of humanitarian crises. The German Chancellor’s sympathetic response to the influx of refugees was unsurprising given she is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor.