"This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding city mayors and political leadership. Through using the relatively new analytical tool of the Leadership Capital Index to critically compare four detailed case-studies, the author tackles with originality the age-old question of how mayors can effectively use their agency in the face of institutional limits" -- Georgina Blakeley, University of Huddersfield, UK " The study of city leadership has never been more important. This wide-ranging text makes a valuable and insightful contribution to the debate. Drawing on detailed empirical research, and set in the context of the many theoretical and conceptual debates on leadership, Max Stafford offers an accessible genuinely international comparative study which will be of great interest to scholars of mayors around the world " -- David Sweeting, University of Bristol, UK.