A panel of experts placed the German Chancellor as being more powerful that Britain’s own PM Theresa May, who came second in the ‘Brexit Power 100’ – a ranking of the 100 most influential characters in the Brexit debate.
The list was compiled by The New European – the pop-up newspaper giving voice to the 48%, publishing its 21st issue today.
The top three most influential figures are all women – Merkel, May and Sturgeon. Other notable inclusions are Tony Blair (number 16) who today claimed Britain could still remain in the EU and Gary Lineker (number 28) whose massive social media following mobilised against attacks from mainstream right wing press after he articulated strong remain sympathies.
Rupert Murdoch is identified as the most powerful traditional media figure – at number 12 in the list – but is behind Facebook (number 7) whose influence in Brexit and beyond has transcended traditional media, the panel believes.
Matt Kelly, Editor of The New European, said: “These are the 100 people our panel believes are the most influential in our country’s immediate future. A long list of around 350 people has been whittled down to these 100 and we think their relative ranking provides a fascinating insight into who wields the power over Brexit.”
“The list also reflects just how dramatically our society has changed in the last decade or so. Government and traditional media are still incredibly powerful, but social media and international corporations have never been more influential in our lives.”
The top ten most influential figures have been decided as:
1. Angela Merkel
2. Theresa May
3. Nicola Sturgeon
4. Mark Carney
5. Keir Starmer
6. Philip Hammond
7. Facebook
8. David Neuberger
9. Dave Lewis
10. Nigel Farage
