Description
The paper builds on emerging research on the affective polarization generated by the Brexit-based identification (Curtice, 2018; Duffy et al. 2019: 16; Murray, Plagnola and Corra, 2017). This polarisation has been intense in terms of emotional commitment, affect, stereotyping, prejudice and various evaluative biases (Hobolt, Leeper and Tilley 2018). The paper investigates if, how and to what extent the post-Brexit British Prime Ministers Boris Johnson (2019-2022), Liz Truss (2022) and Rishi Sunak (since 2022) have contributed to this polarisation, through their post-Brexit exclusionary rhetoric of othering vis-à-vis the EU. Taking the discourse-analytical perspective (Reisigl and Wodak 2001; Wodak 2011) and working with a dataset of the PMs’ speeches during their tenures, the paper investigates whether the British PMs constructively and reproductively constructed the EU as the non-liked “Other” to the British self since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. More specifically, the inquiry is guided by Krzyżanowski’s (2010) operationalization of the Discourse Historical Approach. and point to the highly contradictory nature of the prime ministerial rhetoric.
