'Getting behind the image': personality politics in a Labour party election broadcast

Abstract

The article examines a Labour party broadcast from the 1997 UK general election. I show how the film uses the conventions of a particular mode of contemporary documentary to present a portrait of Tony Blair. My main focus is on the way Blair's 'biography' is used for propaganda purposes, and how the tensions between the competing requirements of biography and propaganda manifest themselves textually. In particular, I examine Blair's strategic use of lifeworld discourses, and the role of pronominal choice in 'self' and 'other' referencing.