Contemporary Prime Ministerial Leadership in Britain and Japan

“Tina Burrett’s book is an excellent addition to the comparative literature on political leadership. It will be extremely valuable to scholars of UK and Japanese politics, helping us to understand the elasticity and unpredictability of the contemporary premiership in both countries. Burrett impressively demonstrates the often-surprising similarities across the two countries, explaining how the revolving door premiership, associated with Japan, has now spread to the UK.”
-- Mark Bennister, University of Lincoln, New Zealand.


"This book deftly explores what it takes to be an effective leader in Japan and the UK. A must read for politicians as well as academics and students of politics."


--Kono Taro, Minister for Digital Affairs

This book analyses prime ministerial leadership in Britain and Japan since 1980. Exploring the interplay between personal skill, institutional resources and situational context in explaining the varying power and agency of different British and Japanese leaders, it asks whether the skills, strategies and circumstances needed for effective leadership are converging across liberal democracies. Comparing Britain and Japan reveals leadership trends that might otherwise go unobserved.

The book addresses questions important to aspiring politicians as well as scholars, including: What accounts for the short tenure of most Japanese prime ministers? Does comparison with Japan explain the rapid turnover in British prime ministers since 2016? How is the influence of party factions on prime ministerial power evolving in Japan? Are British political parties more factional than commonly acknowledged? And how do changes in media technology affect leadership opportunities and constraints?

The book draws on the author’s experience as a political researcher in both the British and Japanese parliaments and on interviews with over 40 politicians and political journalists working in both countries.

Tina Burrett is Associate Professor of Political Science at Sophia University, Japan. She is the co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Trauma in East Asia (2023), and Press Freedom in Contemporary Asia (2019) and author of Television and Presidential Power in Putin’s Russia (2011). She has worked in the British, Canadian and Japanese parliaments.