A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious, and military means to influence the succession. Originally, the term applied to the activities of

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

—"Warwick the Kingmaker"—during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

(1455–1487) in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Examples

* The prophet Samuel of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' biblical judges to the institution of a Kingdom of Israel under

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

, and again in the transition from Saul to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

Chanakya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭil ...

in the Maurya Empire * The

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

Yeon Gaesomun Yeon GaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yeongae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (594–666) was a powerful militar ...

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

Tonyukuk Tonyukuk ( otk, 𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀:𐱃𐰆𐰪𐰸𐰸, Bilgä Tuňuquq, lit=Tunyuquq the Wise, zh, , c=暾欲谷, p=Tunyugu, , born c. 646, died c. 726) was the baga-tarkhan (supreme commander) and adviser of four successive Göktürk khaga ...

in the

Second Turkic Khaganate The Second Turkic Khaganate ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰃𐰠, Türük el, State of the Turks, , known as ''Turk Bilge Qaghan country'' ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰝:𐰋𐰃𐰠𐰏𐰀:𐰴𐰍𐰣:𐰃𐰠𐰭𐰀, Türük Bilgä Qaγan eli) in Ba ...

Sayyid brothers The term Sayyid brothers refers to Abdullah Khan and Syed Husain Ali Khan, who were powerful in the Mughal Empire during the early 18th century. They were Indian Muslims who claimed to belong to the family of Sayyids or the descendants of ...

in the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

Vidyaranya Vidyaranya ( IAST: Vidyāraṇya), usually identified with Mādhavācharya (not to be confused with Madhvāchārya (13th c.)), was Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from ca. 1374-1380 until 1386 - according to tradition, after ordina ...

in the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Mahar ...

Ricimer Flavius Ricimer ( , ; – 18/19 August 472) was a Romanized Germanic general who effectively ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 461 until his death in 472, with a brief interlude in which he contested power with An ...

in the Late

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

–

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

who appointed a series of puppet emperors * Nogai,

Mamai Mamai (Mongolian Cyrillic: Мамай, tt-Cyrl, Мамай, translit=Mamay; 1325?–1380/1381) was a powerful military commander of the Golden Horde. Contrary to popular misconception, he was not a khan (king), but a warlord and a kingmaker ...

, and

Edigu Edigu (or Edigey) (also İdegäy or Edege Mangit) (1352–1419) was a Mongol Muslim emir of the White Horde who founded a new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde. Edigu was from the Crimean Manghud tribe, the son of B ...

in the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...

* Janissaries,

Midhat Pasha Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha ( ota , احمد شفيق مدحت پاشا, 18 October 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman democrat, kingmaker and one of the leading statesmen during the late Tanzimat period. He is most famous for leading the O ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Godwin, Earl of Wessex Godwin of Wessex ( ang, Godwine; – 15 April 1053) was an English nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great (King of England from 1016 to 1035) and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the ...

in late Anglo-Saxon England * Baron Carl Otto Mörner in the

House of Bernadotte The House of Bernadotte is the royal family of Sweden since its foundation there in 1818. It was also the royal family of Norway between 1818 and 1905. Its founder, Charles XIV John of Sweden, was born in Pau in southern France as Jean Bernadott ...

(

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

) * Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester during The Anarchy *

Wiremu Tamihana Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi Te Waharoa ( – 27 December 1866), generally known as Wiremu Tamihana, was a leader of the Ngāti Hauā Māori iwi in nineteenth century New Zealand, and is sometimes known as the kingmaker for his role in the Māori ...

in the

Māori King Movement The Māori King Movement, called the in Māori, is a movement that arose among some of the Māori (tribes) of New Zealand in the central North Island in the 1850s, to establish a role similar in status to that of the monarch of the British c ...

* Hato Hasbún in El Salvador *

– wealthiest peer in England during the

, who overthrew King Henry VI and then restored him over his successor King Edward IV *

Hajji Ebrahim Shirazi Hajji Ebrahim Shirazi (; 1745–1801), who is also known by his honorific title E'temad-al-Dawla (), was an Iranian statesman who served as the ''kalantar'' ( lord mayor) of the city of Shiraz during the late Zand era and later as the first g ...

