The British press make for a media environment that is toxic to understanding the acheivements of left-ish foreign leaders. So, Zapatero loses out...

The only other outlier compared to other countries is Merkel, who has some popularity in France, Spain and Italy (every country contains a bump for their own leader.)

This could be explained by British press prejudice, but it could also be that Merkel hasn't been that impressive. Let's face it, if you ask the question "Best World Leader" do any of the candidates have that impressive a persona at the moment?

Zapatero gets plus points from me because I agree with some of his "lefty" policies and I think he has done some important and difficult things with regard to the ETA peace process. Still, I'd have a temptation to vote for "none of the above."