The UK has fallen further behind the US in a “Soft-Power Index” produced by the Higher Education Policy Institute, which shows how many serving world leaders were educated in countries other than their own.
In the first year of the index, 2017, there were more world leaders who had been educated in the UK than in any other country, including the US. But the US overtook the UK in 2018 and has been extending its lead since.
The 2022 edition shows that 67 serving leaders were educated in the US, up two on last year and up 10 since 2017. In contrast, the UK educated 55, down two on last year and down three since 2017.
So rather than being one ahead, as it was in 2017, the UK is now 12 behind the US. UK-educated world leaders to have stepped down in the past year include prime ministers of Lebanon, Pakistan and Mozambique.