– the ''kalantar'' (lord mayor) of

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

and later the grand vizier of

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

who enthroned four kings from two different dynasties: Jafar Khan, Lotf Ali Khan,

Agha Mohammad Khan Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ( fa, آقا محمد خان قاجار, translit=Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, rul ...

and

Fath-Ali Shah Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلى‌شاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...

. * Mithqal Al-Fayez – dubbed the kingmaker of the Hashemites after inviting the then Sharif Abdullah bin Hussein to Jordan and would rebrand his tribal army of Bani Sakher to become the first Arab Army of Transjordan against rebels and

Wahhabis Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...

in the 1920s. *

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

– a pre-eminent political and ideological leader of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

during the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

under whose influence were all the major political leaders of the Indian freedom struggle including

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

and

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

James Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaste ...

– orchestrated the gubernatorial and presidential elections of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

(1928–1940) *

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quot ...

– accompanied Fidel Castro in the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

and later helped him attain power *

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

– instrumental in making

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

and Indira Gandhi as Prime Ministers of

in 1964 and 1966, respectively * G. K. Moopanar – The 'kingmaker' who rose to prominence in the Indian national scene during the post- Emergency days of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Indira Gandhi. He was the General Secretary in charge of the

Congress Working Committee The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It typically consists of fifteen members electe ...

, a body of High Command in the ruling

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

government. Moopanar, who decided the fate of Indian National Congress chief ministers in the states of

, was more than any other responsible for the elevation of Rajiv Gandhi to the Premiership on the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. He was the longest serving General Secretary of

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

(1980–1988), and served with Indria Gandhi,

Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 23 June 1980) was an Indian politician and the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. He was a member of parliament, Lok Sabha and the Nehru–Gandhi family. During his lifetime, he was widely expected ...

and Rajiv Gandhi. *

Girija Prasad Koirala Nepal Ratna Girija Prasad Koirala ( ne, गिरिजाप्रसाद कोइराला ; 4 July 1924 – 20 March 2010), affectionately known as Girija Babu, was a Nepalese politician. He headed the Nepali Congress and served as the ...

– described as a kingmaker in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

with the election of

Madhav Kumar Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal ( ne, माधवकुमार नेपाल, ; born 6 March 1953), is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister of Nepal. He served as Prime Minister of Nepal from 25 May 2009 to 6 February 2011 for nearly two years. ...

Fred Malek Frederic Vincent Malek (December 22, 1936 – March 24, 2019) was an American business executive, political advisor, and philanthropist. He was a president of Marriott Hotels and Northwest Airlines and an assistant to United States Presidents Ric ...

– described as a kingmaker for the Republican Party in the United States * David Axelrod – former ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' reporter described by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as a "reporter turned kingmaker" with respect to

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

's 2008 presidential campaign. * Bakili Muluzi – described as a kingmaker in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

* Muhammad Ali Jinnah – an influential politician who became an ideological leader of

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcont ...

and the first Governor-General of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

; widely regarded as the founder of

. * Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński –

Primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.1978 papal election of

Karol Wojtyła Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

Archbishop of Kraków The Archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's politic ...

, as Pope John Paul II *

Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; prs, عبدالرشید دوستم; Uzbek Latin: , Uzbek Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish- ...

–

Afghan Army The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be tr ...

Marshal, leader of the Afghan Uzbek community, and founder of Junbish-e Milli known for frequently backing the winning factions and political parties of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

's wars and elections. *

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

– a media tycoon in ownership of News Corp and the

Fox Corporation Fox Corporation (stylized in all-caps as FOX Corporation) is a publicly traded American mass media company operated and controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Incorporated ...

who has consistently backed every winning

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

since the 1979 general election * Sheldon G. Adelson – a Las Vegas gambling entrepreneur, had tremendous influence in the American and Israeli political spectrums and often made large donations especially to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

’s political campaigns and

Administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

hedge fund manager has long standing influence in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In the 2022 election cycle Soros gave $128 million to the Democratic party. *

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...

