The Times 100 to watch in 2012: interactive
- ️Fri Jan 13 2012
A Royal Jubilee, an Olympic fiesta, a crisis in Europe and an American election — this year will be action-packed, if nothing else (and that’s without the surprises — a royal baby? War in the Middle East?).
All this week, The Times is picking one hundred people to watch. Bridging all spheres of life, our selections are a truly global lot who will, or should, touch your life this year. As we count down to No 1, you will find the famous and the lesser knowns. One is a baby, another is long dead. You might feel there are glaring omissions. If so, join our debate online, where Times writers will also be defending their personal choices
Click on the tab above to view the interactive graphic (smartphone readers need to visit http://thetim.es/100-to-watch on their phone’s browser to view the graphic)
1. Danny Boyle, film-maker and producer, 55, British Danny Boyle has a film to finish and a likely starring role on the theatre awards circuit over the next few months but for good or ill his 2012 will be defined by one night in July. Four years ago the film director Zhang Yimou laid on a $100 million party to open the Beijing Olympics, featuring weather-manipulating technology to ward off rain, 2,008 synchronised drummers and 30,000 fireworks . China, his four-hour opening ceremony said in no uncertain terms, was ready to be Top Nation. In a little over six months’ time, Britain has to make a similar statement about itself to the watching world. The Government is so concerned about getting the message right that it recently doubled the funding for the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies to £81 million. Britain is betting big on the Olympic effect and Boyle is the man with the task of selling a beleaguered nation to the world. He has said that he is aiming for a more “relaxed” ceremony than the one in Beijing, and his career and background, not to mention his choice of Underworld as musical directors, suggest that he will steer clear of the usual Heritage Britain clichés. The son of a power station boiler stoker and a dinner lady, Boyle grew up on a council estate near Bury and made his name as a theatre director at the Royal Court in the 1980s before moving into television. His debut film, Shallow Grave, announced a striking new talent and his next, the Edinburgh heroin-addict drama Trainspotting, was the defining British film of the 1990s. He has since hopped restlessly between genres, motivated by a fear of feeling too comfortable. Three years ago Boyle’s career scaled a new peak when Slumdog Millionaire won eight Academy Awards. Boyle celebrated by taking his Best Director Oscar to his father’s social club in Bury the next week. Last year he returned to the theatre in grand style with Frankenstein, a leading contender for several Laurence Olivier awards in April. But now everything is on hold while Boyle and his team hunker down in an East London warehouse plotting and planning for July 27, 2012. He has a special flair for creating a blockbuster spectacle on an arthouse budget. He’ll need it; the world will be watching. 2. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, 57, German Politics and Business The eurozone crisis will come to a head this year and if it is not resolved there will be dire consequences for the British economy, with a tip back into recession a certainty. The person best placed to resolve the crisis is the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish Foreign Minister, summed up the situation best when he said: “I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear German inactivity.” Most economists argue that the logical outcome of the crisis will either be a break-up of the eurozone — with some peripheral nations dropping out of the single currency and a “core” including France and Germany remaining — or a full fiscal union. Mrs Merkel favours the latter option. We shall find out this year how committed she is. Whether Mrs Merkel can square German public opinion with what the bond markets require will be the decisive question of 2012. And whether or not she can pull it off will not only affect our year but, potentially, the rest of our lives. 3. Xi Jinping, engineer, 58, Chinese Asia Asked in 2002 whether he thought that he would reach the very summit of China’s leadership, Xi Jinping’s answer was: “Are you trying to scare me?” A decade later, the real shock would be if he did not suceed Hu Jintao as president this year. Whether you realise it or not, your life will be affected by the decisions of a man whose country consumes more energy, copper and cement than any other. 4. Professor Peter Higgs, physicist, 82, British Science This will probably be the year when Professor Peter Higgs finds out whether the sub-atomic particle that bears his name exists. If it doesn’t, his fellow physicists will have to find a new explanation for why objects have mass, and he will owe Stephen Hawking £100. If it does, a theory that Higgs produced with a pencil, paper and pure mathematics 46 years ago will have been vindicated. And he will probably win a Nobel Prize. Data published at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has raised hopes of conclusive proof of the Higgs boson or “God particle” within months. 5. Jessica Ennis, athlete, 25, British Sport Alas poor Jess. We have rather put the world on her back. But of one thing I am certain: she will continue to carry the weight without complaint. Ennis will, if she stays sound, contest the heptathlon at the Olympic Games for Britain. Victory is by no means a certainty: she was beaten into second place in the World Championships. She is talented, educated, decent and loyal, and stands for an integrated, multicultural society. She has a lust not only for victory, but for perfection. 6. Dave Morin, entrepreneur, 30, American Internet Formerly a key Facebook executive, Morin has founded his own social network called Path. It limits you to 150 friends, which the research of the Oxford anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggests is the maximum number of meaningful relationships that we can maintain. We can follow what many more than that are saying, doing, thinking, but do we care? This year, the continuing growth of Path will show that plenty of us don’t. It was reported that Google tried to buy Path for £65 million last year and the number of users has already passed one million. Morin’s time at Facebook shows that he knows about making innovation work: this year he will be king of the less-is-more online movement. 