There is a long history of disabled persons in politics. Here are just some of them! If you know of any others, reach out to BC Disability's Spencer van Vloten and let him know!

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Algeria

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• Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Former President of Algeria (wheelchair user)

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Argentina

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• Daniel Scioli, Former Vice President (lost his right arm)

• Gabriela Michetti, Former Vice President (wheelchair user)

• Jorge Triaca Jr., Minister of Labour (wheelchair user)

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Armenia

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• Artak Zeynalyan, Minister of Justice of Armenia (leg amputee)

• Seyran Ohanyan, Former Defence Minister (leg amputee)

• Sipan Asatryan, Yerevan City Council member (blind)

• Zaruhi Batoyan, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour (wheelchair user)

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Australia

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• Alby Schultz, Member of the House of Representatives (blind in one eye)

• Batong Pham, Member of the WA Legislative Council (uses a wheelchair after experiencing a brain aneurysm)

• Cecil Hincks, Member of the South Australian House of Assembly (lost a leg during World War I)

• David Hunter, Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly (went blind as a child after contracting meningitis)

• Denise Allen, Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (muscular atrophy)

• Frank Guthrie, Member of the WA Legislative Assembly (lost a leg during World War I)

• Frank Marriott, Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (blind)

• George Maxwell, Member of the House of Representatives (blind)

• Graham Edwards, Member of the House of Representatives (lost both legs during the Vietnam War)

• Gregor McGregor, Senator for South Australia (blind)

• Henry Curran, Member of the WA Legislative Assembly (lost a leg in a traffic accident)

• Hugh Mosman, Member of the Queensland Legislative Council (lost arm)

• Iven Manning, Member of the WA Legislative Assembly (lost an arm during World War II)

• John Hyde, Member of the House of Representatives (lost an arm in a farming accident)

• Jordon Steele-John, Senator for Western Australia (cerebral palsy; wheelchair user)

• Kelly Vincent, Member of the South Australian Legislative Council (cerebral palsy; wheelchair user)

• Les Craig, Member of the WA Legislative Council (lost a leg during World War I)

• Liesl Tesch, Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (paraplegic)

• Mathieson Jacoby, Member of the WA Legislative Assembly (blind in one eye)

• Peter Lalor, Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (lost an arm in the Eureka Rebellion)

• Roberts Dunstan, Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly (lost a leg during World War II)

• Rob Pyne, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly (quadriplegic)

• William Willmott, Member of the WA Legislative Assembly (lost a leg during World War I)

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Austria

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• Norbert Hofer, Former President of the National Council (spinal cord injury; walks with cane)

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Brazil

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• Golbery do Couto e Silva, Chief of Staff of Geisel and Figueiredo administrations (blind in one eye)

• Mara Gabrilli, Member of the Brazilian National Congress (paraplegic)

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Cambodia

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• Hun Sen, Prime Minister (blind in one eye due to a war wound)

• Ta Mok, Khmer Rouge leader (amputated lower leg)

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Canada

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• Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility (blind)

• Conner Copeman, Village Councillor in Cumberland, BC (quadriplegic)

• Dan Coulter, Member of the Legislative Assembly of BC (wheelchair user)

• Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (visually impaired due to Graves' disease)

• Ed Doherty, Member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (mobility limitations)

• Kent Hehr, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (quadriplegic)

• Kevin Murphy, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia (first paraplegic Nova Scotia MLA)

• Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec (amputee due to necrotizing fasciitis)

• Manon Perreault, Member of Parliament (paraplegic)

• Marlene Jennings, Member of Parliament (partially blind)

• Michelle Stilwell, Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (quadriplegic)

• Pierre Sévigny, Former Member of Parliament (amputee)

• Sam Sullivan, Former Mayor of Vancouver (quadriplegic)

• Stephanie Cadieux, Member of the Legislative Assembly of BC (paraplegic)

• Steven Fletcher, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (quadriplegic)

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Czech Republic

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• Jan Žižka, Czech general and Hussite leader, (blind)

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Dominican Republic

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• Joaquín Balaguer, Former President (blind during last term due to glaucoma)

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Ecuador

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• Lenín Moreno, President and Former Vice President 2007–2013 (paraplegic)

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Estonia

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• Edgar Savisaar, Former Acting Prime Minister (leg amputated due to necrotizing fasciitis)

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Fiji

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• Iliesa Delana, Member of Parliament; Paralympic gold medalist (leg amputee due to childhood accident)

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Finland

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• Kalle Konkkola, Former Member of Parliament (cerebral palsy; first Finnish MP with a disability)

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France

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• Georges Couthon, One of the leaders of the French Revolution (paraplegic)

• Jean-Marie Le Pen, Member of the European Parliament (blind in his left eye)

• Leon Gambetta, Prime Minister of France (visually impaired)

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Germany

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• Kurt Schumacher, Member of Bundestag (double amputee: right arm and left leg)

• Malu Dreyer, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (multiple sclerosis)

• Otto Graf Lambsdorff, Minister of Economy (leg amputee)

• Wilhelm II, Last Kaiser and King of Prussia (Erb's palsy)

• Wolfgang Schäuble, President of the Bundestag (wheelchair user)

