TIME 2015 Person Of The Year shortlist announced as Bernie Sanders wins readers' poll

The Democrat hopeful topped the readers' poll with 10 per cent of the vote

(Win McNamee/Getty)

The shortlist for TIME magazine's person of the year has been revealed at the same time that the Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders topped the readers' poll.

The senator from Vermont won just over 10 per cent of the readers' votes in a poll which closed at midnight on Sunday. He narrowly beat education equality campaigner Malala Yousafzai and Pope Francis, who was awarded the accolade in 2013.

According to TIME, Sanders has helped to “define the presidential race” and mobilised the party's liberal support, despite trailing behind Hillary Clinton in the polls.

The readers poll differs from the TIME person of the year award, which is chosen by the editors and will be announced on Wednesday.

On Monday, live on NBC's Today programme the shortlist was announced revealing the eight finalists who have influenced the news in 2015 “for better or worse”.

Ringing true to that statement is the first name on the shortlist: Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis – the extremist organisation which has staged terror attacks such as in France and Tunisia this year.

The Black Lives Matter activists also make the list for protesting against the racial prejudice against African-Americans particularly in the area of police relations.

Caitlyn Jenner, who came out as a transgender woman in April of this year makes the list for her continued activism and encouragement of discussion about gender and LGBT equality.

The CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick is reportedly included for valuing the company at nearly $70billion, while dividing opinion globally.

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia is also named on the shortlist for both “defying Western sanctions” and playing a "critical role in the war on Isis".

Another president included in this year's shortlist is Hassan Rohani, president of Iran, who this year achieved a landmark nuclear deal with western countries.

The final addition to the list is Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has much dominated this year's headlines for his controversial rhetoric. According to TIME, he has also ”stirred debate about the party's future“.

In 2014, the accolade went to ebola fighters. They received the title ahead of Taylor Swift, Tim Cook and the Ferguson protesters who made last year's shortlist.