hot seat 
noun (the hot seat) informal
1The position of carrying full responsibility for something important: it’s been a bad week for the men in the hot seat...
- A poster is allowed to rate the interviewer in the categories of technical, character and overall difficulty and leave comments about what it was like sitting in the hot seat.
- Michael Graham, who coached the Red and White side last year, put his hand up for another season in the hot seat, only to have to stand down when his partner accepted a position in Perth.
- He added: ‘There's no evidence that such a scheme was actually used on either occasion when Mr Ingram was in the hot seat.’
2North American The electric chair.When the lovers are found shot to death, a local religious fanatic is convicted and sentenced to the "hot seat."...
- He's visited the execution chambers of Louisiana, Florida, and Alabama, and ten times he has given testimony, either in court or in hearings, trying to help defendants avoid the hot seat.
- Today visitors can take their turn on the hot seat providing a once in a lifetime photo opportunity.