1887
Volume 25, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1569-2159
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9862
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Within the fields of narratology and discourse analysis, this paper proposes a critical narrative analysis of Sir Keir Starmer’s storytelling at the four party conferences he attended as opposition leader. The objective is to assess how Starmer attempted to create the image of a strong and stable leader, in discourse, in a bid, arguably, to differentiate himself from his predecessor, to rebrand his party as an inclusive organisation and to establish his ethos as a credible leader. Maybe more importantly, this paper posits that the narratives at the heart of his keynote speeches served a self-promotional purpose to show that, by focusing on the notion of stability, he could bring to a close a fourteen-year period of electoral and ideological domination by the Conservative Party.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.24028.bon
2025-02-27
2026-04-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Allen, Peter, and David S. Moon
    2020 “Predictions, Pollification, and Pol Profs: the ‘Corbyn Problem’ beyond Corbyn”. The Political Quarterly91 (1): 80–88. 10.1111/1467‑923X.12825
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12825 [Google Scholar]
  2. Atkins, Judi, and Alan Finlayson
    2012 “Show — don’t tell: Political rhetoric is increasingly anecdotal but not particularly artful” LSE Blog, May 2012. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/show-dont-tell-political-speech-anecdotes/
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Avril, Emmanuelle
    2009Stratégies et campagnes en Grande-Bretagne et aux Etats-Unis. Paris: L’Harmattan.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Baldwin, Tom
    2024 “Emotional, messy and breathtakingly ruthless: the hidden life of Keir Starmer” The Guardian, February 21. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/21/the-hidden-life-of-keir-starmer
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bale, Tim
    2010The Conservative Party, From Thatcher to Cameron. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Beckett, Andy
    2023 “Starmer sells himself on stability — but does that benefit the country, or just business and elites?” The Guardian, October 13. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/13/keir-starmer-stability-elites-establishment-business
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Beech, Matt, and Kevin Hickson
    2020 “Divided by Values: Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party and England’s ‘North-South Divide’.” Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique25 (2): 118–137. 10.4000/rfcb.5456
    https://doi.org/10.4000/rfcb.5456 [Google Scholar]
  8. Boin, Arjen, and Paul t’ Hart
    2003 “Public Leadership in Times of Crisis: Mission Impossible?” Public Administration Review63 (5): 544–553. 10.1111/1540‑6210.00318
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6210.00318 [Google Scholar]
  9. Brooks, Peter
    2001 “Stories abounding.” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 2021. https://www.chronicle.com/article/stories-abounding/
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Chakrabortty, Aditya, and Jessica Elgot
    2021 “Leak reveals Labour plan to focus on flag and patriotism to win back voters” The Guardian, February 2. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/feb/02/labour-urged-to-focus-on-flag-and-patriotism-to-win-voters-trust-leak-reveals
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Charteris-Black, Jonathan
    2014Analysing Political Speeches. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1007/978‑1‑137‑36833‑1
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-36833-1 [Google Scholar]
  12. Cooper, Charlie
    2020 “How Keir Starmer plans to make Labour great again” Politico, October 31. https://www.politico.eu/article/how-keir-starmer-plans-to-make-labour-great-again/
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Crerar, Pippa, and Patrick Butler
    2024 “Keir Starmer keen to show he is not just ducking fights with the Tories.” The Guardian, January 22. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/22/keir-starmer-labour-leader-latest-speech-analysis
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Crerar, Pippa
    2023a “Keir Starmer’s five ‘national missions’ mark a turning point for his Labour party” The Guardian, February 23. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/feb/23/keir-starmers-five-national-missions-mark-a-turning-point-for-his-labour-party
    [Google Scholar]
  15. 2023b “Keir Starmer: Labour already planning second term in government”. The Guardian, February 23. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/feb/23/keir-starmer-labour-already-planning-second-term-in-government
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Czarniawska, Barbara