7. Lin Homer, chief executive of HM Revenue & Customs, 54, British Business Managing Britain’s tax collectors is a tough job at any time but Revenue & Customs is under pressure to justify the deals that it has made with big companies and has the lowest morale of any Whitehall department. The appointment of Ms Homer has been criticised because she has no tax experience. She is married with three children and was previously the top civil servant in the Department for Transport. 8. The Duchess of Cambridge, Royal Family, 30, British Royalty Now that 2011 is done and dusted, one might think that the national obsession with the Duchess would begin to wane. That, however, would be naive. This year we are going to hear even more from her as she steps up into in her role as an (occasionally) working royal. Every time she wears something new, that frock will fly out of the shops as a million Kate wannabes think that by dressing round the clock in Zara and Issa they too will be able to bag a prince. 9. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, 51, American Technology The rumour: Apple is developing the iTV,which will change forever the way we watch television. It will have internet access, respond to voice control and hand gestures, and make our digital set-top boxes seem Stone Age. It would be the first launch of a major Apple product overseen by a CEO other than Steve Jobs. Enter Tim Cook, who has the unenviable task of stepping into his former boss’s New Balance trainers. If he can pull off yet another Apple hit, it will be a personal triumph for him. 10.Charles Dickens, writer, 1812-1870, British Arts How could a novelist born 200 years ago possibly affect your life in 2012? The answer: very profoundly, if you let him. Charles Dickens will be everywhere this year, the bicentenary of his birth: in films, plays and exhibitions, but most importantly in his novels, great rolling narratives full of character, incident, merriment and an underlying seriousness. The images of poverty and crime in Oliver Twist deeply shocked his Victorian audience. Two hundred years later, Dickens might walk around some of the most deprived parts of Britain and wonder how much has changed. The tougher the times, the more Dickens has to say. 11. The Quad: Prime Minister, Deputy PM, Chancellor & Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 169 (combined), British Politics The Prime Minister and his Cabinet cabal not even in the top 10? Well, there’s no doubt they will affect all of our lives: schools, hospitals, crime, punishment, wars, diplomacy and how to complete Angry Birds are all within their gift. Will the coalition survive the year? No doubt it will, but how effective can it really be? What concessions will be wrung on either side, and how will the restive wings of the Liberal left and Tory right be appeased? The Prime Minister signalled that dignity in care of the elderly and decency on boardroom pay were his early priorities for 2012. He gained a bump in the polls for sticking up for Britain in Europe, but his sceptical backbenchers will want more evidence that he is ready to take back powers from Brussels. Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander will want to show that they are part of a successful economic rescue mission, but will glance nervously at the prospect of electoral wipeout in local elections in May. As the hunt for economic growth drags on, the search for levers to pull that will actually do anything continues. George Osborne gets his big day with the Budget on March 21 — when we can judge exactly how far we are all in this together. 12. Ruth Mackenzie, Cultural Olympiad director, 54, British Culture & Sport The arrival of Mackenzie to run the Cultural Olympiad turned it from a meandering £97 million mess to a chance for Britain to assert its leading cultural credentials. The former boss of Scottish Opera, Chichester Festival Theatre and Manchester International Festival has moved the focus to a three-month festival over the summer that has finally got critics and the public excited. There will be more than 1,000 events across Britain featuring world-class talent and 10 million free seats. 13. Jens Weidmann, president of the German Central Bank, 43, German Finance Weidmann, one of the most influential figures on the governing council of the European Central Bank, holds the key to tackling the short-term crisis in the eurozone. If he dropped his opposition to the ECB buying up large quantities of Italian and Spanish government debt, it is likely the contagion from Greece could be stopped tomorrow. 14. Razan Zeitouneh, human rights lawyer, 34, Syrian Law One of many opposition figures in Syria who have been forced underground in fear of their lives, Zeitouneh has helped to sustain the uprising in her country for more than ten months. In hiding since March, her husband and brother arrested, the human rights lawyer has tirelessly documented and publicised cases of detention, torture and killing and is a vital conduit to the outside world. Whether President Assad falls or not, what happens next in Syria will shape the Middle East for decades. 15. Christine Lagarde, managing director of IMF, 56, French Finance & Politics Elected as the first woman to run the IMF after her scandal-hit predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned last year, Lagarde will play a key role in any rescue of the eurozone in 2012. Her specific task will be as peacemaker and to prevent contagion from the weaker countries in the eurozone, such as Greece and Portugal, from spreading to core economies such as Germany and France, if necessary by the provision of IMF loans. If the eurozone catches a cold, Britain is likely to as well. 16. Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, 62, Israeli Politics Verbose and articulate, stubborn yet suddenly changeable, it is hard to take one’s eyes off Netanyahu. But What Makes Him Particularly Important Is Iran And Its Pursuit Of Nuclear Weapons. He Has Warned Of This For Years But The Problem Is How To Deal With It. Sabotage? There Has Clearly Been That. Live With The Bomb? Israel Is Gaming Out How To Do This. Strike Militarily? The Risks Are Huge. Whatever Choice Will Reshape Global Politics And Have A Huge Impact On Peace And Security. 