List of female speakers of national and territorial upper houses

This list presents female speakers of national and territorial upper houses of their respective countries or territories. The upper house, often called the Senate, is the one of two chambers in a bicameral legislature. The upper house usually has less power than the lower house. In some countries, its members are appointed rather than elected by popular votes. Speaker of the upper house is the one who takes office as acting head of state in presidential republic.

National
  Denotes incumbent speaker
  • Italics denotes acting speaker and states that are either de facto (with limited to no international recognition) or defunct.
Name Image Country Legislative Body Mandate start Mandate end Term length
Olga Rudel-Zeynek  Austria Federal Council 1 December 1927 31 May 1928 182 days
Olga Rudel-Zeynek  Austria Federal Council 1 June 1932 30 November 1932 182 days
Ingeborg Hansen  Denmark Landstinget 16 March 1952 24 April 1953 3 years, 39 days
Johanna Bayer  Austria Federal Council 1 July 1953 31 December 1953 183 days
Ingeborg Hansen  Denmark Landstinget 7 October 1952 21 September 1953 349 days
Helene Tschitschko  Austria Federal Council 1 January 1965 30 June 1965 180 days
Helene Tschitschko  Austria Federal Council 1 July 1969 31 December 1969 183 days
Muriel Fergusson  Canada Senate 14 December 1972 11 September 1974 1 year, 271 days
Dame Doris Louise Johnson  Bahamas Senate 1973 1982 9 years, 0 days
Tras Honan  Ireland Seanad Éireann 13 May 1982 23 February 1983 286 days
Isabel Perón  Argentina Senate 12 October 1973 1 July 1974 262 days
Helene Tschitschko  Austria Federal Council 1 January 1974 30 June 1974 180 days
Jeanette Rose Grant-Woodham  Jamaica Senate 21 August 1984 1989 4 years, 133 days
Doris June Garcia  Belize Senate 21 December 1984 31 July 1989 4 years, 222 days
Tras Honan  Ireland Seanad Éireann 25 April 1987 1 November 1989 2 years, 190 days
Helga Hieden-Sommer  Austria Federal Council 1 July 1987 31 December 1987 183 days
Jane Usher  Belize Senate 15 September 1989 1 June 1993 3 years, 259 days
Margaret Neckles  Grenada Senate 1990 1995 5 years, 0 days
Anna Elisabeth Haselbach  Austria Federal Council 1 January 1991 30 June 1991 180 days
Millicent Percival  Antigua and Barbuda Senate 1994 2004 10 years, 0 days
Katica Ivanišević  Croatia Chamber of Counties 23 May 1994 28 March 2001 6 years, 309 days
Anna Elisabeth Haselbach  Austria Federal Council 1 July 1995 31 December 1995 183 days
Margaret Reid  Australia Senate 20 August 1996 19 August 2002 5 years, 364 days
Alicja Grześkowiak  Poland Senate 21 October 1997 18 October 2001 3 years, 362 days
Elizabeth Zabaneh  Belize Senate 12 September 1998 July 2001 2 years, 292 days
Libuše Benešová  Czech Republic Senate 16 December 1998 23 November 2000 1 year, 343 days
Esperanza Aguirre  Spain Senate 9 February 1999 16 October 2002 3 years, 249 days
Naledi Pandor  South Africa National Council of Provinces 21 June 1999 4 May 2004 4 years, 318 days
Anna Elisabeth Haselbach  Austria Federal Council 1 January 2000 30 June 2000 181 days
Johanna Auer  Austria Federal Council 28 December 2000 31 December 2000 3 days
Sylvia Flores  Belize Senate 14 August 2001 4 February 2003 1 year, 174 days
Uta Barbara Pühringer  Austria Federal Council 1 January 2002 30 June 2002 180 days
Linda Baboolal  Trinidad and Tobago Senate 5 April 2002 17 December 2007 5 years, 256 days
Sharon R. Wilson  Bahamas Senate 23 May 2002 23 May 2007 5 years, 0 days
Mirtha Quevedo Acalinovic  Bolivia Chamber of Senators August 2002 2003 153 days
