Establishing Prime Ministerial Leadership Style in Opposition

Abstract

Those who make the transition from leading the opposition to leading the government are, by virtue of winning an election, successful leaders. Yet, the early months and years of new governments are often mistake-ridden and directionless. Some new prime ministers, like Britain’s Tony Blair, have little or no prior experience in executive government. Blair’s press secretary, Alastair Campbell, observed that Blair’s office had ‘hung on to some of the techniques and ways of opposition for too long’ and ‘the spin thing’ became a bigger issue as a result (BBC News, 9 May 2002). Australian Prime Minister John Howard, though an experienced minister in a previous government and ultimately a successful prime minister, struggled to control the issue agenda during his first term from 1996. By contrast, Howard’s successor, Kevin Rudd, steadfastly refused to compromise the relationship he built with the electorate as opposition leader and reaped political dividends as a result.KeywordsPrime MinisterAsylum SeekerLeadership StyleLiberal PartyElection VictoryThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.