– described as a kingmaker in the 2010 general election as the leader of the Liberal Democrats following a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

as Mayor of Chicago and Chairman of the

Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is a political party which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and consequently, Illinois politics) si ...

was the leading figure in the

Illinois Democratic Party The Democratic Party of Illinois is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the oldest extant state party in Illinois and one of just two recognized parties in the state, along with the Republican Party. It is ...

. As such, he controlled a large bloc of delegates at Democratic National Conventions and provided crucial support to the

's presidential nominees, including Adlai Stevenson,

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, Lyndon Johnson, and

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

. *

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

's kingmaker according to ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' in February 2016. * Democratic Unionist Party and its leader Arlene Foster became regarded as a kingmaker after the June 2017 general election resulted in a hung parliament in the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. *

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020, ...

and his party New Zealand First,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's kingmaker after both the 1996 and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

elections. *

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...

and his party

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...

in the

September 2019 Israeli legislative election Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition for a ...

. *

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish politician, economist, former deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the far-right, ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). An academic in economics from Gazi University, B ...

and his party the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

's kingmaker according to ''

''. * Albanian parties are said to be Northern Macedonia's kingmaker. *

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...

in the Middle East. * Turkey,

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

's kingmaker. *

Adat Perpatih Adat Perpatih (also known as Lareh Bodi Caniago) are customary laws which originated from the Minangkabau Highlands in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was founded by a Minangkabau leader named Sutan Balun or more famously known as Dato Perpatih Nan Sebata ...

system in Negeri Sembilan,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Andrew Asiamah Amoako Andrew Asiamah Amoako (24 February 1966) is a Ghanaian lawyer, politician and member of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, elected to office in December 2020 as an independent candidate. He currently represents the Fomena Co ...

after the

2020 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2020. Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was re-elected in the first round after securing a majority of the votes. Former President John Dramani Mahama says he ...

. * Alliance 90/The Greens and Free Democratic Party after the 2021 German federal election. *

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

in the

after

No-confidence motion against Imran Khan In April 2022, a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan led to his removal as the prime minister of Pakistan. Based largely on the Westminster system of legislature, the prime minister commands confidence of the majority of the lower house ...

and selection of Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan)

Hamza Shahbaz Mian Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 6 September 1974) is a Pakistani politician, who is current Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, in office since 20 October, 2022, He served in this position from ...

* The Republicans (LR) were widely regarded as kingmakers in the French

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

after the June 2022 parliamentary elections resulted in a hung parliament, leaving them effectively holding the balance of power. *

Sinan Oğan Sinan Oğan (born 1 September 1967) is a Turkish politician of Azerbaijan Turkish origin, who won a seat in the Turkish parliament in 2011 with the right-wing MHP. Life and education Ogan was born on 1 September 1967 in Iğdır, Turkey. He ...

in the 2023 Turkish presidential election

In game theory

In game theory, a kingmaker is a player who lacks sufficient resources or position to win at a given game, but possesses enough remaining resources to decide which of the remaining viable players will eventually win.

Contemporary usage

The term "kingmaker", though always unofficial, has tended to gain more importance in places of power struggle—e.g., politics, sports organizations etc. Consequently, bestowal of such a title is looked upon significantly and more often as a means of indirect gratification for individuals wanting to silently dictate the affairs of the organization. The term is also occasionally used in a pejorative sense during elections where a small number of independent political candidate(s) who hold a sizeable sway in the "vote bank" can most likely decide the course of an outcome. As well as referring to an individual, the term can also be applied to institutions or think tanks whose opinions are held in great regard by the interested organization. The influence of the religious orders like the Roman Catholic Church in running the affairs of the state during medieval times (through the king) is a well-known example. Kingdoms and empires in the Indian sub-continent often relied on their religious heads. Besides religious orders, even countries can fit into this terminology when they can dictate the affairs of the other country (either directly or indirectly). In current political scenarios across the world the term can expand its scope to include powerful

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

groups, whose role is often seen as a defining factor on major issues. Citizens of

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

n sub-national monarchies often use the word ''kingmaker'' to refer to the members of the electoral colleges that choose their sovereigns because they also usually officiate during the coronation rituals and rites of purification, the word in this particular case taking on a literal meaning i.e. a ''maker'' of the king. The term "kingmaker" is also used to describe situations in multi-player games where a player is either unable to win or has claimed an unassailable lead, but, in either case, plays a strong role in determining the outcome for other players.

