In Australia,Anthony Albanese initially bucked this trend by enjoying an unusually extended stay in the honeymoon suite. It lasted until his first anniversary in power. But high interest rates,a cost-of-living crisis and a failed Voice referendum put his approval rating on a downward trajectory. Now he finds himself in the sameincumbency trap as other world leaders. And even if he wins the next election outright,or becomes the head of a minority government,he does not look like the sort of commanding leader who will have the word “era” affixed to his name.

Localised factors sometimes explain why leaders are no longer so durable. In the UK,the turmoil of Brexit led to six prime ministers in eight years. In Australia,workaholic Kevin Rudd may have got to spend more years in The Lodge had he spent more hours in bed. But anti-incumbency is a global phenomenon with shared traits.

Grievance politics is being fuelled bylarge-scale immigration flows,income inequality,housing crises and the sense,in a globalised economy,of personal economic powerlessness.

Populist politicians,like Trump,trade on fear rather than hope. Social media has spread poison and sped up political cycles. In an age of hyper-partisanship,politics has become relentlessly – and recklessly – oppositional.

Bipartisanship generally favours the incumbent,which does not marry with the anti-incumbent vibe. Just consider Trump’s scuppering earlier this year of a bipartisan congressional deal to address the border crisis. Rather than fixing a problem,he preferred to exploit it.

With politicians looking for issues rather than solutions,unresolved grievances beget more grievances. And thus we end up with a pernicious paradox:populism is killing off the popular politician.

Nick Bryant,a former BBC Washington correspondent,is the author ofThe Forever War:America’s Unending Conflict with Itself.