British Party Election Broadcasts (2001, 2005 and 2010): Ideological Framing, Storytelling, Individualisation

Abstract

As the majority of programmes aired on British terrestrial channels, Party Election Broadcasts (PEBs) address a large and anonymous audience. In order to reach specific viewers however, they rest on stereotyped representational codes meant to enable target voters to identify with the characters and the situations portrayed. The mirror presented to them is necessarily distorted to fit within the party’s ideological framework and to serve its electoral ambition. This article examines the representational codes at work in the PEBs produced by the three main British political parties at the general elections of 2001, 2005 and 2010. How are those codes manipulated to produce a dynamic (audio-visual) discourse? How is dramatisation used to engage the audience and enhance message recall? How do PEBs reflect the personification of issues and the individualisation of the social body?