List of longest-serving G8 leaders

This is a list of the longest serving heads of government or heads of state in the G7. The G7 leaders are the Prime Minister of Canada, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the Prime Minister of Italy, the Prime Minister of Japan, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the President of the United States.

Current longest serving G7 leader

Angela Merkel is the senior G7 leader, a title she kept from 2011 until 2012, regaining seniority in 2014 upon Russia's expulsion from the G8. Merkel has been in office since 22 November 2005.

After Merkel in seniority is the President of the United States Barack Obama, who has served as President since 20 January 2009, the President of France François Hollande, who took office on 15 May 2012, the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe, who took office on 26 December 2012, the Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, who took office on 22 February 2014, the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, who took office on 4 November 2015, and the last in seniority is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016.

Chronology of longest serving G7 Leaders

The following is a chronology of senior G7 leaders from the founding of the G6 (a precursor organization to the G8) to the present.^[1]

Entered office as Head of State or Government	Began time as senior G8 leader	Ended time as senior G8 leader	Person	Office
16 October 1964[2]	15 November 1975	5 April 1976	Harold Wilson	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
16 May 1974	5 April 1976	27 June 1976	Helmut Schmidt	Chancellor of West Germany
20 April 1968	27 June 1976[3]	4 June 1979	Pierre Trudeau	Prime Minister of Canada
16 May 1974	4 June 1979	3 March 1980	Helmut Schmidt	Chancellor of West Germany
20 April 1968[4]	3 March 1980	30 June 1984	Pierre Trudeau	Prime Minister of Canada
4 May 1979	30 June 1984	28 November 1990	Margaret Thatcher	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
10 May 1981	28 November 1990	17 May 1995	François Mitterrand	President of France
1 October 1982	17 May 1995	27 October 1998	Helmut Kohl	Chancellor of Germany
10 July 1991	27 October 1998	31 December 1999	Boris Yeltsin	President of Russia
20 January 1993	31 December 1999	20 January 2001	Bill Clinton	President of the United States
4 November 1993	20 January 2001	12 December 2003	Jean Chrétien	Prime Minister of Canada
17 May 1995	12 December 2003	16 May 2007	Jacques Chirac	President of France
2 May 1997	16 May 2007	27 June 2007	Tony Blair	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
7 May 2000	27 June 2007	7 May 2008	Vladimir Putin	President of Russia
20 January 2001	7 May 2008	20 January 2009	George W. Bush	President of the United States
10 May 1994[5]	20 January 2009	16 November 2011	Silvio Berlusconi	Prime Minister of Italy
22 November 2005	16 November 2011	7 May 2012	Angela Merkel	Chancellor of Germany
7 May 2000[6]	7 May 2012	24 March 2014	Vladimir Putin	President of Russia
22 November 2005	24 March 2014	Incumbent	Angela Merkel	Chancellor of Germany

G7 tenure

• The longest period anyone has been the senior G7 leader is the six years, 151 days of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, who was Prime Minister for eleven years. Overall, the period of almost 3000 days that Thatcher spent as senior G8 leader is longer than the combined number of days spent by the leaders of any single other country as senior G8 leader.
• The shortest period any past G7 leader has been the senior G7 leader is the 42 days of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair in 2007.
• Silvio Berlusconi currently holds the record of G8 Summit hosting, having hosted it in Italy three times.
• Despite the fact that Japan was a founding member of the G6 (which later became the G7, and then the G8), no Japanese Prime Minister has ever become the Senior G7 Leader. No Prime Minister of Japan has ever held office for more than five years, four months since the founding of the G6.
• Except for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Wilson, the first person to be Senior G7 Leader, no past Senior G7 Leader has held office for less than eight years.

Notes

1. ↑ Canada did not join the organization until 1976 while Russia did not join until 1997. Therefore, Canadian leaders prior to 1976 and Russian leaders before 1997 are not included in this list.
2. ↑ Wilson first served as Prime Minister from 16 October 1964 to 19 June 1970, and then again from 4 March 1974 to 5 April 1976.
3. ↑ Canada joined the organization on this date. Trudeau had been in office longer than any of the other leaders and so took the title of senior G8 leader from Schmidt.
4. ↑ Trudeau first served as Prime Minister from 20 April 1968 to 4 June 1979, and then again from 3 March 1980 to 30 June 1984.
5. ↑ Berlusconi first served as Prime Minister from 10 May 1994 to 17 January 1995, then again from 11 June 2001 to 17 May 2006, and then again from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011.
6. ↑ Putin first served as President of Russia from 2000 to 2008.

See also

• List of G8 leaders