A Family Affair: The Uses and Abuses of Vicarious Identity in Political Rhetoric During the 2024 General Election

Abstract The 2024 UK general election saw candidates make frequent rhetorical references to parents and grandparents. But what are the political functions and implications of such references? Drawing together recent research in political psychology and sociology, this article interprets such references as attempts to articulate ‘vicarious identities’, with politicians using family connections to emphasise their authentic credentials in relation to salient issues and signifiers (for example, class and military identity), especially when their first‐hand credentials are lacking or difficult to communicate. While vicarious identification can be a tempting strategy, it also entails risks: its overuse can risk conveying inauthenticity and, to the extent that ancestral connection is viewed as an anchor for national belonging, vicarious identities—and their absence—can be weaponised in exclusionary ways. Thus, I call for reflection on their usage to avoid exacerbating political disaffection and division.