Former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard to chair Women’s prize for fiction in 2026

Gillard reveals reading fiction is her most treasured pastime and looks forward to working with a joyful panel of judges'

Australia's first and, so far, only female prime minister, Julia Gillard, is set to chair the UK's Women's prize for fiction in 2026.

The annual award is for the best full-length novel of the year written in English by a woman and published in the UK. The 30,000 prize, which has previously been known as the Orange prize and the Baileys prize, has run since 1996.