17. Reed Hastings, founder and chief executive of Netflix, 51, American Consumer Affairs A battle for British eyeballs has been launched by Netflix, a company founded by Hastings in 1998 that allows renting DVDs by post in the US. Users pay £5.99 a month for a film and television service that streams over the internet. Supporters say it could help to transform the way we watch television, but it faces tough competition in Britain from the free BBC iPlayer, BT, Virgin Media, BSkyB and Lovefilm, which started out renting DVDs and introduced a streaming service last year. 18. Sir Michael Wilshaw, incoming Chief Inspector at Ofsted, 66, British Education Any parent might be affected by Sir Michael this year. Hundreds of schools may fail inspections or have their rating downgraded as he imposes a laser-like focus on teaching quality. Weak teachers will be under more pressure to improve or leave; “coasting” schools in middle-class areas face tougher scrutiny if they are not stretching bright pupils. He founded the Mossbourne Academy in Hackney as the template of a successful inner-city school through discipline and blending tradition with innovation. 19. Lord Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, 55, British Sport Lord Coe secured the Olympic Games for London by leading the process that set up an immaculate bid. He made the speech that swung the votes at the death, winning over the International Olympic Committee by emphasising the profound honour of being host to the world: a humility that undermined the French bid. He will be judged over a matter of 17 days this summer. A good Games will celebrate London, England and Britain. But a truly great Games will celebrate all humanity as well. 20. The Queen Royalty The Diamond Jubilee will dominate almost as much as the Olympics, with a horse pageant at Windsor, a concert at Buckingham Palace, a 1,000-boat flotilla on the Thames and a tour of Britain by the Queen. Four days of celebration begin on June 2, but for a good part of the year scarcely a day will pass without Her Majesty popping up. 21. Barack Obama, 50, President of the US, American Politics & International affairs The outcome of the election in the world’s biggest economy will affect the lives of everyone in the UK. But even if he wins a second term, Obama could be destined to four years of gridlock on debt, security, the military and health, with a Republican Senate blocking every turn. 22. Andris Nelsons, 33, conductor, Latvian Culture Forget Gustavo Dudamel, whose bubble has burst. The young conductor setting the musical world alight is a 33-year-old Latvian, Andris Nelsons. He’s won rave reviews in Simon Rattle’s old job at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Now dazzling debuts in Bayreuth and the New York Met have sent the world’s top orchestras scampering to his door. 23. Beth Myers, 54, senior adviser to Mitt Romney, American Politics & International affairs The really clever politicians have really clever advisers. Mitt Romney’s campaign to become the US President will depend heavily upon calls made by his closest aide, Myers. She must navigate the former Republican governor of a liberal state through God, gays and guns, not to mention Medicare, abortion and tax cuts. 24. Kate Phelan, 47, creative director, Topshop Business, Culture & Fashion After 18 years at British Vogue, Phelan joined Topshop in June 2011. As creative director of the pacesetting high street chain can Phelan restore Topshop’s former lustre as the default option for women of nearly all ages? 25. Jesse Norman, 49, MP, British Politics & International Affairs It would be a surprise if he ended the year as a backbencher. Likeable, clever and well regarded, he is intellectually active, developing a model of compassionate conservatism, and politically active, playing a key role exposing deficiencies in the private finance initiative and mistakes in tax collection. 26. Bernard Hogan-Howe, 54, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, British Politics & International affairs It’s the top job in policing and the toughest. If he survives the unforeseens that have derailed his predecessors, he may change the face of policing. As an advocate of zero-tolerance policing and in favour of water cannon and more tasers, one can imagine Scotland Yard’s response in the event of riots this summer. Many senior officers around the country dislike Hogan Howe’s methods and fear he could end the British model of policing by consent. 27. Professor Park Se Pill, age unknown, scientist, South Korean Science & Technology Two years ago he successfully cloned a rare breed of Korean black cow from the frozen sperm of a dead adult. Last year Seoul approved, in principle, his bid to start a project involving injecting human cell nuclei into unfertilised human eggs which could be used for both cloning and stem cell therapies. Human cloning in 2012 backed with private finance? 28. Yonah Acosta, 22, dancer, Cuban Culture & Fashion; Under 30 Carlos Acosta’s nephew, who joined English National Ballet last year fresh from Cuba, is already thrilling audiences with his sensational technique and charismatic stage presence. Having recently made his debut as the Prince in the Nutcracker, he is a shoo in for more high profile roles in 2012. 29. Tim Livesey, 52, chief of staff to Ed Miliband, British Politics & International affairs The former senior adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury is the freshest face in the Labour leader’s team. He is no stranger to high or low politics, having served time in Number 10 during a 20-year diplomatic career that also saw him advise the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. He replaces Lucy Powell, who did the job on a temporary basis. Do not expect to hear him. But if there are fewer complaints from Labour MPs about the dysfunctional running of the Leader of the Opposition’s office, he will be doing his job. 30. Isabel Dedring, 40, London Deputy Mayor for Transport, British Politics & International Affairs Harvard-educated transport expert, Dedring, previously advised Boris Johnson on green issues before being promoted nine months ago. If London’s transport network holds up well during the Olympics she will see her stock rise further. If it doesn’t… 31. David Braben, 48, academic, British Science & Technology Braben hopes the Raspberry Pi low cost computer that he invented will revolutionise ICT teaching in schools and inspire a new generation of British technologists. Developed in Cambridge, it goes on sale this month for just £16. 32. Philip Clarke, 51, CEO, Tesco, British As new CEO of Tesco, this man is in charge of not just the price of our food – Tesco is the world’s third biggest retailer – but of the price of our food at a time when grocery expenditure is an increasingly large proportion of household budgets. After a terrible start to 2012, can he stay on top and stop the British consumer falling out of love with his shops. 33. Michael Fassbender, 34, actor, Irish German Culture & Fashion It will be hard to escape Fassy this year. He has the star role as a sex addict in Shame, in cinemas now, he’s in Soderbergh’s martial, arts movie Haywire (out January 18), A Dangerous Method (with Keira Knightly, February 10) and Prometheus (a mega-comic book adaptation, June 1). We’d be watching him every day and night of 2012, if we had the chance. 34. Danny Rimer, 40, Index Ventures, Canadian Business The venture capitalist with the Midas touch. If he’s backing it, you will soon be shopping there, communicating through it, or getting a job with it. Backed skype nearly ten years ago, pumped money into Lovefilm.com and ASOS and is now investing in ventures that could thrive in a depressed economy such as peopleperhour.com where professionals advertise services and discount luxury companies offering “flash sales”. He is also non-executive director at BSkyB and will have a say if Rupert Murdoch launches another takeover bid. 35. François Hollande, 57, politician, French Politics & International Affairs The favourite to depose Nicolas Sarkozy in the late spring elections. While a hostile campaign could disrupt Eurozone salvaging, Hollande will look more kindly on the UK than the incumbent and be less inclined to ignore our Prime Minister’s outstretched hand. As for the bigger questions; well, Hollande has less charisma and economic nous than the previous Socialist frontrunner, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. 36. Michael Acton Smith, 37, CEO, Mind Candy, British Science & Technology, business If you are a parent, you already know about Moshi Monsters, the game-cum-social network for children who love cute, colourful monsters but who need mum and dad to pay for membership fees and the ever-expanding range of branded CDs, magazines and soft toys. The brainchild of Acton-Smith, resident of London’s “Silicon Roundabout”, this year could see his multi-million pound enterprise go global. 37. Alex Salmond, 57, MSP and First Minister of Scotland, Scottish Politics & International Affairs The sharpest politician in Scotland by a distance faces a big year in which he will try to blame the distant Westminster government for all manner of interference, real and imagined, in the affairs of Holyrood. Will he define what maximum devolution means or will he get through the year remaining charmingly vague? 38. Elisabeth Murdoch, 43, chairman, Shine Group, Australian Business; Culture & Fashion As the keynote speaker at the Edinburgh Television Festival this year, all eyes will be on Elisabeth Murdoch as she delivers the often headline-catching McTaggart speech. The choice of her as speaker would be controversial anyway due to her family ‘connections’, but in the year of the Leveson enquiry, with her brother James and father Rupert under scrutiny, her speech will inevitably not just be about TV, but about the future of the media. 39. Jonah Lehrer, 29, author, American Culture & Fashion; Under 30 The heir to Gladwell and author of bestselling Proust Was A Neuroscientist, Lehrer is back in 2012 with his new book, How Creativity Works - and if your boss reads it, it may well change your year. Forget muses and creative “types”, Lehrer says, creativity isn’t one lucky gift, but a variety of thought processes we all can learn; surround yourself by the colour blue and you can double your creative output; and, as if we didn’t know it already - brainstorming meetings are a terrible idea. 40. Douglas Peterson, 53, chief executive, Standard & Poor’s, American Business A former Citigroup banker, Peterson runs the world’s largest credit rating agency. Although much criticised, S&P nevertheless moves the market more than any other organisation and as its decisions last week to downgrade nine Eurozone nations demonstrated, the view of S&P will be pivotal to the survival of economies, the single currency and a few political reputations. 41. Jeremy Heywood, 50, Cabinet Secretary, British Politics and International Affairs He has managed to avoid publicity despite acting as chief policy adviser to Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, but his new post as Cabinet Secretary will give him prominence as the most powerful civil servant in the country. 42. Pete Cashmore, 26, chief executive, Mashable, British Business Cashmore has become a technology prophet thanks to his website, Mashable, which is usually first with social media news. Named by Forbes in its list of high achievers under 30, an accolade endorsed by 2.5 million Twitter followers, and this could be the year he forms a partnership with one of the internet’s biggest players. 43. Jayne-Anne Gadhia, 50, CEO, Virgin Money, British Finance The chief executive of Virgin Money is the brains behind Sir Richard Branson’s acquisition of Northern Rock, and was at his side early this month when they unveiled their first rebranded branch. It is her task to convince punters who are disillusioned with the big banks to make the switch, so she will need to be on fighting form. 44. Yvette Cooper MP, 42, British Politics and International Affairs The Shadow Home Secretary is one of the most capable members of Ed Miliband’s team and would be the most plausible woman to take over as leader, were she not married to Ed Balls, who came third in the 2010 contest. Even so, it would be foolish to rule her out as the first female leader of the Labour Party. 45. Mo Farah, 28, athlete, British Sport The Somali-born runner is Britain’s brightest hope on the athletics track for the London Games. If he can outrun the Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, he will be the first European to win an Olympic gold at the 10,000m since Alberto Cova of Italy in 1984. Was third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award last year. 46. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, 57, Finance Minister of Nigeria, Nigerian Politics and International Affairs Okonjo-Iweala received death threats when she was appointed to spearhead economic reforms in Nigeria last year. She is taking much of the heat for the high-risk move of slashing fuel subsidies, which has led to nationwide strikes. Her Government’s reaction is widely seen as a defining test of its resolve to reform the most populous country in Africa. 