On 20th July 1960 Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the world’s first woman prime minister. Her Sri Lanka Freedom Party won a resounding victory in the general election in Ceylon taking 75 out of the 150 seats available.
She was the widow of the previous prime minister who was shot by an Buddhist extremist on 26th September 1959. When Dudley Senanayake‘s United National Party failed to produce a working majority after winning the elections in March she felt compelled to enter politics and stand for the office of prime minister so that she could continue Solomon Bandaranaike‘s socialist policies. Read more […]
