Top Female Leaders Around the World
On Sept. 15 Helle Thorning-Schmidt led her political alliance to victory in Denmark, paving the way for her to become the country's first female Prime Minister. In honor of female politicians kicking through glass ceilings, TIME takes a look at 13 women who have made it to the top
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister of Denmark
The Social Democrats leader, Helle Thorning Schmidt smiles as she delivers a speech at the party's election headquarters after the announcement of the Danish parliamentary elections in Copenhagen on September 16, 2011
As Europe copes with economic stagnation, center-left parties across the continent have struggled to gain traction. But Helle Thorning-Schmidt, leader of Denmark's Social Democrats, bucked the trend on Sept. 15 by leading her left-leaning bloc to power and ousting the coalition government of Lars Lokke Rasmussen. During the campaign the mother-of-two pledged to end conservative austerity measures, to introduce taxes on the wealthy, and to fire up the economy through increased public spending. But it's not all change. In a nation that prizes consensus, it's unlikely Thorning-Schmidt will stray too far from the stringent anti-immigrant policies laid down by her predecessors who were in alliance with the anti-Islam Danish People's Party. The victory of her left-leaning bloc is the first in Scandinavia since right-wing extremist Anders Breivik carried out his devastating massacre in Norway in July.
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