Yvonne Timmerman-Buck  Netherlands Eerste Kamer 17 June 2003 6 October 2009 6 years, 111 days
Leslie-Ann Seon  Grenada Senate 9 January 2004 2006 1 year, 357 days
Joyce Kgoali  South Africa National Council of Provinces 4 May 2004 21 November 2004 201 days
Anna Elisabeth Haselbach  Austria Federal Council 1 July 2004 31 December 2004 183 days
Anne-Marie Lizin  Belgium Senate 20 July 2004 12 July 2007 2 years, 357 days
Chikage Oogi  Japan House of Councillors 30 July 2004 28 July 2007 2 years, 363 days
Hazelyn Francis  Antigua and Barbuda Senate 7 January 2005 17 July 2014 9 years, 191 days
Claudia Blum  Colombia Senate 20 July 2005 20 July 2006 1 year, 0 days
Edna Madzongwe  Zimbabwe Senate 30 November 2005 11 September 2018 12 years, 285 days
Sissy Roth-Halvax  Austria Federal Council 1 January 2006 30 June 2006 180 days
Gelani Zwane  Swaziland Senate 23 February 2006 23 October 2018 12 years, 242 days
Helene Hayman, Baroness Hayman  United Kingdom House of Lords 4 July 2006 31 August 2011 5 years, 58 days
Rosemary Husbands-Mathurin  Saint Lucia Senate 2007 2008 1 year, 0 days
Lynn Holowesko  Bahamas Senate 23 May 2007 23 May 2012 5 years, 0 days
Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez  Colombia Senate 20 July 2007 20 July 2008 1 year, 0 days
Andrea Gill  Belize Senate 14 March 2008 3 February 2012 3 years, 326 days
Joan Purcell  Grenada Senate 20 August 2008 20 February 2013 7 years, 352 days
Rose Francine Rogombé  Gabon Senate 16 February 2009 9 June 2009 113 days
Dušanka Majkić  Bosnia and Herzegovina Dom Naroda 26 February 2009 14 March 2009 16 days
Rose Francine Rogombé  Gabon Senate 9 June 2009 27 February 2015 5 years, 263 days
Erika Forster-Vannini   Switzerland Council of States 27 November 2009 26 November 2010 364 days
Ana María Romero de Campero  Bolivia Chamber of Senators 19 January 2010 26 October 2010 298 days
Dušanka Majkić  Bosnia and Herzegovina Dom Naroda 14 July 2010 20 May 2011 310 days
Hannelore Kraft  Germany Bundesrat 1 November 2010 31 October 2011 364 days
Susanne Neuwirth  Austria Federal Council 1 July 2011 31 December 2011 183 days
Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza  United Kingdom House of Lords 1 September 2011 31 August 2016 4 years, 365 days
Valentina Matviyenko  Russia Federation Council 21 September 2011 Incumbent 9 years, 138 days
Sabine de Bethune  Belgium Senate 11 October 2011 14 October 2014 3 years, 3 days
Beatriz Rojkés de Alperovich  Argentina Senate
(Provisional President)		 30 November 2011 28 February 2014 2 years, 90 days
Kerryann Ifill  Barbados Senate 19 March 2012 5 June 2018 6 years, 78 days
Sharon R. Wilson  Bahamas Senate 23 May 2012 24 May 2017 5 years, 1 day
Gabriela Montaño  Bolivia Chamber of Senators 24 July 2012 25 January 2015 2 years, 185 days
Ankie Broekers-Knol  Netherlands Eerste Kamer 2 July 2013 11 June 2019 5 years, 344 days
Teresa Efua Asangono  Equatorial Guinea Senate 12 July 2013 Incumbent 7 years, 209 days
Isabel Allende  Chile Senate of the Republic 11 March 2014 11 March 2015 1 year, 0 days
Thandi Modise  South Africa National Council of Provinces 21 May 2014 22 May 2019 5 years, 1 day
Ana Blatnik  Austria Federal Council 1 July 2014 31 December 2014 183 days
Alincia Williams-Grant  Antigua and Barbuda Senate 17 July 2014 Incumbent 6 years, 204 days
Cristina Lizardo  Dominican Republic Senate 16 August 2014 16 August 2016 2 years, 0 days
Christine Defraigne  Belgium Senate 14 October 2014 14 December 2018 2 years, 54 days
Sonja Zwazl  Austria Federal Council 1 January 2015 30 June 2015 180 days
Raziah Ahmed  Trinidad and Tobago Senate 3 February 2015 23 September 2015 232 days
