BBC announces most powerful women of the last 70 years: Beyonce and Bridget Jones (but no Queen)

The list of seven powerful women, selected by a judging panel, was topped by Baroness Thatcher, the late former prime minister who was recognised by the BBC for her impact on British women whether they “love her or loathe her”.

The Queen did not make the list, with Theresa May, the current Prime Minister, also omitted along with all modern-day politicians.

Instead, Woman’s House chose to honour the star of Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel, Bridget Jones’s Diary, famous for her witty take on the life of a single woman in a world of “smug marrieds”.

A spokesman for Radio 4 said debate over the selection was to be expected. Lady Thatcher and Miss Jones are joined on the final list by Helen Brook, who founded centres offering contraception to unmarried women, Barbara Castle, the Labour MP who fought for equal pay, and Jayaben Desai, a strike leader in the 1974 Grunwick dispute.

Germaine Greer, the feminist and academic who has caused fury among campaigners for recent comments about transgender people, came in fourth place, with judge Abi Morgan hailing her a “warrior”.

Beyoncé, the American singer, makes it onto the list at number seven in recognition of her status as a “global beauty icon”.

The list will be announced on Woman’s Hour from 10am on Wednesday, in a programme pre-recorded at Buckingham Palace.

Speaking at a reception to celebrate the show’s 70th anniversary, the Duchess of Cornwall told a crowd the programme had been part of the “soundtrack to my life”.

She told guests it was a "huge pleasure to acknowledge this magnificent milestone" and said the programme's origins as a show just for housewives had been "left far behind".

"It is a living social history charting the changing attitudes to women as well as the changing attitudes of women themselves,” she said.

"So it's not surprising that the number of listeners is higher than ever and that its audience is made up of both women and men.”

Alice Feinstein, Woman’s Hour editor, said: “Each year the Woman’s Hour Power List aims to highlight, celebrate and create a discussion around the achievements of women who are pioneering and affecting change for women and in British society at large.

“In our anniversary year it felt appropriate to take stock and recognise the women who over the past 70 years have had the biggest impact.

“Of course it’s been an impossible task for our judges to compile a final list of seven but I’m pleased that this feels like an appropriately wide-ranging and impressive line-up of those who historically and today are having an impact in terms of the choices available to women in the UK in 2016.”

It is the first time the list has encompassed a fictional character as well as women no longer with us.

Previous winners include Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, campaigner Baroness Lawrence, and the Queen, who won in 2013.

Emma Barnett, chair of judges, said of Lady Thatcher: “Love or loathe her, it is hard to think of another woman who has had more of an impact on British women than Baroness Margaret Thatcher within the last seven decades.

“Anyone born in the 80s, and thereafter, grew up thinking it was normal for a woman to run the country; anyone over the age of 18 while she was in charge was shaped by her leadership style and uncompromising policies.

“In fact a whole generation of women’s feminism was formed in direct retaliation to her.”

Judge Julia Hobsbawm said of the inclusion of Bridget Jones: “Twenty five years ago she ushered in the voice of a woman narrating her own banality as well as her own complexity.”

The seven women on the Woman’s Hour Power List 2016:

1. Margaret Thatcher – First female British Prime Minister (1979-1990) and leader of the Conservative Party (1975-1990). Emma Barnett says: “Love or loathe her, it is hard to think of another woman who has had more of an impact on British women than Baroness Margaret Thatcher within the last seven decades. Anyone born in the 80s, and thereafter, grew up thinking it was normal for a woman to run the country; anyone over the age of 18 while she was in charge was shaped by her leadership style and uncompromising policies. In fact a whole generation of women’s feminism was formed in direct retaliation to her.”
2. Helen Brook – Set up Brook Advisory Centres in 1964 offering contraceptive advice to unmarried women. Jill Burridge says: “I think the biggest change [of the past 70 years] was probably contraception, which freed women to think about what they did and what choices they had – in terms of whether they stayed at home or chose to develop their career. Everything has followed on from that –employment, job opportunities, all those things flowed on after the change when the pill became freely available to women.”
3. Barbara Castle – Labour MP for Blackburn (1945-1979), brought in the Equal Pay Act in 1970. Emma Barnett says: “It would be criminal not to put Barbara Castle on that list. Every negotiation I’ve ever had I know I’ve got her standing behind me with what she put into legislation.”
4. Germaine Greer – Australian writer, recognised as one of the major voices of the feminist movement, she published The Female Eunuch in 1970. Abi Morgan says: “She’s a warrior for me – she’s somebody who went to the frontline of feminism and said bring it on.”
5. Jayaben Desai – Prominent leader of the strikers in the Grunwick dispute in London in 1976, campaigning against low pay and poor conditions for women workers. Ayesha Hazarika says: “She highlighted the plight of low paid women, immigrant workers, racism, trade union recognition - but also dignity, humanity and basic human rights.”
6.  Bridget Jones – Bridget Jones’s Diary published by Helen Fielding in 1996. Julia Hobsbawm says: “Twenty five years ago she ushered in the voice of a woman narrating her own banality as well as her own complexity.”
7. Beyoncé – American singer-songwriter. Ayesha Hazarika says: “I think Beyoncé managed to do two things. She turned herself into a very successful commercial brand but with that she also put out quite a positive feminist message, right from the start. Particularly now she’s moving into race relations talking about black lives matter. And also from a beauty point of view, being a black woman who is held up as a global beauty icon at a time when beauty and pop culture is still very white.”