From Thatcher to Al-Mansouri.. Women Who Broke the "Taboo" of Power Around the World

Listen to the article The audio text is automatically generated by a machine system

Every time a woman reaches one of the highest political positions, it is not just a change in the name of the office holder, but a new milestone in the history of women's political participation. From the first female prime minister in the world to women who have reached the pinnacle of power in major countries, some positions remained exclusively male for decades before their barriers fell one after another.

The appointment of Moroccan Fatima Zahra Mansouri as Prime Minister today, Tuesday, adds a new chapter to this journey, as she became the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in the history of Morocco. This comes after Arab and international experiences that preceded her, from Najla Bouden in Tunisia to Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Angela Merkel in Germany, culminating in Sanae Takaitchi, who became the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in Japan.

Before a woman became Prime Minister in any other country, Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first to reach this position in the modern era. On July 21, 1960, she took the oath as Prime Minister of Ceylon, which later became Sri Lanka, entering history as the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in the world.

The experience did not stop with Bandaranaike, as her daughter Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga later became the first woman to hold the presidency in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Parliament indicates that the country has also seen two women hold the position of Prime Minister, while Kumaratunga became the first woman to hold the presidency.

After nearly two decades, the experience moved to one of the largest Western democracies. In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, serving in the role until 1990.

Thatcher's arrival at Downing Street was a pivotal moment in the history of British politics, as she became the first woman to serve as Prime Minister and was the longest-serving British Prime Minister in over 150 years at that time, according to the official record of the British government.

The United States has yet to see a woman hold the presidency, but women have reached political positions that had never been held by a woman before.

In 1933, Frances Perkins became the first woman to enter the U.S. Cabinet, after being appointed Secretary of Labor by President Franklin Roosevelt. More than seven decades later, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007.

The series of 'firsts' continued when Kamala Harris became the first woman to hold the position of Vice President of the United States, bringing women to one of the highest executive offices in the country, despite the presidency itself remaining outside this experience.

In France, women had to wait until 1991 to reach the position of Prime Minister, following the appointment of President François Mitterrand of Édith Cresson as Prime Minister, becoming the first woman to hold this position in the country's history. Mitterrand confirmed in a presidential interview at the time that Cresson's appointment was the first time a woman reached the head of the French government.

In Germany, the turning point came in 2005, when Angela Merkel became the first woman to hold the position of Chancellor in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, and she was also the first person from the former East Germany to reach this position.

In Italy, Giorgia Meloni became the first woman to take on the role of Prime Minister, while Canada had a relatively early experience with Kim Campbell, who became the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in 1993 after holding several ministerial portfolios, including justice and defense.

The wave did not stop at Europe. In New Zealand, Jenny Shipley became the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in 1997, while Helen Clark was the first woman elected as Prime Minister in the country.

In Australia, Julia Gillard became Prime Minister in 2010, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the country's history. Prior to that, she had become the first Deputy Prime Minister in Australia in 2007.

Despite the increasing presence of women in government leadership roles in several developed countries, Japan remained an exception for many years.

However, on October 21, 2025, Sanae Takaiichi became the first woman to assume the presidency of the Japanese government, after being chosen by the parliament as Prime Minister. According to the Japanese Prime Minister's Office, Takaiichi became the 104th Prime Minister in the country's history.

The Japanese experience is particularly significant as it occurred in a major industrial nation and a member of the G7, where the leadership of its government remained distant from women until 2025. With Takaiichi's ascension, Japan joined the ranks of major countries that have broken the barrier for women reaching the pinnacle of executive power.

The path to government leadership has not typically begun at the top. In many cases, women first entered parliament, then moved to ministries, and subsequently to leadership positions within parties or governments, before some reached the presidency of the government or state.

The careers of several of these experiences illustrate that the 'first' has not always held the same position. The first woman may be a minister, as was the case with Nazihah Al-Dulaimi, or a Speaker of Parliament, like Nancy Pelosi, or a Vice President, or a Prime Minister, such as Thatcher, Bandaranaike, Merkel, and Takaiichi, or a Head of State, as was the case with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia, who became the first woman elected as President of a country in Africa in 2006.

In Latin America, Brazil was one of the countries that witnessed a woman reaching the pinnacle of executive power when Dilma Rousseff became the first woman to hold the presidency in the country's history in 2011.

Mexico reached a similar milestone with Claudia Sheinbaum, who became the first woman to hold the presidency, adding the largest Spanish-speaking country in North America to the list of countries that broke this barrier.

In the Arab world, the journey to ministerial positions began early. In 1959, the Iraqi Nazihah al-Dulaimi became the first woman to hold a ministerial position in Iraq, and she also entered history as the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the Arab world when she took over the Ministry of Municipalities.

Historical studies and the University of Baghdad indicate that al-Dulaimi was one of the most prominent female political figures in Iraq, and she participated in efforts related to the Iraqi Personal Status Law issued in 1959.

In Egypt, Hikmat Abu Zaid came in 1962 to become the first Egyptian woman to hold a ministerial position, after President Gamal Abdel Nasser appointed her as Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, a step that opened the door for wider female presence within Egyptian governments.

The Arab world needed more than six decades after the experience of Al-Dulaimi before a woman reached the presidency of an Arab government.

In 2021, Najla Bouden became the first woman to assume the presidency of the government in Tunisia, thus entering history as the first woman to hold the position of head of government in the Arab world. Bouden took office after having worked in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, according to the official biography published by the Tunisian government.

The Tunisian experience was not the end of the road, as Sara Zaafrani Al-Zanzari later reached the presidency of the government, becoming the second woman to hold the position in Tunisia.

After Tunisia, Morocco came with a different milestone in 2026, when King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Zahra Mansouri as head of government, making her the first woman to hold this position in the history of the kingdom.

Mansouri, who previously served as Minister of National Planning, Urbanism, Housing, and City Policy, thus became the latest Arab woman to reach the pinnacle of executive power, in a shift that adds Morocco to the list of Arab countries that have witnessed a woman reaching the presidency of the government from the ministries to the top.

From Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Sri Lanka in 1960 to Takahichi in Japan in 2025, and then Fatima Zahra Al-Mansouri in Morocco in 2026, the map of political power looks different from what it was decades ago.

However, this journey has not been a straight line; in some countries, women reached the head of government before reaching the head of state, while in other countries, the journey began from ministries or parliament, while some of the highest political positions in major countries are still waiting for the first woman to reach them.

With each new experience, the definition of 'the first' changes again: the first female minister, the first female parliament speaker, the first female vice president, the first female head of government, or the first female head of state. While the list of women who have entered the history of power expands, the value of each experience is also linked to the political and constitutional context of each country, not just the attainment of the position.