Justin Trudeau

Current job: Liberal MP for Papineau (Montreal)
Romantic status: Married to Sophie Gregoire
Birthday: December 25, 1971
Turn-ons: Youth empowerment, education, the environment
Turn-offs: Separatists, apathy
Why we love him: He may have only just shown up on the political scene (winning a tight one against the Bloc candidate in Papineau), but Justin has a long history of being involved in the Canadian scene. More than just a pretty face, he has undergrad degrees from McGill (English) and UBC (Middle Years Teacher Education). On top of these, he's currently working on his Master's in Environmental Geography at McGill. He likes kids, likes the environment, and likes to talk - according to Speakers' Spotlight, "The combination of Trudeau’s electric charisma and inspirational message leaves audiences educated, entertained and ready to make a difference." And, (not surprisingly, considering his McGill background) he is a bit of a party boy; no doubt fitting for someone who wants to work for a Montreal riding. We see Trudeau Jr. doing his Sexy Politician father proud, without the hard-assedness.

Stéphane Dion

Current job: Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Leader of the Opposition, MP for St-Laurent - Cartierville (Montreal)
Romantic status: Married to Janine Krieber
Birthday: September 28, 1955
Turn-ons: Environmental sustainabilty, economic prosperty, social justice
Turn-offs: Confidence votes, global warming
Why we love him: Being elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada is kind of a big deal, and an impressive thing to put on your résumé. But Stéphane didn't come in at an easy time - on the heels of the Sponsorship Scandal, around the same time as Chrétien published his finger-pointing book, and just as the Tories were slashing the GST. A series of nasty confidence votes on the part of the Conservatives when a general election could turn out poorly for the Liberals made Dion look weak as Layton and Duceppe voted against them. Unfortunately, some nasty economic issues and a general lack of recognizability (which the Tories turned against him in their nasty attack business) and a hardline environmental policy meant a crushing defeat for the Liberals in the last election, meaning that Stéphane has announced that he will step down as of the next party convention. We're heartbroken, but we understand. Anyway, he has a PhD (sexy) and holds dual citizenship (French) thanks to his mom - and we all know that Frenchmen are, as a general group, sexy. Don't feel too bad, Stéphane. We still love you.

Vladimir Putin

Current job: Current Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation
Romantic status: Married to Lyudmila Putina
Birthday: October 7, 1952
Turn-ons: Economic prosperity, soverign democracy
Turn-offs: Corruption charges against former presidents, media freedoms

Why we love him:
  

ABC News was not far off in calling the topless fishing pics a "naked display of virility". But oh, it doesn't stop there. The man shoots tigers! He's a judo expert! He nails gymnasts! He annexes neighbouring territories! He poisons pesky rivals in mysterious ways! It's no wonder that Vladimir Putin is a Russian sex symbol. He's done just about every manly, testosterone-laden thing short of shooting terrorists with a semiautomatic while nailing three women simultaneously. Remember Chuck Norris jokes making a brief comeback as Jack Bauer jokes? Now they are Vladimir Putin jokes.

Gilles Duceppe

Current job: Leader of the Bloc Québécois and MP for Laurier - Ste-Marie (Montreal).
Romantic status: Married to Yolande Brunelle
Birthday: July 22, 1947
Turn-ons: Sovereignty, cultural assimilation
Turn-offs: Anglophones
Why we love him: Gilles began his political career as a communist, and developed a taste for separatism at the age of 20 (not surprising, considering he developed a distaste for anglophones at the age of 12). If nothing else, the man's got heart. And he's a good speaker, too - he was the first elected member of the fledgling Bloc Québécois in 1990, and he's held onto his seat for eighteen years. In the 2004 federal election, both the English and the French media pegged him as the best speaker of the party leaders, and the Bloc won a record 54 seats that year. But the trait that secured him his place on the Sexy Politicians hotlist is this: we could spend forever gazing into those beautiful blue eyes.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Current job: President of Argintina, member of the Justicialist Party
Romantic status: Married to Néstor Krichner
Birthday: February 19, 1953
Turn-ons: Suburban and rural constituencies, speechmaking
Turn-offs: Inflation, allegations of illegal campaign fund contributions
Why we love her: This Sexy Politician is so stylish, she looks like she should be kickin' it with Carrie Bradshaw over cocktails. But, like any (well, okay, most) good Sexy Politicians, she is more than just a pretty face. When she assummed office last December, she became the first woman in history elected to succeed her husband, and she is Argentina's first elected female president. Taking a break from politics in the '80s, during which Argentina was under authoritarian rule, she practised law with her husband. Even while she was Argentina's First Lady, she was known for being a good speaker, and before becoming president, she was an Argentinian senator and a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Fuck Evita, we'd like to see a musical about Cristina!

Ségolène Royal

Current job: President (governor) of the Poitou-Charentes region, recent Socialist Party French presidential candidate
Romantic status: Single
Birthday: September 22, 1953
Turn-ons: Local food and wine, family and social issues
Turn-offs: Conservative and degrading views of the role of women, sexism
Why we love her: Well, for one thing, she lost the 2006 French elections to Nicolas Sarkozy by a mere 6%. She has also been known to enjoy a glass of wine socially at nine in the morning. But let's not delude ourselves. Much like Putin, this is the real reason she is a Sexy Politician:

French women don't get fat - and apparently, at the age of 54, they don't get saggy, either. Where else are you going to find breasts like this coupled with the experience of a 54-year-old French woman?