In fiction

* The character

Leon Fortunato This a list of characters in the ''Left Behind'' novel series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Suhail Akbar Suhail Akbar is a supporting antagonist in the ''Left Behind'' series. A native of Pakistan, he was a prominent member of the Glo ...

from the ''

Left Behind ''Left Behind'' is a multimedia franchise that started with a series of 16 bestselling religious novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It focuses on a seven-year conflict between the Tribulation Force, an underground network of converts, a ...

'' series of novels is often described as a kingmaker. * Marcus Jefferson Wall, the antagonist of much of the Matador series by Steve Perry is called the Kingmaker, and controls the President of the Galactic Federation * The character Mayvar Kingmaker from the '' Saga of the Exiles'' series of novels tests the ability of aspirants before they can be proclaimed king of the

Tanu Tanu may refer to: People * Malietoa Tanumafili I (1879–1939), Samoan prince * Tanu Nona (1902–1980), Australian pearler and politician * Tanu Roy (born 1980), Indian actress and model * Tanu (born 1997), a Finnish/Assyrian rapper Places * Ta ...

. * Ser Criston Cole, a character from George R. R. Martin’s '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' series, is commonly referred to as "the kingmaker". In the story in which he appears The Dance of Dragons (The Blacks and the Greens,) the king dies while his eldest child and designated heir is absent from the castle, and Ser Criston, the head of the king's bodyguard, immediately plots with other like-minded individuals to crown the king's second child, because the king's younger child is male, whereas the heir is female. This triggers a nationwide civil war. The Dance of Dragons draws inspiration from both The Anarchy and

The War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

, events in British history that each contained kingmaker figures (Henry of Blois and Richard Neville, respectively.) * Minato Yoko, a character from

Kamen Rider Gaim is a Japanese television series, a tokusatsu drama that is in the Kamen Rider Series; it is the 15th series during its Heisei period, Heisei run and 24th overall. The series, written by Gen Urobuchi, directed by Ryuta Tasaki and produced by Naomi ...

, considers herself a kingmaker, wanting to see who has what it takes to take the Forbidden Fruit, a fruit of great power that can essentially make a person a king. Likewise, another character, Mitsuzane Kureshima, also has traits of a kingmaker, hanging around with and manipulating events so as to put the ruler in his favor. * Harry Leong, the ultra-rich, secretive billionaire from ''

Crazy Rich Asians ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is a satirical 2013 romantic comedy novel by Kevin Kwan. Kwan stated that his intention in writing the novel was to "introduce a contemporary Asia to a North American audience". He claimed the novel was loosely based on h ...

'', is revealed to be one of the kingmakers in the government of Singapore. * One of the villains in the NBC TV series ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...

'' went under the alias ''The Kingmaker''. * Uhtred of Bebbanburg, from Bernard Cornwell's ''

The Saxon Stories ''The Saxon Stories'' (also known as ''Saxon Tales''/''Saxon Chronicles'' in the US and ''The Warrior Chronicles'' and most recently as ''The Last Kingdom'' series) is a historical novel series written by Bernard Cornwell about the birth of E ...

'' and the Netflix Adaptation ''

The Last Kingdom ''The Last Kingdom'' is the first historical novel in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. This story introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble who is kidnapped by Danish Vikings as a young child and is assimilated ...

'', was considered a kingmaker during the succession of King Edward of Wessex after the death of Alfred the Great.

References

{{Wiktionary Political terminology