Parliamentary storytelling: a new concept in public engagement with parliaments

This article focuses on the UK Parliament’s recent efforts to engage citizens: specifically, the use of storytelling techniques to represent Parliament as a relevant and relatable institution. The use of these techniques is very recent within parliamentary engagement which, in its own right, is a relatively new addition to Parliament’s functions and activities. Building on theories of parliamentary engagement, representation, and narratology, we construct a new conceptual framework of ‘parliamentary storytelling’ through which these recent engagement efforts can be understood and examined. In demonstrating the utility of this framework, we analyse three contemporaneous case studies according to five key components (and the dynamic between them): storyteller, narrator, characters, plot, and audience. In facilitating this unprecedented depth of analysis, the ‘parliamentary storytelling’ framework is relevant beyond the UK Parliament, and applicable to any legislatures intending to enhance – and more comprehensively understand – their own public engagement practice.