The social, successful and the supernatural: what makes a politician charismatic?

Is Anthony Albanese charismatic? Peter Dutton? Charisma has been linked to electoral victory (just ask Bob Hawke), but defining it can be difficult

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For all the gen Z slang that has been thrown around by politicians in recent months, one term has been largely absent from the election campaign: rizz". Oxford University Press's 2023 word of the year is defined as style, charm or attractiveness"; in gen Z parlance it refers specifically to romantic appeal.

On the campaign trail, neither major party leader, thankfully, has deployed the term to cringeworthy effect. But a trait to which rizz is inextricably linked - charisma - has historically been linked to electoral victory.

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