Power 100: Sydney’s most powerful people in 2021 revealed

COVID-19 forced seismic power shifts in 2020 and those who adapted not only survived, but thrived. The Daily Telegraph’s Power 100 list is a tribute to those people who, tested as never before, triumphed. See the full list.

Sydney’s power set didn’t get to the top by accident.

They can tell a snake from a ladder. They can smell a rat and sniff out an opportunity.

But no amount of nous or skill, craftiness or cunning, could have prepared them for a microscopic foe that respects neither status nor hierarchy.

COVID-19.

It has brought princes, presidents and prime ministers to their knees.

The Daily Telegraph’s Power 100 list celebrates the champions of our city.

Our modern masters of the universe had no more defence against this virus than did the conquering aliens against earthly bacteria in HG Wells’ science fiction classic, War of the Worlds. This was the great power shift of 2020.

Everyone made way for the virus. Those who adapted, who recognised the opportunity in the great crisis, bolstered their power and not only survived, but thrived.

Those who failed to adjust came unstuck.

In that context, our Premier has prospered. The people have overwhelmingly backed her, brushing aside scandals both personal and procedural. Their resounding approval was based solely on her admirable stewardship of the state’s response to the pandemic – a calm, confident competence that never panicked and left her counterparts across Australia in the dust.

Perhaps even more emphatic was the resurgence in popularity of our Sydney-based Prime Minister who, barely a year ago, was languishing in the aftermath of his response to a black summer of bushfires.

Now he too is riding high on his measured and decisive response to the pandemic.

Editor of The Daily Telegraph, Ben English. Picture: Justin Lloyd

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Yet it wasn’t just individuals who were tested. It was also whole communities, cities and nations.

If Australia came out stronger and relatively better off from its response to COVID-19, then the winner among our cities was without doubt Sydney.

That comes down to many of the most prominent figures on our Power 100, who collaborated as never before to ensure our city could survive and even thrive in these extraordinary times.

This year’s Power 100 is in some ways a tribute to all of those amazing people. They have been tested as never before and, on the whole, triumphed.

We’ve had some heated discussions finalising the rankings, and not everyone will agree with the pecking order.

But whatever your view, I guarantee it will get you thinking about who really runs this town in 2021 …