Lucie Milebou Aubusson  Gabon Senate 27 February 2015 Incumbent 5 years, 345 days
Christine Kangaloo  Trinidad and Tobago Senate 23 September 2015 Incumbent 5 years, 136 days
Margaret Mensah-Williams  Namibia National Council 8 December 2015 9 December 2019 4 years, 1 day
Gabriela Michetti  Argentina Senate 10 December 2015 10 December 2019 4 years, 0 days
Malu Dreyer  Germany Bundesrat 1 November 2016 31 October 2017 364 days
Sonja Ledl-Rossmann  Austria Federal Council 1 January 2017 30 June 2017 180 days
Katherine Forbes-Smith  Bahamas Senate 24 May 2017 5 December 2019 2 years, 195 days
Mamonaheng Mokitimi  Lesotho Senate 11 July 2017 Incumbent 3 years, 210 days
Lucía Topolansky  Uruguay Senate 13 September 2017 14 February 2020 2 years, 154 days
Karin Keller-Sutter   Switzerland Council of States 28 November 2017 27 November 2018 364 days
Jeannine Giraudy-McIntyre  Saint Lucia Senate 20 March 2018 Incumbent 2 years, 323 days
Elisabetta Casellati  Italy Senate of the Republic 24 March 2018 Incumbent 2 years, 319 days
Keria Ibrahim  Ethiopia House of Federation 6 May 2018 Incumbent 2 years, 276 days
Inge Posch-Gruska  Austria Federal Council 1 July 2018 1 January 2019 184 days
Mabel Chinomona  Zimbabwe Senate 11 September 2018 Incumbent 2 years, 148 days
Princess Lindiwe Dlamini  Eswatini Senate 23 October 2018 Incumbent 2 years, 106 days
Adriana Salvatierra  Bolivia Senate 18 January 2019 14 November 2019 300 days
Jewel Taylor  Liberia Senate 22 January 2019 Incumbent 2 years, 15 days
Dariga Nazarbayeva  Kazakhstan Senate 20 March 2019 2 May 2020 1 year, 43 days
Tanzila Norbaeva  Uzbekistan Senate 21 June 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 230 days
Sabine Laruelle  Belgium Senate 15 July 2019 13 October 2020 1 year, 90 days
Akiko Santō  Japan House of Councillors 1 August 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 189 days
Mónica Fernández Balboa  Mexico Senate of the Republic 1 September 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 158 days
Mónica Eva Copa  Bolivia Senate 14 November 2019 3 November 2020 355 days
Pilar Llop  Spain Senate 3 December 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 65 days
Mildred Hall-Watson  Bahamas Senate 5 December 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 63 days
Natalya Kochanova  Belarus Council of the Republic 9 December 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 58 days
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner  Argentina Senate 10 December 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 58 days
Claudia Ledesma Abdala  Argentina Senate
(Provisional President)		 10 December 2019 Incumbent 1 year, 58 days
Beatriz Argimón  Uruguay Senate 1 March 2020 Incumbent 342 days
Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler  Austria Federal Council 1 July 2020 31 December 2020 183 days
Stephanie D'Hose  Belgium Senate 13 October 2020 Incumbent 116 days
Саrоlуn Тrеnсh-Ѕаndіfоrd  Belize Senate 11 December 2020 Incumbent 57 days
Anca Dragu  Romania Senate 21 December 2020 Incumbent 47 days
Kamala Harris  United States Senate 20 January 2021 Incumbent 17 days

Territorial
  Denotes incumbent speaker of parliament
Name Image Territory Legislative Body Mandate start Mandate end Term length
Carol Bassett  Bermuda Senate 2008 19 July 2017 9 years, 199 days
Clare Christian  Isle of Man Legislative Council and Tynwald 12 July 2011 19 July 2016 5 years, 7 days
Joan Dillas-Wright  Bermuda Senate 19 July 2017 Incumbent 3 years, 202 days

See also
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