    2004Narratives in Social Science Research. Introducing Qualitative Methods. London: Sage Publications. 10.4135/9781849209502
    https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209502 [Google Scholar]
  17. De Fina, Anna, and Barbara Johnstone
    2015 “Discourse analysis and narrative.” InThe handbook of discourse analysis, edited byDeborah Schiffrin, Deborah Tannen and Heidi Hamilton: 152–167. London: Wiley-Blackwell. 10.1002/9781118584194.ch7
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584194.ch7 [Google Scholar]
  18. De Fina, Anna, and Alexandra Georgakopoulou
    2012Analyzing Narrative. Cambridge: CUP.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. De Fina, Anna
    2017 “Narrative Analysis.” InThe Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics, edited byRuth Wodak and Bernhard Forchtner: 233–246. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9781315183718‑18
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315183718-18 [Google Scholar]
  20. Duffy, Bobby, Kirstie Hewlett, George Murkin, Rebecca Benson, Rachel Hesketh, Ben Page, Gideon Skinner, and Glenn Gottfried
    2021 “Culture Wars in the UK”. The Policy Institute, King’s College London. PDF. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/culture-wars-in-the-uk.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Eaton, George
    2024 “Patriotic social democracy is powering Labour”. The New Statesman, July 24. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/labour/2024/07/patriotic-social-democracy-is-powering-labour
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Elhefnawy, Nader
    2021 “Is Keir Starmer a Neoliberal? A Note on Keir Starmer’s Political Rhetoric”. 10.2139/ssrn.3850099
    https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3850099 [Google Scholar]
  23. Feldman, Martha S., Kaj Sköldberg, Ruth Nicole Brown, and Debra Horner
    2004 “Making Sense of Stories: A Rhetorical Approach to Narrative Analysis.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory: J-PART14 (2): 147–170. 10.1093/jopart/muh010
    https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muh010 [Google Scholar]
  24. Fludernik, Monika
    2009An Introduction to Narratology. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203882887
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203882887 [Google Scholar]
  25. Forchtner, Bernhard
    2021 “Introducing ‘Narrative in Critical Discourse Studies’”. Critical Discourse Studies18 (3): 304–313. 10.1080/17405904.2020.1802765
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2020.1802765 [Google Scholar]
  26. Galmisch, Raphaële
    2015 ‘’Le Storytelling : cercle de la narration au service de l’ethos du leader.’’ Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication71 : 1-14. 10.4000/rfsic.1627.
    https://doi.org/10.4000/rfsic.1627 [Google Scholar]
  27. Gill, Martha
    2023 “Sorry, Tories, but conjuring up ever more culture wars is bound to backfire”. The Guardian, August 20. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/20/sorry-tories-but-conjuring-up-ever-more-culture-wars-is-bound-to-backfire
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Leach, Robert, Bill Coxall, and Lynton robins
    2011 British Politics. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Leydier, Gilles
    2020 “Effet Brexit, effet Corbyn ou crise existentielle ? Les dimensions de l’échec travailliste.” Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique25 (3): 98–115.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Goes, Eunice
    2021 “The Labour Party Under Keir Starmer: ‘Thanks, But no “isms” Please!’.” The Political Quarterly92 (2): 176–183. 10.1111/1467‑923X.12995
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12995 [Google Scholar]
  31. Hayton, Richard, and Timothy Heppell
    2015 “The Presidentialization of Party Politics in the United Kingdom”. InThe Presidentialization of Political Parties, edited byGianluca Passarelli: 142–159. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137482464_8
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137482464_8 [Google Scholar]
  32. Hayton, Richard
    2010 “Conservative Party Modernisation and David Cameron’s Politics of the Family.” The Political Quarterly81 (4): 492–500. 10.1111/j.1467‑923X.2010.02126.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2010.02126.x [Google Scholar]
  33. Herman, Luc, and Bart Vervaeck
    2014 “Ideology and Narrative Fiction”. InThe Handbook of Narratology, edited byPeter Hühn, Jan Christoph Meister, John Pier and Wolf Schmid: 253–269. Berlin: De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110316469.253
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110316469.253 [Google Scholar]
  34. Hickson, Matt
    2018 “The Old Left”. InThe Struggle for Labour’s Soul, edited byRaymond Plant, Matt Beech and Kevin Hickson: 7–23. Second Edition. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9781315170848‑2
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315170848-2 [Google Scholar]
