This is Paul Adamson and welcome to In Conversation, the regular podcast of my online magazine InCompass.

I chat informally with personalities from a wide variety of backgrounds on a wide variety of subjects.

If you like this podcast, you can go to the magazine's website, Encompass-Europe.com,

or any of the main platforms for free access to all the podcasts to date. I hope you enjoy this

conversation. My guest is Steve Richards.

Steve Richards is the author of two books on leadership.

First, modern Prime Minister's Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to Johnson.

And his latest book is called The Prime Ministers We Never Had, Success and Failure from Butler to Corbyn, which have just been

published. Welcome to the podcast, Steve. Thank you very much, Paul. Right. My first question,

actually, did these 11 profiles you've chosen to write about in your new book, did they kind of

self-select? It was it quite difficult to make a selection and pair it down to

just 11? No, it was very straightforward because I applied strict criteria. A game that is often

played is who are the best prime ministers we never had. But that didn't interest me at all

because it's deeply subjective and self-indulgent.

It's like saying, you know, oh, in your view, which are the best 10 albums not to have made

it to number one? So I applied a very different approach, which was to explore why those who were

seen as a possible Prime Minister,

and in some cases possible a next Prime Minister,

and, crucially, had a feasible opportunity to seize the Crown,

why they failed to do so?

Because it's an under-explorer.

It's not explored at all question.

...