Prime ministers in waiting? Women leaders of the opposition in Westminster systems

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6315886
AutoresLudger Helms (0000-0002-8634-9267, Universität Innsbruck, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen30
Número4
Páginas649-661
Fecha de publicación2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaParty Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13540688231166873
OpenAlexW4365147391
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas63

One of the key defining features of Westminster-type democracies is the acknowledgement of an official Opposition and a Leader of the Opposition typically referred to as a ‘prime minister in waiting’. This article focuses on this crucial element of Westminster democracy and applies a gender perspective, looking into women Leaders of the Opposition in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia (1975–2022). As this inquiry reveals, there have been few and mostly short-lived women Leaders of the Opposition. Further, contrary to plausible assumptions, there have been more women Leaders of the Opposition from conservative than from left-wing parties. In particular, however, the office of Leader of the Opposition has, with few exceptions, not proven to be a springboard to the premiership. In fact, a majority of women prime ministers were ‘takeover prime ministers’, inheriting the office from a predecessor from their own party, rather than former Leaders of the Opposition, while many women Leaders of the Opposition were not even given the opportunity to lead their party into a national election campaign. The article discusses possible explanations for these patterns

Acknowledgement · Democracy · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Social Policy and Reform Studies