The top 50 high-fliers

2 (3) Patricia Hewitt, 55 Head of the DTI

3 (-) Rachel Lomax, 58 Bank of England deputy governor

4 (6) Clara Furse, 46 London Stock Exchange chair

5 (4) Val Gooding, 54 Bupa chief executive

6 (17) Baroness Hogg, 58 3i chair, GKN deputy chair

7= (7) Kate Barker, 46 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member

7= (13) Marian Bell, 46 MPC member

8 (2) Cherie Booth Barrister, charity campaigner

9 (38) Rose Marie Bravo, 53 Burberry CEO

10 (21) Karen Jones Spirit Taverns CEO

11 (22) Jana Bennett BBC's director of TV

12 (29) Helen Weir, 41 Lloyds TSB finance director

13 (-) Pat O'Driscoll, 45 Northern Foods chief executive

14 (12) Helen Alexander, 47 Economist Group chief

15 (46) Sly Bailey, 42 Trinity Mirror chief

16 (33) Amelia Fawcett, 48 Morgan Stanley vicechair

17 (28) Rebekah Wade, 36 Sun editor

18 (8) Belinda Earl, 36 Jaeger CEO

19 (-) Vivienne Cox, 45 BP executive vice-president

20 (5) Dianne Thompson, 53 Camelot chief executive

21 (-) Kate Swann, 39 WH Smith chief executive

22 (-) Margaret Ewing, 49 BAA Group finance director

23 (-) Helena Morrissey, 37 Newton Investment Management CEO

24 (14) Katherine Garrett-Cox, 36 Chief investment officer of Morley Asset Management

25 (-) Sara Weller Argos MD

26 (-) Anne Gunther, 49 Chief executive of Standard Life Bank

27 (27) Camilla Rhodes, 46 News Group Newspapers MD

28 (-) Rose Foster, 43 Monsoon chief executive

29 (31) Rona Fairhead, 42 Pearson finance director

30 (44) Dawn Airey, 43 Sky Networks MD

31 (-) Suzanne Donohoe Co-head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Europe)

32 (-) Lucy Neville-Rolfe, 51 Tesco corporate affairs director

33 (47) Kim Winser Pringle CEO

34 (-) Anne Richards, 39 Chief investment officer of Aberdeen Asset Management

35 (16) Barbara Cassani Ex-head of 2012 Olympics bid

36 (-) Barbara Stocking, 52 Oxfam director

37 (-) Linda Bennett, 39 Founder of LK Bennett

38 (30) Fiona Reynolds, 46 Director-general of the National Trust

39 (-) Marie Melnyk Joint MD of William Morrison

40 (-) Victoria Barnsley HarperCollins CEO.

41 (26) Alison Reed Finance director M&S

42 (42) Carolyn McCall Guardian Newspapers Ltd CEO

43 (-) Jane Lighting, 47 Channel Five head

44 (-) Coline McConville, 39 Clear Channel International CEO for Europe

45 (19) Gail Rebuck, 52 UK chairman and CEO of Random House

46 (-) Sylvia Auton, 55 CEO of IPC

47 (-) Annette Court, 42 CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland's insurance business

48 (32) Perween Warsi Founder of S&A Foods

49 (-) Janet Gaymer, 56 Senior partner at law firm Simmons & Simmons

50 (-) Ruth Anderson The London tax partner and board member of KPMG