List of G7 leaders
This is a list of the heads of government of the Group of Seven nations at each G6, G7, G8 summit since the organisation's inception in 1975. The Group consists of the 6-7-8 largest industrialized democracies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Also in attendance is the President of the European Commission, who represents the European Union. The G7 holds an annual summit, which each nation's head of government attends. Each year the heads of government take turns assuming the presidency, whose job it is to set the agenda for and host the annual summit. The leader who has been in office the longest of the eight leaders is considered the Senior G7 leader; currently Angela Merkel since 2014, and previously from 2011 to 2012.
While the current G7 consists of seven nations, it didn't always. The group was formed as the Group of Six, G6, including all of today's members minus Canada. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada joined in the second year of the group's existence, 1976, forming the Group of Seven, G7. Russia, as the successor nation to the USSR, joined the Group of Eight, G8, in 1997, following the collapse of its Communist predecessor, under the leadership of President Boris Yeltsin. As of, Russia is currently suspended from the Group of 8.
List of Senior G7 Leaders
The following is a chronology of senior G7 leaders from the founding of the G6 to the present.| Entered office as Head of State or Government | Began time as senior G8 leader | Ended time as senior G8 leader | Term Length | Person | Office | 16 October 1964 | 15 November 1975 | 5 April 1976 | Harold Wilson |  Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| 16 May 1974 | 5 April 1976 | 27 June 1976 | Helmut Schmidt |  Chancellor of West Germany | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 20 April 1968 | 27 June 1976 | 4 June 1979 | Pierre Trudeau |  Prime Minister of Canada | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 16 May 1974 | 4 June 1979 | 3 March 1980 | Helmut Schmidt | Chancellor of West Germany | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 20 April 1968 | 3 March 1980 | 30 June 1984 | Pierre Trudeau | Prime Minister of Canada | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4 May 1979 | 30 June 1984 | 28 November 1990 | Margaret Thatcher | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 10 May 1981 | 28 November 1990 | 17 May 1995 | François Mitterrand |  President of France | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1 October 1982 | 17 May 1995 | 27 October 1998 | Helmut Kohl | Chancellor of Germany | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 10 July 1991 | 27 October 1998 | 31 December 1999 | Boris Yeltsin |  President of Russia | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 20 January 1993 | 31 December 1999 | 20 January 2001 | Bill Clinton |  President of the United States | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4 November 1993 | 20 January 2001 | 12 December 2003 | Jean Chrétien | Prime Minister of Canada | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 17 May 1995 | 12 December 2003 | 16 May 2007 | Jacques Chirac | President of France | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2 May 1997 | 16 May 2007 | 27 June 2007 | Tony Blair | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7 May 2000 | 27 June 2007 | 7 May 2008 | Vladimir Putin | President of Russia | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 20 January 2001 | 7 May 2008 | 20 January 2009 | George W. Bush | President of the United States | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 10 May 1994 | 20 January 2009 | 16 November 2011 | Silvio Berlusconi |  Prime Minister of Italy | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 22 November 2005 | 16 November 2011 | 7 May 2012 | Angela Merkel | Chancellor of Germany | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7 May 2000 | 7 May 2012 | 24 March 2014 | Vladimir Putin | President of Russia | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 22 November 2005 | 24 March 2014 | Incumbent | Angela Merkel | Chancellor of Germany | - | - | - | - | - | - |
G7 tenure
- The longest period anyone has been the senior G7 leader is the six years, 151 days of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, who was Prime Minister for eleven years.
- The shortest period any past G7 leader has been the senior G7 leader is the 42 days of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair in 2007.
- Despite the fact that Japan was a founding member of the G6, no Japanese Prime Minister has ever become the Senior G7 Leader.
- Except for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Wilson, the first person to be Senior G7 Leader, no past Senior G7 Leader has held office for less than eight years.
- Silvio Berlusconi currently holds the record of G8 Summit hosting, having hosted it in Italy three times.