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Gibraltar

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• Peter Caruana, Member of the Gibraltar Parliament (blind in one eye)

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Greece

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• Marika Mitsotakis, Former First Lady of Greece and disability activist (limited mobility due to polio)

• Panagiotis Kouroumblis, Former Greek Minister (blind; first blind member of Greek parliament)

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Hungary

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• Béla II, King of Hungary (blind)

• Ferenc Hirt, Member of Parliament (wheelchair user since 1988 due to a car accident)

• Katalin Szili, Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary (Erb's palsy)

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India

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• Jaipal Reddy, Former Indian Minister (used crutches due to polio)

• Simon Britto Rodrigues, Former Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly (spinal cord injury)

• Yamuna Prasad Shastri, Former Member of the Lok Sabha (blind)

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Indonesia

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• Abdurrahman Wahid President of the Republic of Indonesia (1999–2001) (blind)

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Iran

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• Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur, Former Minister of the Interior (lost his right hand)

• Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran (lost his right hand's function)

• Ali Saberi, Member of Tehran City Council (blind)

• Gholam Ali Jafarzadeh, Member of Iranian Parliament (wheelchair user)

• Mojtaba Shakeri, Member of Tehran City Council (blind)

• Saeed Hajjarian, Former Tehran City Counsellor (partially paralyzed)

• Saeed Jalili, Former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (missing part of lower right leg)

• Shakur Akbarnejad, Chairman of Tabriz City Counsel (wheelchair user)

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Ireland

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• Brian Crowley, Member of European Parliament (wheelchair user)

• Martin Conway, Senator (blind)

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Israel

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• Ilan Gilon, Member of the Knesset (paralyzed leg)

• Karin Elharar, Member of the Knesset (wheelchair user)

• Moshe Dayan, Defense Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel (lost his left eye in World War II)

• Moshe Matalon, Member of the Knesset (paraplegic)

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Jamaica

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• Floyd Morris, President of the Senate (blind)

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Japan

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• Eiko Kimura, Member of the House of Councillors from 2019 (paraplegia and cerebral palsy)

• Eita Yashiro, Former Minister of Postal Services (wheelchair user due to spinal cord injury)

• Masatoshi Takagi, Former Member of the House of Representatives  (blind)

• Toshikazu Hori, Former Member of the House of Councillors (blind)

• Yasuhiko Funago, Member of the House of Councillors (wheelchair user due to ALS)

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Kenya

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• Dennitah Ghati, Member of the National Assembly (wheelchair user due to spinal cord injury)

• Mwaura Isaac Maigua, Senator (albinism)

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Malaysia

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• Hee Yit Foong, Former Member of Perak State Assembly (walks with limp due to polio)

• Karpal Singh, Member of Parliament (wheelchair user)

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Mexico

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• Alonso Lujambio, Former Secretary of Public Education (wheelchair user due to multiple melanoma)

• Álvaro Obregón, Former President of the United Mexican States (lost his right arm in combat)

• Antonio López de Santa Anna, Former President of the United Mexican States (lost his left leg in combat)

• Gilberto Rincón Gallardo, Former President of the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (congenital physical disability)

• Miguel Barbosa, Senate President (lost his right foot due to diabetes)

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Netherlands

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• Bram Stemerdink, Former Minister of Defence (lost an eye in a military exercise)

• Gijs van Aardenne, Former Deputy Prime Minister (ALS)

• Jetta Klijnsma, Former Member of the House of Representatives and Mayor, (uses walker due to leg spacticity)

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New Zealand

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• Adam Adamson, Mayor of Invercargill (born without right hand)

• Clutha MacKenzie, Member of Parliament 1921–1922 (blinded during the First World War)

• John A. Lee, Member of Parliament 1922–1943 (arm amputee)

• Leon Götz, Member of Parliament 1949–1963 (lost right arm and eye during the First World War)

• Margaret Wilson, Member of Parliament 1999–2008 (leg amputee)

• Mojo Mathers, Member of Parliament 2011–2017 (deaf)

• Norman Jones, Member of Parliament 1975–1987 (leg amputee)

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Nigeria

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• Dr. Samuel Ankeli, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Disability (blind)

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Norway

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• Guro Fjellanger, Former Environment Minister (wheelchair user due to spina bifida)

• Tove Linnea Brandvik, Former Member of Parliament (wheelchair user due to neuromuscular disease)

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Poland

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• Jan Filip Libicki, Member of the Sejm and the Senate of Poland (wheelchair user)

• Malgorzata Olejnik, Member of the Sejm (wheelchair user; quadraplegic)

• Marek Plura, Member of the European Parliament (wheelchair user due to spinal muscular atrophy)

• Sławomir Piechota, Member of the Sejm (wheelchair user)

• Wojciech Jaruzelski, Former Prime Minister and President of Poland (visually impaired)

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Russia

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• Said Amirov, Former Mayor of Makhachkala (paralyzed)

• Vasily II, Grand Prince of Moscow (blinded by captors in 1446); regained power and reigned until 1462

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San Marino

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• Mirko Tomassoni, Former Captain-Regent (paraplegic)

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Solomon Islands

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• Martin Magga, Minister for Health (wheelchair user)

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