List of female speakers of national and territorial lower houses

This list presents female speakers of national and territorial lower houses of their respective countries or territories. The lower house is one of two chambers in a bicameral legislature. The lower house has more power than the upper house. It usually has the power to impeach the executive in presidential republics or remove the prime minister in semi-presidential republics. Its members are elected by popular votes, compared to the upper house members who are usually appointed.

National[]

Name	Image	Country	Legislative Body	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
Ragnhildur Helgadóttir		Iceland	Lower House of the Althing	1961	1962	1 year, 0 days
				1974	1978	4 years, 0 days
Annemarie Renger		West Germany	Bundestag	13 December 1972	14 December 1976	4 years, 1 day
Elisabeth Blunschy		Switzerland	National Council	2 May 1977	1977	?
Nilde Iotti		Italy	Chamber of Deputies	20 June 1979	22 April 1992	12 years, 307 days
Lidia Gueiler Tejada		Bolivia	Chamber of Deputies	August 1979	November 1979	92 days
Jeanne Sauvé		Canada	House of Commons	14 April 1980	15 January 1984	3 years, 276 days
Hedi Lang		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 1981	28 November 1982	1 year, 0 days
		Barbados	House of Assembly	1984	1986	2 years, 0 days
Joan Child		Australia	House of Representatives	11 February 1986	28 August 1989	3 years, 198 days
Rita Süssmuth		Germany	Bundestag	25 November 1988	26 October 1998	9 years, 335 days
		Trinidad and Tobago	House of Representatives	13 January 1992	27 November 1995	3 years, 318 days
Betty Boothroyd		United Kingdom	House of Commons	27 April 1992	23 October 2000	8 years, 179 days
Gret Haller		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 1993	28 November 1994	1 year, 0 days
Takako Doi		Japan	House of Representatives	6 August 1993	27 September 1996	3 years, 52 days
		Antigua and Barbuda	House of Representatives	1994	29 March 2004	10 years, 88 days
Irene Pivetti		Italy	Chamber of Deputies	16 April 1994	8 May 1996	2 years, 22 days
Frene Ginwala		South Africa	National Assembly	9 May 1994	23 April 2004	9 years, 350 days
Judith Stamm		Switzerland	National Council	1996	1997	1 year, 0 days
Violet Nielson		Jamaica	House of Representatives	1997	2003	6 years, 0 days
		Bahamas	House of Assembly	9 April 1997	22 May 2002	5 years, 43 days
Sylvia Flores		Belize	House of Representatives	1998	2001	3 years, 0 days
Trix Heberlein		Switzerland	National Council	1998	1999	1 year, 0 days
Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven		Netherlands	Tweede Kamer	20 May 1998	16 May 2002	3 years, 361 days
Ntlhoi Motsamai		Lesotho	National Assembly	1999	2012	13 years, 0 days
				10 March 2015	12 June 2017	2 years, 94 days
Rafaela Alburquerque		Dominican Republic	Chamber of Deputies	16 August 1999	16 August 2003	4 years, 0 days
Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez		Colombia	Chamber of Representatives	20 July 1999	20 July 2000	1 year, 0 days
Luisa Fernanda Rudi		Spain	Congress of Deputies	5 April 2000	8 April 2004	4 years, 3 days
		Belize	House of Representatives	2001	2008	7 years, 0 days
Liliane Maury Pasquier		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 2001	28 November 2002	1 year, 0 days
Adriana Muñoz D'Albora		Chile	Chamber of Deputies	14 March 2002	18 March 2003	1 year, 4 days
Isabel Allende		Chile	Chamber of Deputies	18 March 2003	16 March 2004	364 days
		Antigua and Barbuda	House of Representatives	29 March 2004	June 2014	10 years, 64 days
Baleka Mbete		South Africa	National Assembly	23 April 2004	25 September 2008	4 years, 155 days
				21 May 2014	22 May 2019	5 years, 1 day
Zulema Jattin Corrales		Colombia	Chamber of Representatives	20 July 2004	20 July 2005	1 year, 0 days
Nora Castro		Uruguay	Chamber of Deputies	1 March 2005	1 March 2006	1 year, 0 days
Thérèse Meyer		Switzerland	National Council	8 March 2005	28 November 2005	265 days
Barbara Prammer		Austria	National Council	30 October 2006	2 August 2014	7 years, 276 days
Christine Egerszegi		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 2006	28 November 2007	1 year, 0 days
Gerdi Verbeet		Netherlands	Tweede Kamer	6 December 2006	20 September 2012	5 years, 289 days
Nancy Pelosi		United States	House of Representatives	4 January 2007	3 January 2011	3 years, 364 days
				3 January 2019	Incumbent	3 years, 64 days
Sarah Flood-Beaubrun		Saint Lucia	House of Assembly	9 January 2007	September 2008	1 year, 236 days
Patricia Etteh		Nigeria	House of Representatives	6 June 2007	30 October 2007	146 days
Diloram Tashmukhamedova		Uzbekistan	Legislative Chamber	23 January 2008	12 January 2015	6 years, 354 days
Fahmida Mirza		Pakistan	National Assembly	19 March 2008	3 June 2013	5 years, 76 days
		Saint Lucia	House of Assembly	September 2008	6 January 2012	3 years, 127 days
Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde		South Africa	National Assembly	25 September 2008	6 May 2009	223 days
Rose Mukantabana		Rwanda	Chamber of Deputies	6 October 2008	3 October 2013	4 years, 362 days
Chiara Simoneschi-Cortesi		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 2008	28 November 2009	1 year, 0 days
Roberta Anastase		Romania	Chamber of Deputies	19 December 2008	3 July 2012	3 years, 197 days
Meira Kumar		India	Lok Sabha	4 June 2009	4 June 2014	5 years, 0 days