  35. Ipso Mori
    Ipso Mori 2019 “Jeremy Corbyn has lowest leadership satisfaction rating for any opposition leader since 1977.” September 20. https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/jeremy-corbyn-has-lowest-leadership-satisfaction-rating-any-opposition-leader-1977
  36. Jackson, Ben
    2020 “Getting Labour Together.” The Political Quarterly91 (1): 5–6. 10.1111/1467‑923X.12817
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12817 [Google Scholar]
  37. 2023 “Where No Labour Government Has Gone Before.” Political Insight, 14(3): 4–7. 10.1177/20419058231198576a
    https://doi.org/10.1177/20419058231198576a [Google Scholar]
  38. Kale, Sirin, and Chris Bethell
    2020 “Keir Starmer: ‘I Still See Myself as a Socialist’”. Vice News, March 17. https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkev7y/keir-starmer-i-still-see-myself-as-a-socialist
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Kreiswirth, Martin
    1992 “Trusting the Tale: The Narrativist Turn in the Human Sciences.” New Literary History, 23(3): 629–657. 10.2307/469223
    https://doi.org/10.2307/469223 [Google Scholar]
  40. 2005 “Narrative Turn in the Humanities.” InThe Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory, edited byDavid Herman, Manfred Jahn and Marie-Laure Ryan: 377–382. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Labour Manifesto
  42. Labov, William, and Joshua Waletsky
    1967 “Narrative Analysis: Oral Versions of Personal Experience”. InEssays on the Verbal and the Visual Arts, edited byJune Helm: 3–38. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Leach, Robert, Bill Coxall, and Lynton Robins
    2011British Politics. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1007/978‑0‑230‑34422‑8
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-34422-8 [Google Scholar]
  44. Miskimmon, Alister, Ben O’Loughlin, and Laura Roselle
    2013Strategic Narratives: Communication Power and the new World Order. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Moin, S. M. A.
    2020Brand Storytelling in the Digital Age. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1007/978‑3‑030‑59085‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59085-7 [Google Scholar]
  46. Payne, Sebastian
    2016 “The Vote Leave campaign resorts to conspiracy theories”. Financial times, 25 May 2016.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Pennisi di Floristella, Angela, and Xuechen Chen
    2023 “Strategic Narratives of Russia’s War in Ukraine: Perspectives from China.” Policy Studies45 (3–4): 573–94. 10.1080/01442872.2023.2276116
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2023.2276116 [Google Scholar]
  48. Pike, Karl, and Andy Hindmoor
    2020 “Do As I Did Not As I Say: Blair, New Labour and Party Traditions”. The Political Quarterly, 91 (1): 148–155. 10.1111/1467‑923X.12791
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12791 [Google Scholar]
  49. Pike, Karl
    2021 “Keir Starmer’s first conference speech as Labour leader was a serious affair — here’s what you need to know.” The Conversation, September 29. https://theconversation.com/keir-starmers-first-conference-speech-as-labour-leader-was-a-serious-affair-heres-what-you-need-to-know-168788
    [Google Scholar]
  50. 2022 “Keir Starmer’s conference speech offered a clearer ideological position — even more ambition will now be needed.” The Conversation, September 27. https://theconversation.com/keir-starmers-conference-speech-offered-a-clearer-ideological-position-even-more-ambition-will-now-be-needed-191277
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Plant, Raymond, Matt Beech, and Kevin Hickson
    (ed) 2004The Struggle for Labour’s Soul. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Polleta, Francesca
    2006It Was Like a Fever. Chicago: CUP. 10.7208/chicago/9780226673776.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226673776.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  53. Polletta, Francesca
    2015 “Characters in Political Storytelling.” Storytelling, Self, Society11(1) : 34–55. 10.13110/storselfsoci.11.1.0034
    https://doi.org/10.13110/storselfsoci.11.1.0034 [Google Scholar]
  54. Reisigl, Martin
    2021 “’Narrative!’ I can’t hear that anymore’. A linguistic critique of an overstretched umbrella term in cultural and social science studies, discussed with the example of the discourse on climate change.” Critical Discourse Studies, 18 (3): 368–386. 10.1080/17405904.2020.1822897
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2020.1822897 [Google Scholar]
  55. Roe-Crines, Andrew
    2021 “A Problem of Communication: Keir Starmer’s Labour Leadership.” Political Insight, 12 (4): 22–24. 10.1177/20419058211066518
    https://doi.org/10.1177/20419058211066518 [Google Scholar]
  56. Rustin, Michael
    2022 “Labour’s first post-socialist leader?Soundings: A journal of politics and culture811: 101–105. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/868425
