Mia Mottley

Politician

In the Barbados general election in January, the prime minister Mia Mottley—the first female leader of the country—won re-election by a landslide. The previous November she made history by removing Queen Elizabeth as head of state. Since first coming to power, Mottley has made powerful interventions on the world stage about climate change and its impact on small island nations like her own. A lawyer by trade, she has united progressive movements in Barbados. Having practised a pragmatic politics to get into power, she has been described as “fearless” in using her mandate—for example when calling for reparations for the slave trade from European countries.