We are on the brink of seeing three of the world’s richest democracies be led by women. This is a moment to take stock, to measure how attitudes have changed to women in power, and what that means for the licence that they now have to define themselves.
It is always harder on the way to power: Clinton’s battles with how to present herself as a woman aspiring to be commander in chief – strong or compliant, outspoken or measured – have threaded through the presidential campaign. In office, it would be what she does that counts. Long ago, Angela Merkel became the most powerful politician in Europe, a standing that made a virtue out of ordinariness. It is Theresa May who seems most interesting, and interested, in how she can use her personal brand to sell a political message.