How do we challenge our politicians?
What is it about?
There is a long-standing tradition of members of the public openly challenging politicians (think: throwing milkshakes, heckling and even trolling online), but what happens when a member of the public 'trolls' or antagonises a politician face-to-face? We analyse an argument about Brexit between a member of the public and Conservative MP David Davies to find out.
Why is it important?
Our findings show what 'trolling' in person looks like. We argue that the member of the public provokes the politician by manoeuvring their identity so that they are never on the same side of the argument. This is known as 'partitioning', a strategy whereby people can rhetorically divide or change who they are. For example, upon discovering that they are both pro-Brexit, the member of the public instead challenges David Davies for not being a ‘real’ Brexiteer, and when that doesn't work, for his apparent failure in his duties as a member of parliament. Altogether we show that public disputes are less about political issues and more about who wins and who loses the argument.