The United Kingdom’s Rejoin movement: A post-Brexit analysis of framing strategies

Abstract

Within the growing body of work on post-Brexit politics, there is a notable absence of research on pro-European activism. Although anti-Brexit activism received attention in the aftermath of the 2016 referendum, its development following the UK’s departure from the EU remains underexplored. This article addresses this gap by using discourse network analysis to examine posts authored by National Rejoin March speakers and organisers on X (formerly Twitter). Analysing the framing strategies of the post-2020 Rejoin movement, the article delineates existing conceptualisations of diagnostic and prognostic framing tasks by focusing on four key components: grievances, perpetrators, solutions, and strategy. The findings reflect the Rejoin movement’s emergence from the anti-Brexit movement, now advocating for EU membership in a post-Brexit context. Although economic grievances and anti-Conservative sentiment continue to dominate the movement’s framing, Rejoin placed a greater emphasis on solutions offered by the EU. Despite this, the movement displayed a lack of coherence in addressing key issues including free movement and democracy, both of which had been problematic for previous pro-European campaigns. This lack of coherence underscores the ongoing challenges in crafting a unified and compelling pro-European narrative within an evolving post-Brexit political landscape.