Pragmatic and performative populism across the 2015, 2017 and 2019 UK general electionsTools Tindall, Callum (2025) Pragmatic and performative populism across the 2015, 2017 and 2019 UK general elections. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
AbstractPopulist parties have made significant progress worldwide. However, despite populism’s electoral growth and extensive literature, there remains no consensus on its definition. This lack of clarity presents a key research puzzle: How can a single, unified theoretical approach address the shortcomings of existing approaches and encompass all the nuances of populism? To tackle this question, I build on current studies to create a comprehensive framework for analysing both core and peripheral themes of populism. While the term populism generates considerable debate, key themes persist within the progressive theoretical framework. The framework analyses the prevalence of populism in political parties and their leaders’ political discourse. I identify two types of populism: pragmatic populism, which utilises only populism’s core features, and performative populism, which incorporates both core and peripheral features of populism. I apply the framework through an in-depth discourse analysis, examining the extent to which populism is present in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 UK General Elections. I consider the variation among the Conservatives, Labour, and UKIP/Brexit Party (BXP), alongside changes across elections. The findings indicate that populism is prevalent in both UKIP/BXP and Labour discourse, while the Conservatives exhibit limited populist elite antagonism. While populism increases across elections for Labour and the
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