Boris Johnson and Donald Trump can campaign but not govern, experts suggest

Larger-than-life political personalities can break the rules as long as they are trying to give people what they want, experts have suggested on a panel hosted by The Independent

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Boris Johnson got away with breaking the rules as long as he was trying to deliver Brexit, said Professor Sir John Curtice, the elections analyst – but lost popularity over “gatherings” in Downing Street that broke coronavirus laws.

Sir John was speaking at an Independent panel event on the question: “Are political personalities getting in the way of the job?” He said that Johnson’s style was effective at communicating with people and good at winning elections, but not so well suited to governing.

Andrew Feinberg, The Independent’s White House correspondent, said the same things applied to Donald Trump. He was not such an effective president, and so lost to Joe Biden, a candidate who had less “character”. This is a reversal of the usual pattern, in which the Democrats look for “rock stars” (Kennedy, Clinton, Obama), while the Republicans settle for steadiness (George HW Bush).

You can watch the video of the event, chaired by Philippa Jenkins, The Independent’s strategy projects editor, here:

Yet Trump’s appeal remains strong to a significant minority of the electorate – so strong that Feinberg expects him to win the Republican nomination for next year’s presidential election. Feinberg noted that rival Republican candidates, who might be expected to attack Trump over his arraignment on 34 felony charges, actually supported him. However, Feinberg said that, if next year’s contest were a re-run of the Trump-Biden election of 2020, Trump would lose, because he is so unpopular outside his base.

John Rentoul, The Independent’s chief political commentator, said that a charismatic personality who is also an effective administrator is a rare combination – seen in the cases of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair – but that the next British election is set to be a contest between two low-charisma leaders offering competent government.