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Articles on Prime Ministers

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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in mid-March, before he tested positive for the coronavirus. Ray Tang/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

With Boris Johnson in intensive care, who runs the UK?

The United Kingdom does not have a written constitution or a specific plan for what to do if the prime minister is too ill to perform official duties.
Scott Morrison emphasised national unity in his Australia Day address last year, but this is not the message that everyone wants to hear. Facebook

White, male and straight – how 30 years of Australia Day speeches leave most Australians out

New research shows how prime ministers typically frame national identity on Australia day: it’s largely male, heterosexual, white and lacking class distinctions.
British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Theresa May’s snap election gamble, explained

Wondering how the U.K. government can just decide to dissolve itself and call for a general election? As our expert explains, it’s not uncommon.
John Curtin and Ben Chifley were successful in expanding the power of the Commonwealth – and thus that of the prime minister. AAP/Alan Porritt

Lacking a script, individuals drove the evolution of prime ministerial power

Alfred Deakin and his contemporaries invented the Australian prime ministership. But it was not settled as a platform for national leadership until John Curtin and Ben Chifley’s time.
Kevin Rudd faces the media after losing the prime ministership in the 2010 party leadership spill. AAP/Alan Porritt

Why would anyone want to be PM? Understanding what it takes

Why would anyone want to be prime minister? Why indeed? It is a job that will almost certainly end in failure. Only one prime minister in the last 100 years has left office at the time of his own choosing…

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