A political leader — but the word carries respect built into it. Calling someone a statesman says you think they are wise, honest, and thinking about the long future of the country rather than about winning the next election. This is why the word is often set against politician: people say "he is a politician, not a statesman", meaning he plays games for power instead of leading. There is an old line that a politician thinks about the next election and a statesman thinks about the next generation. Because of that praise inside it, you cannot use it neutrally. A newspaper will describe an ordinary member of parliament as a politician; statesman is saved for the big, senior, usually older figures, and very often for people who are already dead or retired — history books are full of it. It also appears in elder statesman, which can mean an old respected leader, or, playfully, the most senior person in any field: "the elder statesman of Taiwanese cinema". Now the awkward part. Statesman ends in -man, and it has usually meant a man. Stateswoman exists and is used, but far less. Many writers today avoid the whole problem by writing statesperson, or more often just world leader or senior figure. Younger writers use statesman much less than their grandparents did.