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Salmon, Christian
    2007Storytelling. Paris: La Découverte.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Seargeant, Philip
    2020The art of political storytelling: why stories win votes in Post-truth politics. London New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. 10.5040/9781350107427
    https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350107427 [Google Scholar]
  59. Schnur Neile, Caren
    2015 “Introduction to the Special Issue: Storytelling and Politics.” Storytelling, Self, Society, 11 (1): 1–4. 10.13110/storselfsoci.11.1.0001
    https://doi.org/10.13110/storselfsoci.11.1.0001 [Google Scholar]
  60. Seeger, Matthew, and Timothy L. Sellnow
    2016Narratives of Crisis: Telling Stories of Ruin and Renewal. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Shaw, Eric
    2019 “How Labour failed to connect with the British working class.” The Conversation, December 16. https://theconversation.com/how-labour-failed-to-connect-with-the-british-working-class-128082
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Shenhav, Shaul
    2006 “Political Narratives and Political Reality.” International Political Science Review27 (3): 245–262. 10.1177/0192512106064474
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512106064474 [Google Scholar]
  63. Sobolewska, Maria, and Robert Ford
    2020Brexitland. Cambridge: CUP. 10.1017/9781108562485
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108562485 [Google Scholar]
  64. Souto-Manning, Mariana
    2012 “Critical Narrative Analysis: The Interplay of Critical Discourse and Narrative Analyses.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education27 (2): 159–80. 10.1080/09518398.2012.737046
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.737046 [Google Scholar]
  65. Starmer, Keir
    2022 “Labour has now claimed the centre ground — and has shown it can win.” The Guardian, June 26https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/26/labour-has-now-claimed-the-centre-ground-and-has-shown-it-can-win
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Thompson, Noel
    2004 “The Centre”. InThe Struggle for Labour’s Soul, edited byMatt Beech, Kevin Hickson, Raymond Plant: 47–67. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Thompson, Paul, Frederick H. Pitts, and Jo Ingold
    2021 “A Strategic Left? Starmerism, Pluralism and the Soft Left.” The Political Quarterly, 92 (1): 32–39. 10.1111/1467‑923X.12940
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12940 [Google Scholar]
  68. Van Dijk, Teun
    2001 “Critical discourse analysis”. InThe Handbook of Discourse Analysis, edited byDeborah Schiffrin, Deborah Tannen, and Heidi E. Hamilton. London: Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Wager, Alan
    2022 “Party Conferences.” UK in a Changing Europe. https://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/party-conferences/
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Webb, Niles
    2023 “Labour’s Politics of Anti-Neoliberalism from Corbyn to Starmer.” The Political Quarterly, 94 (3): 384–392. 10.1111/1467‑923X.13302
    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13302 [Google Scholar]
  71. White, Hannah
    2023 “Keir Starmer’s narrative has some major plot holes to fill”. Institute for Government, October 14. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/keir-starmers-narrative
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Wilson, John
    2015Talking with the President: The Pragmatics of Presidential Language. New York: Oxford Academic. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199858804.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199858804.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  73. Wodak, Ruth, Rudolf de Cillia, Martin Reisigl, and Karin Liebhart
    2009The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Wodak, Ruth
    2011 “Critical Discourse Analysis.” InThe Bloomsbury Companion to Discourse Analysis, edited byHyland Ken and Paltridge Brian. London: Bloomsbury. 10.4324/9781315852515.ch20
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315852515.ch20 [Google Scholar]
  75. YouGov
    YouGov 2024a “The Most Popular Politicians & Political Figures (Q1 2024)”. https://yougov.co.uk/ratings/politics/popularity/politicians-political-figures/all
  76. YouGov
    YouGov 2024b “Labour Party — 2024 Trackers”. https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/explore/political_party/Labour_Party
  77. YouGov
    YouGov 2024c “The most important issues facing the country”. https://yougov.co.uk/topics/society/trackers/the-most-important-issues-facing-the-country
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.24028.bon
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.24028.bon
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): critical narrative analysis; Keir Starmer; Labour Party; narratives; party conference
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error