47. Ben Spalding, 24, chef, British Food and Drink The new kid on the pop-up block who with the best seasonal ingredients and endless innovation is going to start a new generation food revolution. Book a table quickly at his London restaurant Roganic for its sea-cured mackerel, skate bellies, lamb tongues and jammy dodger cookies. It will change the way you eat. 48. Sharon Bowles, 58, Lib Dem MEP, British - but more crucially chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee Economics This is a very influential role and she does not get nearly the attention she should do — it makes her one of the most influential figures in European financial regulation. There has also been a lot of speculation that she may be in the sights of MEPs looking for vengeance after Cameron used the veto, which again makes her worth watching. 49. Major-General Nick Carter, 52, former commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, British Defence Bedecked with medals from every campaign of the last 20 years, he is now writing the blueprint for the new model Army. He starts from the premise that Britain has to get off the Afghan hamster wheel and that by 2020 the army will, for the first time in generations, be based entirely in Britain. If the Carter plan is radical it will make him powerful friends — and enemies among the armchair generals 50. Mary Bousted, 52, general secretary, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, British Education If your children maximise their potential in the classroom and if you avoid having to take days off work to cover teacher strikes this year, this moderate union leader will have played a key role. Respected by coalition ministers even after having led her members on strike for the first time in their history, in protest at pension cuts, in June and November. Her views could intensify or settle the dispute. 51. Boris Johnson, 47, Mayor of London, British Politics and International Affairs His London bikes will keep gaining in popularity and he will probably see off Ken Livingstone to retain the mayorship giving him a podium at the Olympics to develop the Boris Brand. If he loses to his Labour challenger, speculation will immediately turn to a Tory leadership challenge. Unrivalled in popularity among grassroots, a Tea, or B, Party movement could propel him to Downing Street. 52. The Technocrat, economist, Greek/Italian Economics/Politics and International Affairs The euro crisis has been taken out of the hands of the elected politicians, who have been deemed too timid to tell their peoples the truth. So, in Greece and Italy non-elected technocratic prime ministers have been appointed to implement the austerity measures dictated by other technocrats in the world’s financial institutions. On their success or failure hang much of our own economic prospects. 53. Ilham Aliyev, 50, President of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Politics and International Affairs Azerbaijan’s President claims his country is “the most rapid development in the world”, and Britain is starting to feel it: shopping malls and five-star hotels are springing up in Baku to lure us to the future “Dubai of the Caspian”, while a plush Azerbaijani restaurant has just opened in Knightsbridge and Condé Nast has started publishing an international version of the glossy magazine. 54. Vincent de Rivaz, 57, UK chief executive of EDF Energy, French Business The Frenchman charged with keeping our lights on who already charges £1,165 for the average annual dual gas and electricity bill. Daylight robbery? Nothing like the prices charged if Britain’s future energy plans – predicated on a new generation of nuclear reactors delivered by EDF – are botched. With memories fresh of last year’s Fukushima accident, safety had better not be compromised in the quest for megawatts. 55. Amanda Hocking, 27, author, American Literature The bestselling author had not sold a single book before April 15, 2010. A 27-year-old resident of Minnesota and former care assistant, Amanda sent manuscripts to every agent in New York before turning to Kindle and self-publishing her books online. She has now sold over a million ebooks, joining Stephanie Meyer, Stieg Larsson and James Patterson in the “Kindle million club”, and is widely considered to be the exemplar of self-publishing success in the digital age. Here in the UK, Macmillan are publishing her previously self-published, million-selling paranormal romance Trylle series in January, March and April, featuring unseen extra material; the launch of the brand-new, previously unpublished Watersong series comes in September, showing budding authors that if they want something published, they may as well start by doing it themselves. 56. The Stone Roses Music There are a bundle of new faces to get excited about this year, but no one can beat the hype around this old bunch. After years of reunion denials, the dates for their summer reunion tour are confirmed. The headlines, reviews, documentaries and massively increased airplay and interest that will inevitably follow will be inescapable. Yes, it may be over 22 years since their now classic eponymous debut, but if getting the old band back together is seen to pay off, how many other defunct-but-influential indie acts might be tempted to follow suite? You’ve got six months to grow your fringe and iron your flares. 57. Rahul Gandhi, 41, India’s Congress Party youth wing leader Politics and International Affairs The fourth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has led India for most years since its 1947 independence, who is slowly emerging from his ancestors’ shadow and is tipped as the next Prime Minister. His party and country is floundering amid rising inflation, corruption and government inertia: the world still waits for a green light for increased foreign investment. All the while its great regional rival China grows stronger. The dauphin has the heritage; does he have the drive? 58. Chad Harbach, 35, author, American Literature A book about baseball doesn’t sound like sure-fire fodder for a mass British readership, but Harbach’s debut novel, The Art of Fielding, will establish him as a publishing sensation when it is released this month. The Harvard graduate’s examination of youth, friendship and ambition will achieve bookstore ubiquity. 