Personality politics isn’t just a modern problem – it started centuries earlier with an aristocrat called Charles James Fox. You can trace the roots of modern political celebrity back to this 18th-century provocateur, whose charm, scandals and theatrics helped redefine what leadership looked like. Fox built a movement around himself rather than his policies, offering an early blueprint for the dangerous style of politics reshaping democracies today. Alex von Tunzelmann speaks with Dr Callum Smith of Aberystwyth University about Fox’s rise and how history helps us understand the dominance of modern figures like Trump and Farage.

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Robin Leeburn Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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