Note that I’m taking a pretty broad definition of “major” here, but the kinds of countries I’m thinking about are the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, etc. Basically, countries with a strong legacy of “white-dominated” politics.
So what do you guys think? What other country’s populace is ready to elect an ethnic minority to their highest office? Or, if not ready now, will be ready next?
There’s no choice immediately ready in Canada.
The Liberals have some prospects on the farm team, like Ruby Dhalla and (even further down the depth chart) Navdeep Bains, but as talented as they are they’re both very young and need a few more terms in office to be seriously considered.
The Conservatives are in power so obviously Stephen Harper is not giving up his job anytime soon. Rahim Jaffer was shockingly defeated in the October 14 election; if he gets back into Parliament he remains a very strong prospect for the future.
Of course, our Governor-General is a black woman, Michaelle Jean, but she’s not elected and wields no REAL power so I don’t think that’s what the OP meant.
Technically we’ve had a female PM, but…she was gone pretty fast, and no woman has yet won a PM election in Canada. So yeah, we’re probably due for a female too.
Women are a minority? 
Britain’s a long way off it - we’ve still only managed to have one black MP get as far as cabinet office, and Asians are also underrepresented. I don’t think the issue would be whether the general public would vote for them, I think this would ultimately turn out to be no more of a problem than it was for Obama. It’s whether the establishment machinery will prevent them from getting there.
Well, Australia has a boring, two dimensional, white nerdy guy as PM, but we’ve got a woman Governor-General, and the Deputy PM is also of the female persuasion. New South Wales has a woman of Lebanese extraction as Governor.
I’m not sure it’s as big a deal here as it is in some places. I don’t think we’re at the cutting edge in this regard, nor are we slow to change. And that’s as it should be, IMHO. Elect or appoint the best people for the job, and get on with it.
Lots of Jews in Public Office in this neck of the woods… 
More seriously, we’ve had a woman PM, have a strong female contender for the upcoming elections, and aren’t too far off from electing a “Sephardi” (think sorta kinda like “hispanic” in US-speak) someday fairly soon.
A Muslim head-of-state ain’t happening here any time soon, though 
(Yes, relax, I know, I know…!!)
Hell, Japan only just recently got their first foreign-born member of Parliament.
The Grits also have Ujjal Dosanjh, the former Premier of British Columbia, now in the Commons, but I haven’t seen any indication that he’s thinking of trying for the leadership?
Sarkozy is considered to be Polish by at least some of the French.
Someone told me that Spain and Portugal have had Hispanic leaders.
Maybe one or two out of 60 million 
France is a long, long way from a minority leader. Last summer the country got it’s first black evening news reader who was a mini-star afterwards being interviewed by other networks asking him if this was a step towards a more integrated France.
A newsreader.
No cite but pre-Sarkozy the government was 100% white.
that’s odd, considering that his parents were of Hungarian and Greek origins.
Koike did just break a barrier of some kind by being the first female candidate for LDP head, though.
You had Fujimori in Peru. Japanese descent and nicknamed “The Chinese guy”.
Britain’s way ahead of the curve – Disraeli. (oops, this is Tom Scud, not Eva Luna).
I’ll tell you whats even stranger is that the French bloke who spoke sneeringly of him(SKZYs not French he’s Polish)was himself a descendant of fairly recent African immigrants to France.
So now I’m totally confused.(Though I realise thats easily done)
Two, I think - Paul Boateng and Valerie Amos.
Actually, upon reflection (ie I looked her up on wiki) you are correct. Valerie Amos sat in Cabinet as a Baroness, not as an MP
In Ireland we have one black councillor, and we actually considered deporting him about two years ago.
This is what I think shows one thing about America that is definitely still great, despite all its flaws. I don’t think there is another western democracy that is anywhere near electing a member of a visible minority to its top elected position.
Ed
He’s not, apparently, and he’s 61 years old. This would likely be his last shot. In any case, I doubt he has the support and connections to pull it off - he’s been in the party for just four years and prior to that wasn’t on the national scene at all.
A few of my wife’s co-workers were babbling amount how it amazed them that “Such a racist country” like the USA would elect Obama. She asked them, “How many minorities have ever even run a party in Canada?” They couldn’t think of any, since of course there never have been any (at the federal level.)