59. Paul Tucker, 53, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, British Banking and Finance The race to succeed Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, will be decided this year with his deputy, Tucker, the man to beat. Although Tucker is highly regarded, some senior Government figures want an outsider for the job, which will soon include responsibility for financial regulation. 60. Sir Tom Stoppard, 74, writer, British Literature Julian who? Downton Abbey will be a distant memory in the autumn as we turn to Stoppard’s adaptation of Parade’s End, the Ford Madox Ford masterpiece set between the end of the Edwardian era and the close of the First World War, for our period telly kicks. He has also written the script for Joe Wright’s film of Anna Karenina, which is out in September. 61. John Sentamu, 62, Archbishop of York, British Ugandan Religion This could at last be the final year of President Mugabe’s regime, meaning that he could put his dog collar back on, having famously torn it up while the Zimbabwe dictator stayed in power. Nor is it inconceivable that he will migrate south to the top job, should his friend Rowan Williams decide to stand down early. 62. Fatou Bensouda, 50, prosecutor elect at the International Criminal Court, Gambian Politics and international affairs She will be the first woman and first African to head the organisation, whose in-box is dominated by crimes in African countries. Her gender may be helpful considering the prevalence of mass rape allegations. Her nationality may help to dispel notions that the ICC is a Western-dominated court. Saif Gadaffi’s trial, which will highlight the role of British forces in the uprising, will be on her watch. 63. Willie Walsh, 50, business, Irish Business Chief executive of International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, and has just bought bmi. Walsh has made clear that he is interested in mopping up other airlines around the world; bmi is just a start. Plus, a major wave of consolidation is about to hit aviation - a massively important sector for the global economy — and Walsh looks like the man to lead it. 64. Jeremy Deller, 45, artist, British Art Artists make us think about life in more abstract and subtle ways than most creators. With his first retrospective this year Jeremy Deller will take our thoughts along tracks we did not know existed. Not that he’s the only modern artist with a giant platform, but we’ve gone for the charming and imaginative Deller rather than Damian Hirst, who has his first UK retrospective at Tate Modern, because he has so much more to say. 65. Abi Morgan, 41, screenwriter, British Arts Writers for films don’t often achieve public renown, but the next 12 months will cement Morgan as master of her craft. Between The Iron Lady, the forthcoming BBC adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong and the new series of the newsroom drama The Hour, you’d best live in a box to avoid her work. 66. Thomas Heatherwick, 41, designer, British Design If you contribute to any of the approximately six million bus journeys that happen every weekday in London, Heatherwick may be about to change your daily routine. Award winning, edgy and groundbreaking, he’s the designer responsible for the new Routemaster buses scheduled to roll out in spring, bringing the romance back to London transport in time for the Olympics and a barrage of new admirers in the capital. 67. Dale Steyn, 28, cricketer, South African Sport If England crash at the football European Championships and Britain is burnt at the Olympics, then at least the cricketers can restore some pride. But only if Dale Steyn can be tamed. The world’s fastest bowler will spearhead the summer South African attack against an England Test team ranked the best in the world. It could be a beautiful summer. Or it could all go so wrong. 68. Martin Freeman, 40, actor, British Arts If the forthcoming film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is to have any chance of matching The Lord of the Rings trilogy’s staggering critical and commercial success when it comes out in December, much rests on Freeman. If Tim from The Office shines as Bilbo Baggins, our multiplexes will heave come Christmas. If not, our memories of Middle Earth could be sullied for ever. 69. Dan Jarvis, 39, Shadow Culture Minister, British Politics and international affairs About as far from an Identikit Labour MP as can be imagined. The first non-Yorkshire-born MP for a Barnsley seat since time immemorial, this soldier and, since the death of his wife, single parent is good looking, clever and pleasant. Quite how he ended up as a Labour MP is inexplicable, but not looking like a Labour MP is his biggest advantage. 70. Martin Lewis, 39, personal finance journalist, British Media Be it energy supply, mortgages, savings or insurance, Martin Lewis will advise, and his MoneySavingExpert.com is by far the biggest price comparison website. With his ubiquity on the airwaves, this gives him undoubted influence. Some may see him as a Marmite character, but Britain’s favourite vitamin-enriched spread is a cheap, nutritious food. 71. Gisela Stuart, 56, MP, British Politics and international affairs The MP for Edgbaston has held on to her marginal seat because she is popular locally and not afraid to tweak the nose of party bigwigs. This will stand her in good stead as she seeks the Labour nomination to be Mayor of Birmingham. 72. Ali Parsa, 46, co-founder and chief executive, Circle Healthcare, British This Goldman Sachs banker is to become the flagbearer for the new NHS. He will soon be running Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Cambridgeshire. Will profit be put before care, leading to redundancies and unprofitable services scrapped? Or will patients be well cared for at a hospital without debt? If it’s a success, dozens of other trusts could soon be run for profit. 