The world's most admired man has been revealed - and it's not Obama

Everyone seems to love the Obamas, and it’s not just because they’re being viewed through rose-tinted glasses after Barack was succeeded as president by Donald Trump.

Indeed, there are already calls from some for Michelle Obama for run for office and create a real family dynasty.

Put simply, they’re both admired by many. However, they’re not the most admired people in the world – not quite, anyway.

Barack and Michelle Obama are the second most admired man and woman in the world, based on polling from YouGov.

That puts the pair higher than anyone currently in political office, but the top spots belong to the same people who held the honour last year.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the number one man, with 9.9% of those polled putting him at the top, while Angelina Jolie is the number one woman with 8.2%.

However, the most intrigue comes when you look at the country-by-country breakdown.

Which country do you think admires Donald Trump more than his predecessor? America, where he won an election less than 18 months ago? Guess again.

The only country out of 35 where Trump scored better than Obama is one which he has brought up a fair few times in public statements and, yes, occasional threats.

That’s right, it’s Russia, where he ranked 11th, just one spot above the 44th President. Incredibly, among the 20 most admired men overall, Obama ranks in the top five for all but four countries, while the US and Poland are the only two counties to have Trump in their top five.

Incidentally, Trump is almost twice as admired as Hillary Clinton among Americans polled by YouGov, but less than half as admired as his Democratic opponent when worldwide figures are taken into account.

It’s a similar story in the UK, where incumbent Prime Minister Theresa May can’t crack the top 10 when it comes to the most admired women.

Her 2.3% of the vote is in stark contrast to Jeremy Corbyn, though, who is the fifth most admired man (ahead of Bill Gates, in fact) with 4.9%. May is even below Nigel Farage’s 2.7% share.

May outscored Corbyn among Americans, though, with 0.7% of the vote – Queen Elizabeth II (5.8%), Emma Watson (2.9%) and David Beckham (0.5%) were the only other Brits to register in the American polls.

You can find the full country-by-country breakdown here, but below are the top five most admired men and women in the world:

Men:

1. Bill Gates

2. Barack Obama

3. Jackie Chan

4. Xi Jinping

5. Jack Ma

Women:

1. Angelina Jolie

2. Michelle Obama

3. Oprah Winfrey

4. Queen Elizabeth II

5. Hillary Clinton

(Images: Getty)