The allure - and danger of the charismatic leader

From Donald Trump to Elon Musk, it is worth examining the driving power behind a cult of personality.

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Give someone a list of political leaders and ask which of them have charisma and which don't, and you will almost always get the same answers. Mr Barack Obama, Mr Tony Blair, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, Donald Trump? Albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm, it's a yes.

Mr Rishi Sunak, Ms Liz Truss, Ms Kamala Harris, Mr Ron DeSantis? An emphatic no.

Nailing down exactly what it means, though, doesn't seem quite so straightforward. What 

does someone in possession of charisma actually have? Google suggests it is a "compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others".

Some people talk about "star quality" or "the it factor". 

One colleague suggested: "It's just BDE, isn't it?" (Look it up.) The reason charisma is so tricky to explain is that being inexplicable is in its very nature: By definition intangible, the charismatic aura compels you to look at, be near to or most consequentially - follow the person who holds it. And though certain tricks can be deployed to help build it, the truly charismatic individual has a je ne sais quoi that seems innate and particular.

In the New Testament, Saint Paul used the Greek word to mean various extraordinary powers given to Christians by the Holy Spirit, such as "the grace of healing", "prophecy" and "the working of miracles".