What does it mean to say that modern politics is personalised? To what extent is it more personalised than in the past, what is distinctive about contemporary forms of personalisation and are these changes enduring? This book addresses these questions. It re-thinks the concept of personalisation and develops an analytical framework for its study, in the process challenging current theorisation and bridging the political science and media studies approaches to the subject. Moreover, it presents new, rich and rigorous empirical data about how personalisation has developed over time in the UK, from 1945 to 2009. Its conceptual depth and empirical range makes the book a must-read for anyone researching the phenomenon of personalisation internationally, and a benchmark for future studies. It is also highly accessible to undergraduate and graduate students in political communication, British politics and media studies.