The new leaders of Gemany, France and Britain.

With the war, and the support for it or lack thereof from Europe, I paid more attention to who the leaders of the main countries over there were.


Germany and France both have new leaders now, and Tony Blair is on the way out here real soon, so I thought I'd try to make an effort to know the new people in charge.

(I will add Blairs replacement when he/she takes over)


from wilkipedia




Germany: Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Kasner, 17 July 1954, in Hamburg, Germany), is the Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, elected to the German Parliament from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union CDU since April 9, 2000, and Chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005. She leads a Grand coalition with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), formed after the 2005 federal election on November 22, 2005. Health care reform and problems concerning future energy development have thus far been the major issues of her tenure.
Merkel, who studied physics and holds a doctorate in physical chemistry, is simultaneously the first female Chancellor of Germany, the first citizen of the former German Democratic Republic to assume the chancellery of reunited Germany, and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation-state in 1871. She is also, as of 2007, the youngest person to be German chancellor since the Second World War. Merkel, considered by Forbes Magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world at present, is only the third woman to serve on the G8 and in 2007 became the first woman to chair a G8 summit after Margaret Thatcher.
In her function as Chancellor of Germany, Merkel is currently (rotative, 1st term 2007) also president of the European Council.
In 2007, Merkel became a Member of the Council of Women World Leaders, a group of women heads of state and government.

Political platform

Merkel supported a substantial reform agenda concerning Germany's economic and social system and was considered to be more pro-market (and pro-deregulation) than her own party (the CDU); she advocated changes to German labour law, specifically, removing barriers to laying off employees and increasing the allowed number of work hours in a week, arguing that existing laws made the country less competitive because companies cannot easily control labour costs at times when business is slow (see [3]).
Merkel argued for Germany's nuclear power to be phased out less quickly than the Schröder administration had planned.
Merkel advocated a strong transatlantic partnership and German-American friendship. In the spring of 2003, defying strong public opposition, Merkel came out in favour of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, describing it as "unavoidable" and accusing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of anti-Americanism. This led some critics to characterize her as an American lackey. She criticised the government's support for Turkish Membership in the European Union and favoured a "privileged partnership" instead. In doing so, she was seen as being in unison with an overwhelming majority of Germans in rejecting Turkish membership in the European Union, particularly due to fears that large waves of immigration may impose an unbearable burden on Germany and that there would be too much Islamist influence within the EU.
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Comparisons

As a female politician from a centre right party, and a scientist, Merkel has been compared by many in the English as well as the German press to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Some have referred to her as "Iron Lady", "Iron Girl" and even "The Iron Frau" (alluding to Thatcher, whose nickname was "The Iron Lady" -- Thatcher also had a degree in chemistry). Political commentators have debated the precise extent to which their agendas are similar, however .
In addition to being the first female German chancellor and the youngest German chancellor ever, Merkel is also the first one from East Germany (although born in Hamburg), the first one born after World War II, and the first one with a background in natural sciences. She studied physics, her predecessors law, business and history.
On September 1, 2006, Merkel was selected as the "World's Most Powerful Woman" by Forbes, based on media visibility and economic impact.

France: Nicolas Sarkozy

born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa on 28 January 1955 in Paris, France) is the current President of France.
He was elected President of the French Republic on 6 May 2007 after defeating left wing Socialist Party contender Ségolène Royal during the 2007 election. Before his presidency, he was leader of the UMP right wing party.
Sarkozy is known for his conservative stance on law and order issues and his admiration for a new economic model for France, suggesting that the country should have a more liberalised economy, inspired by the American and British examples. Until 26 March 2007, he served as the Minister of the Interior of France. His nickname Sarko is used by both supporters and opponents.
General traits
Sarkozy is generally recognised by the right and left as a highly skilled politician and striking orator [9]. His supporters within France emphasise his charisma, political innovation and willingness to "make a dramatic break" amidst mounting disaffection against "politics as usual"; some see him as wanting to depart from traditional French social and economic principles in favour of American-style economic reform. Overall, he is generally considered to be somewhat more pro-U.S. than most French politicians.
Since November 2004, Sarkozy has been president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), France's major right political party, and he was Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin, with the honorific title of Minister of State, making him effectively the number three man in the French State after President Jacques Chirac and the prime minister. His ministerial responsibilities included law enforcement and working to co-ordinate relationships between the national and local governments, as well as Minister of Worship (in this guise he created the CFCM, French Council of Muslim Faith). Previously, he was a deputy to the French National Assembly. He was forced to resign this position in order to accept his ministerial appointment. He previously also held several ministerial posts, including Finance Minister.
On May 16, 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth President of the French Fifth Republic. (He is also the 23rd President in the history of the French Republic, but Presidents of France prior to the Fifth Republic had no significant political power.)
The official transfer of power from Jacques Chirac took place on 16 May at 11:00 am (9:00 UTC) at the Élysée Palace, where he was given the nuclear codes of the French nuclear arsenal and presented with the Grand Master's Collar, symbol of his new function of Grand Master of the Legion of Honour. At that point, he formally became president. Leyenda, by Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz was played in honour of the president's wife. Both Sarkozy's mother Andrée, who sat on a regal chair, and his formerly estranged father Pal—with whom Sarkozy had reached a reconciliation--attended the ceremony, as did Sarkozy's children.[26] The presidential motorcade, with the President on board the presidential Peugeot 607 Paladine[27], then travelled from the Élysée to the Champs-Élysées for a public ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. Then the new president went to the Cascade du Bois de Boulogne of Paris for a homage to the French Resistance.
In the afternoon, the new president flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin had resigned the day before, on May 15. On May 17, President Sarkozy appointed moderate conservative François Fillon as his replacement. [28] Sarkozy appointed Bernard Kouchner, the left-wing founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, as his foreign minister. The Socialists removed Kouchner from their party in response. In addition to Kouchner, three more Sarkozy ministers are from the left, including Eric Besson, who served as Segolene Royal's economic adviser at the beginning of her campaign. Sarkozy also appointed seven women to form a total cabinet of 15; one, justice minister Rachida Dati, is the first woman of Northern African origin to serve in a French cabinet. Of the 15, only two attended the elite Ecole Nationale d'Administration.[29]
Shortly after taking office, President Sarkozy began negotiations with Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and the left-wing guerrilla FARC, regarding the release of hostages held by the rebel group, especially Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. According to some sources, Sarkozy himself asked for Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda.