Barack Obama

Current job: President Elect of the United States of America, current junior US Senator, Illinois
Romantic status: Married to Michelle Obama
Birthday: August 4, 1961
Turn-ons: Hope, early childhood education
Turn-offs: Economic class divisions,
Why we love him: It seems like every American who wasn't old, white, and rich was cheering for Barack Obama in the latest election. Of course it only seemed that way because Barack only got 52% of the popular vote -- but whatever. All the cool people were cheering for him, so what else matters? He certainly did Ba-rock the vote -- in a country which, since compulsory voting was lifted, has seen voter turnout rates averaging about 54%, the hip presidential candidate (and/or his wrinkly white opponent?) incited an estimated 61.4% of eligible voters to do so.
But of course, it's not enough to make a big impact with voters, even women, because even great unsexy politicians could do that. Barack is charming, good-looking, basketball-playing, and admits that he's smoked dope as well as snorted coke (but of course is now reformed). Basically everything an inner-city American girl has ever wanted right there. He can throw out pop culture references like nobody's business. And he is the Nice Family Man that is one of the major requirements for being president of the world's largest nuclear power, but not so much so that we suspect he's going to be implicated in some gay underage sex scandal. Need we say more? Okay, two words: Obama.Girl. And, hey, while we're looking at shots of scantily-clad politicians:

Jens Stoltenberg

Current job: Prime Minister of Norway and leader of the Norwegian Labour Party
Romantic status: Married to Ingrid Schulerud
Birthday: March 16, 1959
Turn-ons: Partial privatization, coalitions, the economy
Turn-offs: Norway not being the first country to develop large-scale carbon capture and storage technology
Why we love him: The goal of making Noway carbon neutral is an admirable one, and Norway's 2008 budget includes the equivalent of $221.6M US for research into carbon capture. But Jens, an economist, understands that this is an investment - the first country to develop such technology is going to develop an industry worth piles and piles of money. Now, we all know that Norway is a welfare state: Jens pledged more of the country's oil revenue surplus to education, health care, and the environment, as well as working on the tax system for a more even distribution of wealth, in 2009. But of course, being a socialist and having a cool name isn't enough to make a Sexy Politican on its own; being a total DILF secures Jens's spot on the hotlist.

Ruby Dhalla

Current job: Liberal MP for Brampton-Springdale (GTA)
Romantic status: Single
Birthday: February 18, 1974
Turn-ons: Humanitarian relief efforts, trade relationships with emerging markets
Turn-offs: Police brutality, Indian violence in general
Why we love her: This supercute chiropractor-turned-Sexy-Politician could sear our eyes off in a Bollywood film, and we'd only love her more for it. In fact, she has worked as an actress, notably in the Bollywood-inspired Kyon? Kis Liye?, which was shot in Ontario. She also placed second in the 1993 Miss India Canada pageant. Her riding association was not terribly impressed when the Liberals parachuted her into Brampton-Springdale in 2004, and the favoured candidate actually supported the NDP candidate instead, but Ruby kicked ass in the election anyway. Since then, she has championed the regognition of foreign credentials, which is good news for those of us who'd prefer to see overqualified cab drivers working as the engineers and doctors whom our country so desperately needs. To top it all off, she is one of the two first Sikh women, along with Nina Grewal of BC, to hit up the House of Commons - not to mention the youngest lady in said House. Our only regret is that we couldn't dig up any swimsuit photos of her.

Helena Guergis

Current job: Conservative MP for Simcoe-Grey (Ontario), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Sport
Romantic status: Engages to Rahim Jaffer
Birthday: February 19, 1969
Turn-ons: Cute fellow Tory Pakis
Turn-offs: Floor crossers, Bill C-38 (while in a socially conservative riding, that is)
Why we love her: Like Ruby, Helena was also a beauty pageant girl - although she won, being crowned Miss Huronia in 1992. There was a bit of a resulting bitchfest between her and pageant owner/operator Sylvia Stark, but Helena seems to have ultimately come out the winner. She hung around with the Ontario PCs before stepping it up to beat the Liberal incumbent of Simcoe-Grey in 2004.

Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko

Current job: Prime Minister of the Ukraine; leader of the Fatherland party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc
Romantic status: Married to Oleksandr Tymoshenko
Birthday: November 27, 1960
Turn-ons: Energy market reforms leading to government financial stability, coalitions
Turn-offs: Political and market corruption, snap elections
Why we love her: After earning the Ukrainian equivalent of a PhD in economics, Yulia started by getting her hands dirty in the business world, a background which helped her reform the way enegry was sold and bought industrially in the Ukraine, leading to a properly-funded government and a better economy. Despite some nasty business with allegations of forgery and inside deals against her by the powers that be in the Ukraine, she pulled together a coalition which got her elected as Prime Minister. The Globe and Mail called her "one of the most beautiful women to ever enter politics", she does her own hair, and on her personal website, you can download Yulia Tymoshenko wallpapers. You know you're sexy when you're appearing on computer desktops across the world ... even if you try not to think about what is going through the minds of certain downloaders.

Nicolas Dufour

Current job: Bloc Québécois MP for Repentigny
Romantic status:
Birthday: June 1987
Turn-ons: Separatism, nepotism
Turn-offs:
Why we love him: At only 21 years of age, Nicolas is the youngest person ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons. "Sure, he got elected with a landslide 60 percent of the vote," you may say. "The Bloc has held Repentigny since forever, and he is only there because his dad gave Bouchard piles of money." But don't dismiss him just yet. He's been doing the politics thing for a long time, including working on election campaigns and being president of his riding association. And he is almost finished his BA in political science at UQAM! And look at how cute he is -- we wish we knew whether or not he was single. We bet we could find out on his Facebook page.

Josée Beaudin

Current job: Bloc Québécois MP for Saint-Lambert (Montreal)
Romantic status:
Birthday: 1962
Turn-ons: Youth programs
Turn-offs:
Why we love her: