Political Leadership and the Need to Belong: An Extension of Theory and Practice of Political and Place Leadership through the Lens of Attachment Theory

Roberts, Jane (2021). Political Leadership and the Need to Belong: An Extension of Theory and Practice of Political and Place Leadership through the Lens of Attachment Theory. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00013d41

Abstract

Drawing on two empirical research projects - an exploration of the experience of losing elected political office and of the mayoral leadership of the new English combined authorities - this paper uses attachment theory to understand the path from political leadership and the leadership of place from a multidisciplinary perspective. In the first study, in-depth interviews with former Westminster MPs and leaders of major councils in England, their partners, and with current politicians demonstrate the problematic nature of leaving elected political office for many with implications not only for the individuals involved but for their partners, families, employers, wider civic society and, the paper goes on to argue, for representative democracy. In the second study, on the basis of interviews conducted with senior figures in local and central government and with other informed commentators, a preliminary analysis of the combined authorities’ political leadership is offered. The focus is on the early leadership of the metro-mayors from the perspective of the leadership of place - how place was construed and how leadership of place was being exercised - within the wider context of local governance in England. It argues that public policy and the literature on political leadership could usefully recognize the power of place in the exercise of leadership. The thread underlying both studies is that insights from attachment theory can helpfully inform the theory and practice of political leadership, recognising the bonds that individuals can form with an elected political leadership role and with place. Drawing on literature from a range of disciplines, the paper offers a highly innovative approach to the theory and practice of political and place leadership.

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• Item ORO ID
• 81217
• Item Type
• PhD Thesis
• Extra Information
• Publications that comprise this PhD by Publication are:
  
  Roberts, J. (2017) Losing Political Office, London: Palgrave
  
  Roberts, J. (2019). Exiting the Political Stage: Exploring the Impact on Representative Democracy, British Politics 14, 391-407
  
  Roberts, J. (2019). The Under-Appreciated Loss of Political Office, Journal of Loss and Trauma 24(8): 706-720
  
  Roberts, J. (2020). The Leadership of Place and People in the new English Combined Authorities. Local Government Studies
  
  Roberts, J. (2019). Rethinking Civic Roles. In (Ed.) H. Tam, Whose Government Is It? Bristol: Policy Press
  
  Roberts, J. (2020). The Power of Place in the Exercise of Leadership. In (Eds.) B. Neilsen and S. MacCabe, The English Regions Post-Brexit. Goring-on-Thames: Bite-Sized Books
  
  Roberts, J. (2022). After the Party is Over. In (Ed.) A. Weinberg, Psychology of Democracy: Of the people, by the people, for the people, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Academic Unit or School
• Faculty of Business and Law (FBL)
• Copyright Holders
• © 2021 Jane Roberts
• Related URLs
• • https://oro.open.ac.uk/81232/(Publication)
  • https://oro.open.ac.uk/73543/(Publication)
  • https://oro.open.ac.uk/61980/(Publication)
  • https://oro.open.ac.uk/69344/(Publication)
  • https://oro.open.ac.uk/66300/(Publication)
  • https://oro.open.ac.uk/81231/(Publication)
  • https://oro.open.ac.uk/81233/(Publication)
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