Narrating One Nation: The Ideology and Rhetoric of the Miliband Labour Party

Abstract

Speaking at the 2012 Labour Party Conference, Ed Miliband set out his vision of ‘One Nation’. This article maps the core concepts of Labour's ideology and identifies the narratives used to argue for One Nation social security reform. It locates these narratives within Labour's traditions and demonstrates that they coalesce in the leadership persona of Miliband himself. Though an attempt to respond to a populist ‘rhetorical culture’, the article contends that this strategy has created a self-enclosed ideology that cannot conceive of an audience beyond itself. Labour therefore needs to overcome this solipsism if it is to secure victory in 2015.