Parliamentary Affairs Advance Access originally published online on June 6, 2007
Parliamentary Affairs 2007 60(3):371-387; doi:10.1093/pa/gsm028
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A Historical Exploration of the Personalisation of Politics in the Print Media: The British Prime Ministers (19451999)
This article examines the historical evolution of the personalisation of politics in the print media. Analysis of The Times from 1945 to 1999 demonstrates, firstly, that there has been a positive trend in leaders' overall mediated visibility and, to a lesser extent, in the salience of Prime Ministers' leadership qualities. However, both variables have shown a fair degree of fluctuation. Secondly, there has been a clear move towards the portrayal of the human side of leaders during the latter 20 years of this period, with a steep increase in the references to their personal lives, especially in the case of Blair.