Mark Bennister

Assessing the Authority of Political Office-Holders: The Leadership Capital Index

This article argues that the extent to which political office-holders can effectively attain and wield authority is a function of the stock of ‘leadership capital’. Drawing on the concept of political capital, the article defines leadership capital as aggregate authority composed of three dimensions: skills, relations and reputation of a leader. Leadership capital ebbs and flows over time within a trajectory of acquisition, expenditure and inevitable depreciation. The article presents a Leadership Capital Index (LCI) that systematically maps out the three broad areas combining concrete measures with interpretive aspects. This can be used as a tool for systematically tracking and comparing the political fortunes of leaders in a way that is both more nuanced and robust than exclusive reliance on the latest approval ratings. An illustrative case study of Tony Blair is used to demonstrate the LCI. The article concludes by discerning several promising paths for future development of the LCI.

Tony Blair as Prime Minister

Making sense of Tony Blair as prime minister is a tricky task. Political commentator Peter Riddell warned of the danger of making the leap from describing a particularly strong or assertive prime minister to concluding that the office itself had changed permanently. Equally he warned against the opposing view that a change of prime minister will return a style of governing back to an ideal of collective collegial rule (Seldon, 2001, p. 21). Each prime minister brings his or her own style to the position, and institutional change is inevitable. But how much institutional change or stretch is attributable to the individual incumbent and how much of this outlives the tenure of office? And does the Blair premiership fit into trends in prime ministerial leadership evident elsewhere?

The shifting landscape of prime ministerial accountability to parliament: an analysis of Liaison Committee scrutiny sessions

Prime ministerial power is always contingent, based on the utilisation of personal and institutional resources, subject to various formal and informal constraints. Parliament is both a political resource to be utilised, but also a veto-player. In the absence of formal mechanisms setting out the requirements for the UK prime ministerial accountability to parliament, a fluid and essentially personalised relationship has developed. Regular prime ministerial appearances before the House of Commons Liaison Committee, begun in 2002, have added to parliament’s scrutiny toolkit. This article considers the accountability of the prime minister to parliament by analysing the emergence and development of the Liaison Committee evidence sessions, and draws on interviews with participants and examination of the session transcripts, in order to assess the value of this scrutiny mechanism within the broader framework of prime ministerial-legislative relations.

14. Accountability in Parliament

A fresh perspective on an ancient institution; Exploring Parliament offers an engaging and real-life insight into the inner workings, impact, and relevance of twenty-first century Parliament. Short academic and practitioner chapters are combined with highly relevant and practical case studies, to provide a new and accessible introduction to Parliaments structures, people, and practices. As well as covering the broader structure of UK Parliament, this text explains the role of small parties in law making, the design and space of Parliament, and offers illuminating case studies on highly topical areas such as the Backbench Business Committee, the Hillsborough Inquiry and recent pieces of legislation such as the Assisted Dying Bill.

Jeremy Corbyn and the Limits of Authentic Rhetoric

The New Labour project shifted the party’s rhetoric firmly to the centre ground, relegating older left-wing rhetoric to political fringes. Yet having symbolized everything that was wrong with Labour for the Blairite modernizers, this ‘old’ rhetoric bounced back. Jeremy Corbyn’s remarkable 2015 leadership campaign re-energised language and ideas thought to have been expunged from Labour’s lexicon, shifting the party’s priorities to social movement-building and away from parliamentary activity. This chapter explores the role of the ‘authentic’ political outsider, utilizing the classical rhetorical approach of ethos, pathos, and logos. It shows that Corbyn revived a strand of campaigning and grassroots rhetoric that proved surprisingly resilient, rebooting seemingly moribund ideas. However, authenticity has its limitations when rhetoric fails to present a credible pathway to power.

The Oratory of Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is in a unique position, having occupied four of the most important and symbolic public offices in American politics. She was a political spouse, notably changing the perception and role of the First Lady. She was the first First Lady to move from the White House to the Senate. She was a viable candidate for the presidency in 2008 and finally she held one of the most important political posts in the presidential cabinet as Secretary of State. This is not the end of course as she may yet hold a fifth role, that of president if she wins in 2016. Clinton therefore can, and has, been analysed and commented on from a variety of different perspectives and angles. As spouse, legislator, candidate, and most recently diplomat she successfully occupied and redefined the contemporary political woman in America. She has spawned a whole genre of ‘Hillary studies’ and attracted praise and vitriol in equal measure (Lakoff, 2008: 174).

Is Australia Still the Lucky Country

Despite enjoying almost two decades of continuous economic growth, Australian politics has become increasingly dysfunctional. In the wake of Septembers general election, Mark Bennister asks if Australias luck is starting to run out.

Cabinet as a Resource

The role played by formal cabinet structures in decision-making has been acknowledged as a neglected area of study (Mackie and Hogwood 1985: 1; Blondel 1987). The comparative literature on cabinet structures is similarly thin. Although this chapter does not seek to correct this, it does explore the structural support available to the leader of cabinet through the cabinet system. The chapter explores the potential resources available to a prime minister through cabinet, and the use and development of these under Blair and Howard.

Prime Minister and Party

The political party can be both a source of institutional and personal power for a prime minister. Yet parties can also constrain and ultimately remove prime ministers. This chapter compares the experience of prime ministers as party leaders in Britain and Australia under the tenures of Tony Blair and John Howard. It considers how this relationship was defined and changed over time. Predominant prime ministers such as Blair and Howard cultivated greater internal power over the party and greater autonomy from the party. Yet, such leaders are still susceptible to, albeit limited, parliamentary party pressure and predominance can accelerate the ‘hollowing out’ of their parties.

Introduction: Comparing Prime Ministers

Leadership is indispensible to politics. Parties, governments, oppositions and electorates need leaders to take decisions, responsibility and deal with crises. Leaders however find it difficult to manage the power, particularly when such predominant leaders become entrenched in office. Prime Ministers in Power is about two leaders who became the central dominant figures in their respective countries. The ‘domineering leadership model’, as described by Walter and Strangio, emphasises this belief in leaders, rather than policy, as the transformative agent of change. This book considers how predominant leadership developed in Britain and Australia, analysing how the institutional and personal aspects of prime ministerial leadership empowered the individual incumbent. Before embarking on this task it is necessary to provide an introduction to the large and often ill-defined topic of political leadership. This chapter considers some of the classic approaches to the study of political leadership and the study of British and Australian prime ministers. These approaches range from those focused on the individual to the more institutionalised. The chapter also looks at current research trends and provides the rationale for researching prime ministers in Britain and Australia.