Tom Gallagher

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Expert on authoritarian leaders Professor Tom Gallagher looks at 20 modern European leaders and explains how self-interest has come to define leadership at the expense of restraint and moral purpose.

Gallagher argues that Machiavellian characters overrode party politics following World War II as political renewal was blocked by the retreat of religion, education and social solidarity. He runs the rule over a range of well-known leaders including Berlusconi, Johnson, Merkel, Mitterand, Orban, Macron and Sturgeon. He says a chasm in leadership has fuelled volatility, polarisation and alienation. But he sees hope in war-torn Ukraine where its leaders affirm democracy rather than destabilise it.

Gallagher is emeritus professor of politics at the University of Bradford. He has written 16 books on democracy and authoritarianism, including Salazar: The Dictator who refused to Die, which he talks about at a second festival event.