Britain: Gordon Brown

Dr James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and Leader of the Labour Party.[1] He was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007 and was Britain's longest continuously-serving Chancellor since Nicholas Vansittart (1812-1823).

Gordon Brown was born in Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom. His father, John Ebenezer Brown, was a Church of Scotland minister. He was a strong influence on Brown and died in 1998, aged 84. His mother Elizabeth, known as Bunty, died in 2004 aged 86. Gordon was brought up with his brothers John and Andrew Brown in "The Manse" (a Presbyterian Rectory) in Kirkcaldy, the largest town in Fife, Scotland across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh. Brown was educated firstly at Kirkcaldy West Primary School, and then, between 1961 and 1967, at Kirkcaldy High School, where he performed well and was placed in an academic fast stream, going up two years. He was accepted by the University of Edinburgh to study history at the age of 16, making him one of only four university educated Prime Ministers who did not attend Oxford or Cambridge.[2] He suffered a detached retina, after being kicked in the head during an end-of-term rugby match at his old school. He was left blind in his left eye, despite treatment including several operations and lying in a darkened room for weeks at a time. Later at Edinburgh, while playing tennis, he noticed the same symptoms in his right eye. After undergoing experimental surgery at Edinburgh Infirmary the eye was saved, ensuring he did not go totally blind.[3]
Brown graduated from Edinburgh with First Class Honours M.A. in 1972, and stayed on to complete his Ph.D. (which he gained in 1982), titled The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918-29. According to biographer Tom Bower, Brown originally intended his thesis to cover the development of the Labour movement from the seventeenth century onwards, but evolved to more modestly describe "Labour's struggle to establish itself as the alternative to the Conservatives [in the early part of the 20th century]".
In 1972, while still a student, Brown was elected Rector[4] of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of the University Court. Brown served as Rector until 1975, and he also edited The Red Paper on Scotland.[5] Brown served as a temporary lecturer at Edinburgh, but was denied a permanent post due to his political activism.[6] Instead he gained employment as a lecturer in Politics at Glasgow College of Technology from 1976 to 1980. He then worked as a journalist at Scottish Television, later serving as current affairs editor until his election to parliament in 1983.

Previous girlfriends included the journalist Sheena McDonald, Marion Calder and Princess Margarita, the eldest daughter of exiled King Michael of Romania. She has said about their relationship: "It was a very solid and romantic story. I never stopped loving him but one day it didn't seem right any more, it was politics, politics, politics, and I needed nurturing."[52]
Brown married Sarah Macaulay in a private ceremony at his home in North Queensferry, Fife, on 3 August 2000 after a four-year courtship. She is a public relations executive and was, until 2001, Chief Executive of Hobsbawm Macaulay, the consultancy firm she owned with Julia Hobsbawm (daughter of the notable Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm). They met when her company was advising the Labour-supporting New Statesman magazine in 1994 and the relationship blossomed alongside Labour's electoral success. On 28 December 2001, a daughter, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely and died on 8 January 2002. Gordon Brown commented at the time that their recent experiences had changed him and his wife:
"I don't think we'll be the same again, but it has made us think of what's important. It has made us think that you've got to use your time properly. It's made us more determined. Things that we feel are right we have got to achieve, we have got to do that. Jennifer is an inspiration to us."[53]
Their second child, John, was born on 17 October 2003. Their third child, a son, James Fraser, was born on 17 July 2006; it was reported on 29 November 2006 that he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
Sarah Brown, unlike Cherie Blair, rarely appears at public events with her husband and until recently even missed his Budget speeches. She intends to remain out of the limelight as much as possible but accepts that her life will change when she moves into 10 Downing Street. However, to date, she has never given a magazine or television interview but is now inundated with requests to break her silence. She is unlikely to do so.[54]
Of his two brothers, John Brown is Head of Public Relations in the Glasgow City Council. His brother Andrew Brown is currently Head of Media for the French-owned utility company EDF Energy since 2006. He was previously director of media strategy at the world's largest public relations firm Weber Shandwick from 2003 to 2006. Previously he was editor of the Channel 4 political programme Powerhouse from 1996 to 2003, and worked at the BBC from the late 1970s to early 1980s.[55]

I'm thinking Merkel could take both of them in a street fight.

Prime Ministers of Britain always have names that sounds like superheros.

They do, don't they?

Does this guy remind anybody else of their alcoholic uncle?

Has those famous British teeth.

I get the population like that, but the president should at least have good teeth dammit.

Ah, he's only a Prime Minister; not as important or powerful as a president. I heard the queen's got a nice, straight set.