73. Emeli Sandé, 24, musician, British Music The former medical student from Aberdeenshire is the Brits Critics’ Choice for 2012, following in the footsteps of Adele, Florence and the Machine and Jessie J, who began their chart assaults by picking up the same award. Her debut single, Heaven, showcases her mix of swirling soul with edgier urban touches, and the fact that she looks amazing — striking blonde quiff etc – means that mass appeal is nailed on. 74. Hanaa Ben Abdesslem, 22, model, Tunisian Fashion The fashion industry isn’t overflowing with Arab models, so how refreshing that Ben Abdesslem represents a more diverse idea of beauty. Some might say that her arrival is long overdue. She is helping to change not only the modelling world but, by association, the lives of women starved of positive role models from their own race. 75. Dilma Rousseff, 44, Brazilian Premier Politics and international affairs The first female President of Brazil had a tough act to follow on her inauguration last year, after eight years of economic growth under her predecessor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. But in 2012 she will preside over increasing standards of living, a low national debt, a balanced budget and a vigorous rooting out of political corruption as the South American giant continues to close in on fully developed status. 76. Joe Hart, 24, England goalkeeper, British Football By the time the Euro 2012 football championships begin this summer, we will no doubt be bored after months of debate about whether John Terry should or should not be captaining the team while he faces prosecution over allegations of racism. Perhaps it is fatalistic, but there is a certain inevitability that all eyes will eventually be on the 6ft 5in Manchester City goalkeeper. He has played for England 16 times and never lost, so could be the key if the team are to win their first trophy since 1966. Let’s hope he is doing his penalty shootout homework. 77. Jamal Edwards, 21, musician, British Music This year the North Londoner will cement himself as our only urban music mogul and the closest thing there is to a British Jay-Z. His online TV station, SB.TV, attracts millions of hits and he has signed a deal with Sony RCA Records to run his own UK imprint. 78. Danny Cohen, 37, BBC One Controller, British Media He decides what we watch on Britain’s most popular television channel. ITV has upped its game with Downton Abbey, and Cohen will be hoping new commissions, including Ripper Street, Call the Midwife, Savage and Prisoners’ Wives, will keep the BBC on top and silence its critics. After his success commissioning programmes aimed at young adults at BBC Three and Channel 4, Cohen has said that BBC One will be producing more for older viewers. 79. Tanya Paton, 40, protester, British Public affairs Left the kids at home in Cambridge to join the Occupy London camp outside St Paul’s. It kick-started debate on the City and gripped the Church of England by the gonads. As a devout Christian, Paton gripped harder than many. Pint-sized with a big voice, this year you’ll see her in court or spearheading a new campaign: Occupy Faith. 80. Guy Garvey, 37. musician, British Music Picked to write and record the BBC’s official Olympic song of 2012, Elbow will inhabit your subconscious for most of the summer as the Bury band’s (as yet unheard) anthem First Steps becomes unavoidable on every rousing, slow-motion Olympics montage the Beeb produces. No one does emotional honesty better than Garvey and his band. No chance to headline Glastonbury this year, but a big stage awaits. 81. David Laws, 46, MP and ex-Chief Secretary to the Treasury, British Politics & International affairs Every Tory’s favourite Lib Dem had the shortest ministerial career of the coalition when he resigned after 26 days in government. His misuse of parliamentary expenses was serious enough to warrant a week’s suspension from the House of Commons, but David Cameron said at the time of his resignation: “I hope that, in time, you will be able to serve again.” That time is now. 82. Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, 79, Qatari Politics & International affairs; Royalty Qatar’s emergence on the world stage owes everything to the ambition and personality of its ruler, the Emir. Under his stewardship, the tiny Gulf state has become a major player. Qatari fighter jets joined the West against Gaddafi in Libya, and the country has spearheaded the Arab League’s (belated) response to Syrian slaughter. Via his energetic diplomacy, Qatar’s doors are open to the US and Israel, but also to Hamas and Iran. With an embassy for the Taleban poised to open, Doha will host talks between Washington and the Islamists. Again, Qatar will be centre stage. 83. Jonathan Saunders, 34, designer, British Culture & Fashion You might blame him, you might credit him, but when both mothers and daughters run to the shops this spring to buy a pastel billowy prom skirt, it will be because of Jonathan Saunders. His spring-summer collection was the hit of last year, according to the fashion world, most especially gauzy skirts and louche, pocketed day-dresses in every shade of pale. And where high fashion leads, you can guarantee the high street will follow. 84. Professor Anthony Atala, 53, scientist, American Science & Technology There is a global shortage of organs for transplant. So why not just print them out? This is the science fiction that Atala, as director of the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, is currently turning into science fact. Combining 3-D printing technology with use of biological material and organ cells, and with serious backing from the US military, means that each day is a step towards phenomenal change. 85. RJ Palacio, 48, graphic designer and author, American Culture & Fashion The breakout publishing sensation of 2012 will come courtesy of Palacio, a New York graphic designer whose debut novel, Wonder, is destined to go the way of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and then some. Telling the story of August, a schoolboy born with an unspecified facial deformity, it is dark, funny and touching. No Tube carriage will be without a copy this year. 86. Renzo Piano, 74, architect, Italian Culture & Fashion When Renzo Piano’s Shard is finished in the summer it will be the tallest building in Europe and the 45th-tallest in the world, standing 310m (1,017 ft) tall. It may not change the way you live your life, but it will change the way you see your world – there will be a viewing gallery on the top floor, above the offices, hotel, restaurants and shops; it is expected to draw in about two million visitors a year. 87. Ellie Simmonds, 17, paralympic swimmer, British Sport If Olympic apathy follows the able-bodied Games, then Ellie Simmonds will reinvigorate the country and ensure that the Paralympics are their usual surprise success. The swimmer, who won two golds at the Beijing Games and broke two world records at last year’s European Championships, has been tipped by Lord Coe as one of the biggest stories of 2012. 