British Prime Minister Kier Starmer finally bit the bullet – he resigned his post. Even though he won Britian’s last national election in a landslide victory, and even though he is by all accounts a political centrist and man of moderation, Starmer concluded he had no choice – he had to quit. In astonishingly short order he had become miserably unpopular both among the electorate and within his own party and, therefore, woefully ineffective.
By the time he leaves office Starmer will have served as prime minister for scarcely two years. Moreover, when his near certain successor, Andy Burnham, takes his place, he will be the seventh person to serve as British PM in the last ten years. It’s an astonishment. Or, more precisely, it would be if Britain were alone in having voters so fickle that they render their respective countries near ungovernable.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s approval ratings are around 19 percent. Same for France’s President Emannuel Macron. President Donald Trump would boast of his comparatively good approval ratings – they’re at about 37 percent – but those who know better might remind him that not in nearly two decades have Americans had a president who had such stats for more than a few days in succession.
Not every Western leader suffers from such abysmally low numbers. Canada’s Mark Carney is an example of an exception to the general rule. His approval ratings are over 50 percent but… he’s an exception.
For students of political leadership and followership the point is the same as the one I made more than a decade ago in my book, The End of Leadership. Which is to say that in democracies leaders are getting weaker while their followers are getting stronger. As currently in Great Britain, it’s the riders who repeatedly decide to change horses in mid-stream. It’s not the horses.
Lest you think that Americans are exempt from this general rule, think again. In the last decade, we had Trump as president; then Joe Biden as president; then again Trump as president. Moreover, if a free and fair national election were held today there is scant doubt Trump would lose.
Such incessant disruption up top and dissatisfaction down below is not conducive to organizational or institutional success. Imagine Apple or Berkshire or General Motors having similar turmoil. It’s unthinkable.
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In September the University of Toronto Press will publish my next book on followership and, therefore, on leadership. It’s titled, Why We Follow Leaders – and Why We Don’t.