Margaret Thatcher, Beyonce and Bridget Jones named world's most influential women over past 70 years

Influential: Margaret Thatcher was judged to have the biggest impact on women's lives over the past 70 years
PA Wire
Jamie Bullen15 December 2016

Margaret Thatcher has been named the most influential woman over the past 70 years.

The first female British Prime Minister topped BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour Power List of seven women including US megastar Beyonce and fictional character Bridget Jones.

Feminist academic Germaine Greer and Labour MP Barbara Castle who introduced the Equal Pay Act in 1970 were also included.

While Helen Brook, who set up Brooks Advisory Centres in 1964 to offer unmarried women contraceptive advice, and Jayaben Desai, who campaigned for women workers against low pay and poor conditions made up the seven-strong list.

2016 Woman's Hour Power List

Margaret Thatcher - winner

Helen Brook 

Barbara Castle 

Germaine Greer 

Jayaben Desai 

Bridget Jones

Beyonce

The list, which saw Mrs Thatcher take top spot above the remaining six, who are in no particular order, celebrates people who have made the biggest impact on women’s lives over the last seven decades.

Margaret Thatcher - In pictures

1/31

It was revealed on Wednesday to mark the show’s 70th birthday.

BBC Five Live presenter Emma Barnett, who chair of the judging panel, said: "I am particularly excited that for the first time we can honour great women who are no longer with us.

Megastar: Beyonce was included on the list 
Theo Wargo/Getty Images

“In previous years we’ve solely focused on women presently impacting our lives.

“By opening up the annals of history – we can also pay tribute to the great women to whom we owe so much and have a duty to remember – which is extremely fitting in Woman’s Hour’s 70th year."

The inclusion of Bridget Jones, a fictional character portrayed in film by Renée Zellweger, raised eyebrows among some commentators.

Comedian David Baddiel said: “The fact that one of the women on the Women's Hour Power List is *not real* suggests perhaps that that old glass ceiling remains reinforced.”

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