A Rhetorical Political Analysis of Theresa May’s Statecraft on Brexit

By way of Rhetorical Political Analysis, this article argues that May’s rhetoric on Brexit undermined her statecraft and with it her capacity to deliver Britain’s departure from the European Union. Utilising Jim Bulpitt’s (1986) conception of statecraft, our analysis reveals how May’s rhetoric prioritised party management and the politics of support, but in so doing yielded political argument hegemony to Brexiteers, impeding the passing of her Brexit deal and damaging her capacity for governing competence. We evidence these arguments by analysing the appeals to ethos, pathos and logos in May’s key speeches between July 2016 and July 2019, ranging from her first as Prime Minister to her last.