Ivonne Passada		Uruguay	Chamber of Deputies	1 March 2010	1 March 2011	1 year, 0 days
Alejandra Sepúlveda Orbenes		Chile	Chamber of Deputies	11 March 2010	15 March 2011	1 year, 4 days
Miroslava Němcová		Czechia	Chamber of Deputies	1 May 2010	28 August 2013	3 years, 119 days
Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert		Jamaica	House of Representatives	13 July 2011	12 December 2011	152 days
				15 September 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 174 days
Ewa Kopacz		Poland	Sejm	8 November 2011	22 September 2014	2 years, 318 days
		Bolivia	Chamber of Deputies	24 July 2012	25 January 2015	2 years, 185 days
Anouchka van Miltenburg		Netherlands	Tweede Kamer	25 September 2012	12 December 2015	3 years, 78 days
Anna Burke		Australia	House of Representatives	9 October 2012	12 November 2013	1 year, 34 days
Maya Graf		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 2012	28 November 2013	1 year, 0 days
Laura Boldrini		Italy	Chamber of Deputies	16 March 2013	22 March 2018	5 years, 6 days
Donatille Mukabalisa		Rwanda	Chamber of Deputies	5 October 2013	Incumbent	8 years, 154 days
Bronwyn Bishop		Australia	House of Representatives	12 November 2013	2 August 2015	1 year, 263 days
Sumitra Mahajan		India	Lok Sabha	5 June 2014	17 June 2019	5 years, 12 days
Doris Bures		Austria	National Council	2 September 2014	9 November 2017	3 years, 68 days
		Bolivia	Chamber of Deputies	25 January 2015	24 January 2019	3 years, 364 days
Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska		Poland	Sejm	25 June 2015	11 November 2015	139 days
Borjana Krišto		Bosnia and Herzegovina	House of Representatives	9 August 2015	8 April 2016	243 days
				9 August 2017	8 April 2018	242 days
				6 December 2018	5 August 2019	242 days
				6 December 2020	5 August 2021	242 days
Bridgid Annisette-George		Trinidad and Tobago	House of Representatives	23 September 2015	Incumbent	6 years, 166 days
Christa Markwalder		Switzerland	National Council	28 November 2015	28 November 2016	1 year, 0 days
Khadija Arib		Netherlands	Tweede Kamer	13 December 2015	7 April 2021	5 years, 115 days
		Saint Lucia	House of Assembly	12 July 2016	20 March 2018	1 year, 251 days
Ana Pastor Julián		Spain	Congress of Deputies	19 July 2016	21 May 2019	2 years, 306 days
Lucía Medina		Dominican Republic	Chamber of Deputies	16 August 2016	16 August 2017	1 year, 0 days
Laura Tucker-Longsworth		Belize	House of Representatives	13 January 2017	6 October 2020	3 years, 267 days
Guadalupe Murguía Gutiérrez		Mexico	Chamber of Deputies	1 March 2017	7 September 2017	190 days
Elisabeth Köstinger		Austria	National Council	9 November 2017	18 December 2017	39 days
Maya Fernández Allende		Chile	Chamber of Deputies	11 March 2018	19 March 2019	1 year, 8 days
Gülşat Mämmedowa		Turkmenistan	Assembly[a 1]	30 March 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 343 days
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo		Philippines	House of Representatives	23 July 2018	30 June 2019	342 days
Marina Carobbio Guscetti		Switzerland	National Council	26 November 2018	2 December 2019	1 year, 6 days
Fawzia Zainal		Bahrain	House of Representatives	12 December 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 86 days
Cecilia Bottino		Uruguay	Chamber of Representatives	1 March 2019	14 February 2020	350 days
Jeannine Mabunda		DR Congo	National Assembly	24 April 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 318 days
Meritxell Batet		Spain	Congress of Deputies	21 May 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 291 days
Thandi Modise		South Africa	National Assembly	22 May 2019	5 August 2021	2 years, 75 days
Elżbieta Witek		Poland	Sejm	9 August 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 211 days
Puan Maharani		Indonesia	People's Representative Council	1 October 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 158 days
Isabelle Moret		Switzerland	National Council	2 December 2019	30 November 2020	364 days
Eliane Tillieux		Belgium	Chamber of Representatives	13 October 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 146 days
Valerie Woods		Belize	House of Representatives	11 December 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 87 days
Vera Bergkamp		Netherlands	Tweede Kamer	7 April 2021	Incumbent	335 days
Jennifer Arias		Colombia	Chamber of Representatives	20 July 2021	Incumbent	231 days
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula		South Africa	National Assembly	19 August 2021	Incumbent	201 days
Patricia Deveaux		Bahamas	House of Assembly	6 October 2021	Incumbent	153 days
Bärbel Bas		Germany	Bundestag	26 October 2021	Incumbent	133 days
Markéta Pekarová Adamová		Czechia	Chamber of Deputies	10 November 2021	Incumbent	118 days
Irène Kälin		Switzerland	National Council	29 November 2021	Incumbent	99 days

Territorial[]

Name	Image	Territory	Legislative Body	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length
María L. Gómez Garriga		Puerto Rico	House of Representatives	1945	1945	?
Zaida Cucusa Hernández		Puerto Rico	House of Representatives	11 January 1993	12 December 1996	3 years, 355 days
Jenniffer González		Puerto Rico	House of Representatives	12 January 2009	1 January 2013	3 years, 355 days

See also[]

• Bicameralism
• List of current presidents of legislatures
• List of legislatures by country
• Lower House
• Parliament
• Speaker (politics)