Ethnic minority MPs, Conservative Party modernisation, and post-Brexit narratives of Global Britain

Since 2016, the ‘rhetoric of ‘Global Britain’ has assumed a central position in Conservative Party attempts to articulate a post-Brexit vision. This article identifies and examines four key narratives of Global Britain – cultural, affective, functionalist, and idealised – spotlighting the interventions of ethnic minority MPs (excluding white minorities). It does so as a notable and hitherto largely overlooked legacy of the Conservative modernisation agenda pursued by David Cameron (2005–2016) was the diversified composition of the parliamentary party, which significantly enhanced the descriptive representation of ethnic minorities. Although these ethnic minority MPs were showcased as symbols of Conservative modernisation, their presence did not serve to reinforce modernisation in ideological terms (i.e. in a liberal direction). Instead, ethnic minority MPs played an important role in projecting a set of Conservative political and cultural values through the rhetoric of Global Britain, helping shape the parameters of contemporary British conservatism.