The space between leave and remain: archetypal positions of British parliamentarians on Brexit

Brexit has caused a chasmic divide in the UK. Voters and Parliament are divided, as are the UK’s major political parties. Such divisions may not be so surprising, however, given that Brexit crosses traditional party lines. Preferences to leave or remain do not fit neatly onto the traditional Left/Right dimension. Instead, the idea that European integration constitutes a new dimension in party competition has been gaining ground. This article creates a typology of Brexit ‘clusters’ through a discourse analysis of Conservative and Labour MPs, building an intricate picture of the archetypal positions of parliamentarians during the cacophonous Brexit period. Six clusters of MPs are found, crossing party lines and indicating that a Europe-related dimension is taking hold in British politics. Proposals for future research using the typology are also put forward.