In this article, we build on the wider body of social constructionist approaches to studying leadership (Chen and Meindl, 1991; Fairhurst and Grant, 2010; Grint, 2005; Meindl, 1995) which focuses on discourse as it both constructs and constrains what leadership is understood to be and is enacted (Alvesson and Kärreman, 2000). We propose that by examining the discourse of leadership we can further our understanding of the often taken-for-granted set of cultural understandings and institutionalised beliefs about what leadership roles entail and what leadership attributes are needed to perform those roles. We focus on the discourse of leadership in one particular context – the world of politics – and in relation to one attribute in particular: authenticity. We ask: how was Jeremy Corbyn constructed and evaluated as an authentic leader in the British press?