The Johnson factor: British national identity and Boris Johnson

Identity matters in British politics. This article builds on previous research on both ethnocentric voting and studies of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's leadership to argue that, between entering the House of Commons in May 2015 and resigning as Foreign Secretary in July 2018, Johnson did not personally use language in his writing or speeches that appealed to ethnocentric voters. Instead, using a corpus analysis of Johnson's representation in three national right-of-centre newspapers, this article demonstrates that he was linked to an uncritical, nationalistic and nostalgic vision of Britain by two of those newspapers (The Sun and The Daily Mail). Johnson was the beneficiary of this link, allowing him to appeal to ethnocentric voters on both sides of the political divide without himself having to use inflammatory or divisive language to make his appeal.