Foley suggested that features of the American Presidency could be applied to analyse some of the changes to the role of the British Prime Minister in recent years.
Spatial leadership is the attempts made by the US President to distance himself from his position in times when that would prove to be beneficial. He/she would therefore appear to be on the side of the average citizen and gain public support. This has been exercised by both John Major, who publicly criticised beaurocratic elements of government, and by Tony Blair, who is continually going on visits in an attempt to become more in touch with the electorate.
The cult of the outsider, where politicians appear to be outside of politics and hierarchy, has been used by many American Presidents, and has been favoured by Tony Blair, who used this idea in order to appear as a man of the people. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is him making a guest appearance on ‘The Simpsons’, which is an attempt to show a fun and appealing side to his personality, and remove himself from the mundane image many people may associate with modern politics. He attempts to create a more realistic image for himself by claiming to support Newcastle United, and ensuring that 10 Downing Street appears to be a typical family home in any photographs published.
The ever expanding media has proven to be of great benefit to Tony Blair, he has been able to appeal over the heads of his Cabinet directly to the electorate in order to gain public support on many matters. The media reports more and more on issues pivotal to the PM, and reporting on the PM’s view on particular issues, this has lead to a public which sees the Prime Minister as the centre of British politics.
This idea is reinforced by the personal factor of leadership, where the Prime Minister is seen to be the public face of Cabinet and government. It is assumed that the personal qualities of the Prime Minister and other party leaders are central to public evaluations of political leadership and performance.
However there are those who tend to disagree with Foley’s thesis. There are limits on the degree of power the Prime Minister can have over the initiation of policy and suchlike. The Prime Minister needs the support of his/her colleagues to a degree. Margaret Thatcher managed to seize an enormous amount of power through her style of government, but at the end of the day, as she took little notice of party policy, she lost power due to decreased support from her own government.