88. Naomi Wolf, 49, journalist and author, American Culture & Fashion Women will devour it, men will pick it up tentatively, and schoolboys will search out the pictures eagerly. Naomi Wolf’s Vagina: A new Biography, published in June, will trace changing cultural attitudes towards the female anatomy. It is destined to be the sexual politics tome of the year, sure to be even bigger then The Beauty Myth, if only because more men will read it. 89. Sir John Chilcot, 72, Iraq inquiry chairman, British Politics & International Affairs Half the country were for it, half against. This year Sir John Chilcot is to present, in draft form, the authoritative view of why and how it was done. Iraq has cast a long shadow and the 2003 US-led invasion is why Tony Blair will be remembered. The inquiry will judge his guilt, or otherwise, and lay down the framework for future war planning and post-combat governance. 90. Jay Bregman, 32, CEO of Hailo, American/British Science & Technology Hailo is an app that makes people’s lives easier and may prevent London’s iconic Hackney carriage taxis from being driven off the road by the rise of the minicab. The vision of Jay Bregman, Hailo allows black cabs in London (and soon in Dublin too) to be booked via smartphone and lets cabbies know where passengers are waiting and where the roadworks are. As smartphones proliferate, a new generation of app creators could become very rich. 91. Suzanne Collins, 48, author, American Culture & Fashion Where once stacks of Twilight paperbacks stood, bookshops this year will groan under the weight of Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, the US young adult fiction phenomenon that will explode with the release of the first big-screen adaptation in spring. It’s set in dystopia, where the USA is no more, poverty is rampant, and a despotic government rules from “the Capitol”, annually forcing 24 teens into mortal combat for a Survivor-type reality TV show. 92. Sajid Javid, 42, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, British Politics & International affairs His background in investment banking and experience working on currency devaluations, mean that Javid’s star could be the brightest of a potentially stellar 2010 Tory intake that also includes Dominic Raab, Jesse Norman and Matthew Hancock. Already a PPS to the Chancellor, he may be polishing up his Greek .. and Italian .. and Spanish. 93. Hafiz Gul Bahadur, late thirties-late forties, Taleban leader, Pakistan Politics & International affairs British soldiers will be fighting in Afghanistan until at least 2014. The 10,000 troops will continue to face assaults from the feared Haqqani networks, which are given safe haven across the Pakistan border in North Waziristan. This is where Bahadur holds sway. A veteran jihadist and skilful negotiator who seems immune from US drones and Pakistani attempts to disrupt him. His safe haven means that UK troops will continue to die, withdrawal become hazier, and Afghanistan remain troubled. 94. Hirai Kazuo, 51, Japanese Science & Technology If the word “Playstation” means anything to you, thank Kazuo, who was instrumental in developing the console brand. Now CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment (and tipped as future CEO of Sony itself), he is behind the forthcoming “Vita” online games platform – the next console that teenagers will fight tooth and nail over – raising the stakes yet again in the endless arms race with Nintendo, Microsoft et al. 95. Cyrus Mistry, 43, Indian Business The little known second son of Pallonji Mistry, the Indian construction tycoon, has been named chairman of Tata, the Indian industrial giant that is also Britain’s biggest manufacturer becvause it owns Jaguar Land Rover and Corus Steel. He will take over the reins of Tata Sons, the 160-year-old Bombay-based group, next year when Ratan Tata retires. 96. Kim Jong Un, 27 or 28, supreme leader, North Korean Politics & International affairs; Under 30 The world’s youngest dictator, controller of a nuclear arsenal and head of a starving, isolated, militarised country whose people, and armed forces, may be agitating for change. What’s to fear? Kim Jong Un could assert his power, or there may be signs of civil war: either would be bloody. The West’s problem is lack of knowledge; our best hope is that an MI6 agent befriended young Kim during his two years studying in Berne, Switzerland, and they are still in Facebook contact. 97. The Rt Rev James Jones, 62, British Politics & International affairs Britain needs more woodlands. So says the Bishop of Liverpool, and, as chairman of the Independent Panel on Forestry (formed after the brouhaha over the Government’s attempt to privatise our forests) he will submit its report on the economic, social and environmental aspects of woodlands. Certain to recommend expansion, the report could lead to changes to the face of the British countryside forever. 98. Alexei Navalny, 35, blogger-dissident, Russian Science & Technology; Politics & International affairs Russia’s most famous blogger will emerge from the virtual world on a political arc that could lead to the presidency. Or, given the history of Putin opponents, he could be jailed on trumped-up charges or involved in a car “accident”. An avowed nationalist who orchestrated protests about ballot-rigging in last year’s elections, he could be the catalyst to halt the slide into authoritarianism of Europe’s main energy supplier. 99. Azealia Banks, 20, American Culture & Fashion; Under 30 The Harlem-born rapper will be huge in 2012. Endorsements from Kelly Rowland and Gwyneth Paltrow might help, but the gap-toothed former stage-school pupil’s style is infectious: at once cutesy, cool and so utterly, utterly filthy that you should not expect to hear her on primetime radio without a barrage of beeps. Think of Missy Elliot meets Pippi Longstocking (with Adele’s producer to boot). 100. Harper Seven Beckham, 6 months, British/American Culture & Fashion; Under 30 Two words: “How much!?” The luxury childrenswear market is already expanding, but thanks to the only baby (and, indeed, only Beckham) on the list, there will be a rocket underneath it in 2012. Marie Chantal? Bonpoint? Stella McCartney Kids? Because of a six-month-old, these are the £100-a-pop names that style glossies will swoon over and new dads everywhere will come to know and fear.