Nicola Sturgeon named among most powerful women in the world by Forbes

The First Minister has been named alongside the Prime Minister on the Forbes list

By The Newsroom Tuesday, 4th December 2018, 4:16 pm Updated Tuesday, 4th December 2018, 4:20 pm

She is barely clinging on as Prime Minister due to her handling of Brexit. But according to Forbes magazine, Theresa May is still the second most powerful woman in the world, with Nicola Sturgeon taking the 45th spot.

Seven women from the UK are on the list including Queen Elizabeth II, who is the oldest entrant at 92.

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Forbes said that Mrs May deserved the title after ‘tirelessly’ spending the past two years working on a deal for Britain to leave the EU.

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

The magazine said that after being approved by the EU her ‘history-making move is one step closer to reality’.

The Forbes’ Most Powerful Women 2018 list aims to show the leading ‘builders, disruptors, and innovators in every sector’.

They are supposedly taking a ‘modern, forward-looking view on power and using their positions to better the world’, Forbes said.

Mrs May held the no.2 spot in the 2017 list but since then confidence in her Brexit deal has declined with dozens of Conservative back benchers saying they will vote against it on December 11.

Nevertheless, Forbes said: ‘May inherited the Brexit turmoil from former Prime Minister David Cameron when he resigned after the UK’s referendum to leave the EU was decided.

‘She has tirelessly spent the past two years negotiating the exit, facing pushback from both pro and anti-European factions in her own party and the opposition.

‘With her plan to exit the EU approved by European leaders, the history-making move is one step closer to reality’.

Forbes added that Mrs May is now trying to get the approval of Parliament and to get what she has called a ‘Brexit that delivers on the result of the referendum’.

Above Mrs May on the list was German chancellor Angela Merkel who is no.1 for the eighth year in a row.

Forbes said that she was the ‘defacto female leader of the free world’ even though she has stepped down as her of her Christian Democratic Union party and is not running for reelection in 2021.

Forbes said: ‘While the next three years will be marked with uncertainty, she may well be less a lame duck than a leader determined to leave a legacy’.

In third is International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde followed by General Motors chief executive Mary Barra in fourth.

Abigail Johnson, chief executive of Fidelity Investments, is fifth, Melinda Gates is in sixth and Susan Wojcicki, the chief executive of YouTube, is seventh.

Rounding out the top ten are Ana Botin, chair of Santander bank in eighth, Marillyn Hewson, the chief executive of Lockheed Martin US in ninth and Ginni Rometty, the chief executive of IBM in tenth.

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is in 11th despite a strong of controversies around the social network.

Moira Forbes, Executive Vice President, Forbes Media, said: ‘Forbes’ Most Powerful Women 2018 list reflects what is always known about power, how ephemeral it is and how volatile it can be.