Exploring Impoliteness in Prime Minister’s Questions Through the Lens of the PMQ Topic

Abstract

Prime Minister’s Questions are noted, and indeed notorious, for their adversarial and aggressive “Punch and Judy” exchanges. Seeking to complement existing research, this project has examined the various types of impoliteness in PMQs, their functions, the different ways of responding to them, and how they are emphasised both through verbal rhetoric and non-verbal behaviour, all viewed through the lens of the PMQ topic, during the last year of Johnson’s premiership. Topics have been classified as relating to policy issues or to personal characteristics, with the overall research question for this study asking:
How, if at all, does impoliteness in PMQ exchanges between Starmer and Johnson vary during the period September 2021 to July 2022, depending on whether the PMQ topic relates to policy issues or personal characteristics?
To answer this question, a detailed coding protocol covering over forty elements was developed to guide the coding and analysis of the twenty-eight PMQs in this study. Examination of the hypothesis that both impoliteness and accentuation would be greater in PMQs focused on personal characteristics (particularly integrity), than those focused on policy issues (particularly the economy), produced some anomalous results. Through quantitative and qualitative review, these anomalies, were found to be largely attributable to Johnson’s unexpected verbal and non-verbal restraint when dealing with integrity topics, perhaps in an attempt to manage public opinion.
Under the rowdiness of PMQs lies their most important purpose: holding the Prime Minister to account for his and his government’s actions. In the context of Johnson’s resignation and the media coverage of “Partygate”, as well as of other issues raised in the PMQs in this research, this study has also considered the potential impact of PMQ impoliteness on political outcomes during the period under review, and whether the PMQ “pantomime” hinders or may, on the contrary, help achieve that ultimate purpose.

Date of Award	17 Apr 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Helen Ringrow (Supervisor), Glenn Hadikin (Supervisor) & Lee Oakley (Supervisor)