Can’t answer? Won’t answer? An analysis of equivocal responses by Theresa May in Prime Minister’s Questions

Bull, P; Strawson, W

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether typologies devised for the analy-sis of equivocation in broadcast political interviews could be usefully extended tothe analysis of equivocation in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). The study wasbased on the 23 sessions of PMQs held during Theresa May’s first term of office(July 2016 to April 2017). Results showed that May’s mean reply rate to questionsfrom Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn was just 11%, and that her distinctive equiv-ocation style was essentially covert, characterised primarily by ignoring questions,modifying questions, stating or implying that she had already answered ques-tions and acknowledging questions without answering them

Citation

Bull, P., & Strawson, W. (2020). Can’t answer? Won’t answer? An analysis of equivocal responses by Theresa May in Prime Minister’s Questions. Parliamentary Affairs, 73(2), 429-449. https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsz003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Feb 6, 2019
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 25, 2019
• Journal: Parliamentary Affairs
• Print ISSN: 0031-2290
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Volume: 73
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 429-449
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsz003
• Keywords: Sociology and Political Science, Law
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsz003
• Related Public URLs: https://academic.oup.com/pa
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** Article version: VoR ** From Crossref via Jisc Publications Router **Journal IDs: pissn 0031-2290; eissn 1460-2482 **History: issued 06-02-2019; published_online 06-02-2019 **License for this article: starting on 07-02-2019, , https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model