The presidents, prime ministers, commissioners and chancellors attending the G7 Leader’s Summit are some of the most widely recognised faces in global politics.

Delegates from the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, as well as guests from India, Australia and South Korea have gathered together in Carbis Bay to discuss the global Covid-19 recovery efforts and how to safeguard against future pandemics, as well as debating ways to tackle climate change and preserve the planet’s biodiversity.

But who's who at the summit? Here's all you need to know about the world leaders attending. 

Boris Johnson

Falmouth Packet:

Boris Johnson is the Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Having been elected as PM in the general election of 2019, Johnson has overseen the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He has previously been an MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008 and for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. Between those posts he spent two terms as mayor of London between 2008 and 2016 and presided over the introduction of the cycle-hire scheme known as ‘Boris bikes’ and the 2012 London Olympics.

Joe Biden

Falmouth Packet:

Joe Biden is the President of the United States of America. A member of the Democratic party, was elected President in the 2020 US election, defeating former President, Donald Trump. Biden has previously served as senator for Delaware between 1973 and 2009 and vice President to Barrack Obama between 2009 and 2017.

He had previously run for the Democratic presidential nomination 1988 and 2008 and had been re-elected as a senator six times. In the first 100 days of his presidency, Biden signed more executive orders than the vast majority of his predecessors, many of which reversed orders made by the previous President including re-joining the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organisation.

Justin Trudeau

Falmouth Packet:

Justin Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada. He is the second youngest Prime Minister in Canada’s history and has been the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. He has served as a member of the Canadian parliament since 2008 and is also the eldest son of former Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, who won four elections between 1968 and 1980. During his time as Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau has overseen a ban on assault weapons, the signing of the Paris Agreement, the legalisation of cannabis and numerous ethics investigations. Trudeau was also leader during Canada’s failed bid for temporary membership of the United Nations Security Council.

Emmanuel Macron

Falmouth Packet:

Emmanuel Macron is the President of France. At 39, he is the youngest President in French history. Having served under Francois Hollande as deputy secretary general, he was promoted into the French cabinet as Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs in August 2014. Macron would then resign from the cabinet in 2016 to launch his 2017 presidential campaign.

Macron was a member of the Socialist Party from 2006 to 2009 but would campaign under the centrist political movement he started, initially named En Marche and then later renamed La République En Marche. As President, Emmanuel Macron has seen his approval ratings as low as 25% and has high as 60%.

Angela Merkel

Falmouth Packet:

Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany. Merkel served as leader of the opposition in the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union between 2002 and 2005, having been elected as member for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 1990. Angela Merkel was elected as Chancellor in 2005 and is Germany’s first female Chancellor as well as being described by some as the ‘most powerful woman in the world.’

Merkel is described as being a conservative leaning politician but has on several occasions, through political decision-making, driven her party further to the left. Merkel announced in 2018 that she would not be seeking re-election in 2021 and would stand down from her post instead of run for a fifth term.

Mario Draghi

Falmouth Packet:

Mario Draghi is the Prime Minister of Italy. He has previously served as governor of the Bank of Italy from 2006 to 2011 and president of the European Central Bank from 2011 to 2019. He was elected as Prime Minister of Italy in 2021 after being sworn in to form a government of national unity and negotiated with political parties such as the League, the Five Star Movement, the Democratic Party and Forza Italia.

In a 2015 interview, Draghi described himself as similar to a liberal socialist and has been described by peers as an ‘American liberal.’ His government has been supported by Italian parties from across the political spectrum and has pledged to implement and oversee an effective Covid-19 economic stimulus for the country.

Yoshihide Suga

Falmouth Packet:

Yoshihide Suga is the Prime Minster of Japan. Having been elected as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Suga succeeded former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in 2020 after Abe stepped down. Suga had previously been the former Prime Minister’s Chief Cabinet Secretary from 2012 to 2020 and also Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications between 2006 and 2007.

Having been elected to the Japanese Diet in 1996, he has previously represented Kanagawa 2nd district in the 2000, 2003 and 2005 general elections. Politically, Yoshihide Suga has been described as a conservative and stated one of his intentions when taking office would be to continue the model ‘Abenomic’ of economic policies of Shinzo Abe.

Ursula von der Leyen

Falmouth Packet:

Ursula von der Leyen is the President of the European Commission. Previously she has held positions in the German Bundestag as a member for Lower Saxony from 2009 until 2019, as well as on Angela Merkel’s cabinet, most recently as the Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2019. She is also a member of Christian Democratic Union and its EU equivalent, the European People’s Party.

She was proposed as the candidate to lead the European Commission in July 2019 and was elected to that position by the European Parliament two weeks later. Von der Leyen’s politics are generally described as being right-leaning and she has for some time been speculated to be both the successor to Angela Merkel as German Chancellor as well as favourite to become the next Secretary General of NATO.

Scott Morrison (Guest)

Falmouth Packet:

Scott Morrison is the Prime Minister of Australia. Morrison was elected as the Australian PM in 2018 after becoming leader of the Liberal Party, succeeding Malcom Turnball, and led the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition to victory in the 2019 general election.

Morrison became the Member of the Australian Parliament for Cook in 2007 and subsequently went on to Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister for Social Services, Treasurer of Australia, and Minister for the Public Service. His plane was delayed due to fog and had to divert away from Newquay Airport to land at London. 

Narendra Modi (Guest)

Falmouth Packet:

Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of India. Modi assumed office in 2014 having defeated former PM, Manmohan Singh, as leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. Before becoming the Indian Prime Minister, Modi served as a Member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly as well as 14th Chief Minister of Gujarat. In 2014, he became a Member of Parliament for Lok Sabha. He will virtually participate in the outreach sessions of the G7 Summit.

Moon Jae-In (Guest)

Falmouth Packet:

Moon Jae-In is the President of South Korea. Moon Jae-In assumed office in 2017 having been elected as a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. He started his political career as Chief of Staff to President Roh Moo-hyun between 2007 and 2008 before becoming a Member of the National Assembly for Sasang (Busan) in 2012. In 2015 he was chosen as the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea before being elected president in 2017.

Pictures: PA Wire (Scott Morrison image, Mick Tsikas/AAP Image)