Britain First’s Online Narratives of National Identity

Abstract

This article explores how British extreme-right party Britain First conveys expressions and visions of national identity on social media platform X. The question of national identity in Britain has been central to public debate ever since Brexit revealed deep fractures and anxieties surrounding immigration, multiculturalism, and rising ethnic diversity. These debates largely happen online, where the far right is very active and finds in social media—driven by a logic of algorithmic amplification and emotional engagement—a particularly appropriate environment for the dissemination of divisive and abrasive content. With its strong emotional and symbolic dimension, national identity is an appealing theme for the far right to mobilize its audience far beyond its activist base. Using critical discourse analysis and drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Kohn’s distinction between civic and ethnic nationalism and Taggart’s notion of the “heartland,” this study analyses the language and visual content used by Britain First and its leader Paul Golding on X to convey a highly exclusionary vision and narrative of national identity grounded in a culturally and ethnically homogeneous conception of the nation.