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Britain, Britishness, and exceptionalism within the rhetoric of David Cameron

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British Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

In his rhetoric on Britain and Britishness, David Cameron sets out a vision of the nation and its national story built upon the premise of exceptionalism. I argue this was challenging to reconcile with continued EU membership. His efforts to rhetorically define the nation and his ethos subsequently came to undermine his stewardship of the Remain campaign and Britain’s EU membership. In this article, I analyse Cameron’s party conference rhetoric on Britain and Britishness between 2006 and 2015 using the framework of Rhetorical Political Analysis. I argue that Cameron styles the nation as in possession of an exceptional history, spirit, and set of values. The British people are said to be uniquely principled, generous, and tolerant, with an uncommon aptitude for leadership. Additionally, the country is framed as having an exceptional past, present, and future. His conception of Britishness, built upon the myth of exceptionalism, jars with continued membership of the EU due to contrasting values, and along with his Eurosceptic credentials, ultimately left a weak foundation for the Remain campaign in 2016.

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Notes

  1. On Cameron’s party modernisation (see Bale, 2008, 2010; Dommett, 2015; Hayton, 2010, 2015; Heppell, 2020).

  2. See Taylor (2015) for an analysis of historical efforts by a Conservative Prime Minister to define Britain.

  3. Available at: http://www.britishpoliticalspeech.org/speech-archive.htm

  4. See Faucher-King (2005, Chapter 4) for a useful synopsis on the leader’s speech.

  5. Though this friendliness is to an extent artificially guaranteed (see Faucher-King, 2005, p. 86).

  6. For example, while in opposition Cameron frequently recounted the Conservatives successes in a particular year within his leader’s speech, naming specific local election victories (e.g. Cameron, 2006).

  7. The Detainee Inquiry, announced by Cameron in 2010, was established to investigate whether Britain’s security services were implicated in the possible mistreatment of detainees in other countries following 9/11.

  8. See Heppell (2020, Chapter 4) for a recent analysis of the Big Society.

  9. This represents another example in which a witness is used as a rhetorical device.

  10. The “A Greater Britain” agenda was ultimately derailed by the EU referendum, leaving the “Big Society” as the lone landmark of his government’s ideological legacy.

  11. See Lowndes and Pratchett (2012) on the Coalition’s 2010 spending review. On the narrative of austerity, see Gamble (2015), Hay (2013) and Clarke & Newman (2012). Additionally, see Levitas (2012) and Cooper & Whyte (2017) for critical accounts.

  12. See also Bryant (2010, p.256) on Brown’s conception of Britishness.

  13. See his argument regarding an EU directive about diabetic drivers.

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  1. Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Mike Bolt

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Bolt, M. Britain, Britishness, and exceptionalism within the rhetoric of David Cameron. Br Polit 18, 128–146 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-022-00203-0

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