From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishin the hot seatin the hot seatin an important position and responsible for making difficult decisions → hot
Examples from the Corpus
in the hot seat• Wilkinson and Manion will be in the hot seat.• Put them in the hot seat and question then to find out.• Tips Always address the person in the hot seat by the name of the character you have chosen.• He was in the hot seat for more than three hours.• City player-manager Peter Reid, still a rookie in the hot seat, has done a fine job since replacing Howard Kendall.• This will help the person in the hot seat to become more relaxed and confident in the role of the character.• We can put Ant in the hot seat to find out.in the hot seatin the hot seat (also on the hot seat American English) informalDIFFICULTRESPONSIBLE in a difficult position where you have to make important decisions, answer questions etc → seatExamples from the Corpus
in the hot seat• We can put Ant in the hot seat to find out.• Wilkinson and Manion will be in the hot seat.• Tips Always address the person in the hot seat by the name of the character you have chosen.• This will help the person in the hot seat to become more relaxed and confident in the role of the character.• City player-manager Peter Reid, still a rookie in the hot seat, has done a fine job since replacing Howard Kendall.• Put them in the hot seat and question then to find out.• He was in the hot seat for more than three hours. 