Abstract
Britain’s withdrawal of its EU membership has a number of political and economic implications for UK–EU relations. In seeking to understand the 2016 EU referendum outcome, it is insightful to study the historical development of discourses representing the UK–EU relationship. Doing so reveals the trends of British exceptionalism and British Euroscepticism as integral to these discourses. Applying a diachronic approach, this paper examines ten speeches by nine Conservative Prime Ministers (PMs) held at the annual Conservative Party Conferences from 1945 to 2020. The speeches include, among others, those by Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron and Boris Johnson. The qualitative analysis traces the discursive strategies employed by PMs in their construction of the Conservative narrative of national myth, focusing especially on the issues of British national identity in relation to Europe. Methods of Discourse Historical Analysis (DHA) and Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) are applied in order to identify strategies employed by PMs as tools of persuasion for the purpose of consolidating political power and promoting their policies. This study has identified three major interrelated strategies—myth, ally and enemy creation—which are used to narrate the story of Britain’s relationship with Europe as a potential member of the Union, as a member, and up to its efforts to leave the EU.
Highlights
A Mythical British Self versus a European OtherBrexit continues to have political and economic implications for UK–EU relations today
This diachronic study examines ten speeches by nine Conservative Prime Ministers (PMs) held at the annual Conservative Party Conferences from 1945 to 2020
This paper aims to analyse the discursive strategies employed by Conservative PMs in office between 1945 and 2020 and to identify their role in shaping British self-perception in relation to Europe and Britain’s role in the EU
Summary
Brexit continues to have political and economic implications for UK–EU relations today. A perspective of these two visions as being incompatible and mutually exclusive raises the question of determining Europe’s role either as Britain’s friend or foe, a scenario which created the impetus for Brexit This diachronic study examines ten speeches by nine Conservative PMs held at the annual Conservative Party Conferences from 1945 to 2020. In order to posit themselves as Britain’s hero and leader and validate their claim to power, the Conservatives must first paint a convincing image of a Britain with which their audience can identify in order to gain their confidence For this reason, this study traces the elements in the construction of the Conservative narrative of British national identity in relation to Europe. This paper aims to analyse the discursive strategies employed by Conservative PMs in office between 1945 and 2020 and to identify their role in shaping British self-perception in relation to Europe and Britain’s role in the EU. In view of the consistency with which the Conservatives managed to hold the office of Prime Minister in the post-war era, their strategies are of interest for study relating to the gaining and maintaining of power in Britain
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