The Teeming Mass: Accentism

While Essex, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Birmingham Yardley are three constituencies with seemingly little in common, they are all currently represented by female politicians who have experienced accentism, accent-based discrimination. This remains a largely accepted prejudice, with those belonging to marginalised groups, including women, often becoming its victims. Despite belonging to different political parties, and representing different constituencies across the U.K., Jess Phillips, Angela Rayner, and Priti Patel have all been targeted, showing how these criticisms transcend political bias. While these views appear to criticise language, they are in reality about far more.

“rather weird”, “fake”, and, “EXTREMELY irritating and affected” are just three of many descriptions of Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel’s language. Her accent has faced criticism on Twitter after she had led a Coronavirus daily briefing. Many people have commented on her use of ‘g-dropping’, a non-standard speech feature seen in words such as ‘working’ and ‘driving’. Her use of ‘g-dropping’, despite the criticism it has faced on Twitter, is present in a variety of U.K. accents and importantly, there is nothing linguistically inferior about this pronunciation. The feature is one of many which allows Patel to use her language to represent herself and express her identity, reflecting her idiosyncratic relationship with language, as even speakers of the same language experience variation and diversity. Accentism, despite its normalisation, has deeply damaging effects and these judgements are about more than just Patel’s language, they offer a way of acceptably criticising her identity. Patel is not the only politician facing these persistent comments either, Angela Rayner’s accent has been referred to as “awful”, “thick” and “dim witted”, while Jess Phillips’ has been labelled “fake” and “highly affected”. Disappointingly, these comments are easily accessible and numerous, a clear example of the persistent online abuse politicians face. No one should have to experience this, yet by retaining a positive attitude and continuing in politics these women really show how strongly they feel about representing their constituencies and having their voices heard.

Unfortunately, Jess Phillips, Angela Rayner, and Priti Patel are not the only politicians facing judgement for their use of language, likewise, this is not a solely female issue. In 2018, Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards was subjected to mockery in the commons due to his Welsh accent, behaviour which he suggested served to “reinforce the privileged and exclusive perception of Westminster politics”. However, no other Conservative politician leading the Coronavirus daily briefings has been met with such backlash as Patel, suggesting the comments on her voice have much more negative undertones, as the same comments have not been made about her Conservative male counterparts. Jess Phillips, in her maiden parliamentary speech in 2015 suggested a Birmingham accent in the commons “is a very rare thing” highlighting the perceived homogeneity of British politics and presenting the need for more positive representations of regional varieties, both in politics and in wider society. Despite facing frequent accentism, Angela Rayner has shown a celebratory attitude towards regional varieties, much like the descriptive approach adopted by modern linguists. Her regional pride allows her to identify with her constituents in a way that an RP speaker with a constituency of regional speakers cannot. In the face of accentism, politicians with regional accents continue to use their voices to represent and empower their constituents. While I am not from Birmingham, I’m from a small town in the West Midlands, hearing Jess Phillips speak really resonates with me as she speaks with an accent that I grew up around, rather than the RP typically associated with Westminster.

These views, while superficially criticising language, also comment on identity. They aim to shame speakers with regional accents, which are described in terms of their intelligence, creating the suggestion that despite being accomplished politicians, both Angela Rayner and Jess Phillips are unintelligent. Accentism relies on perceptions of different accents, and YouGov polls continue to suggest that the Birmingham accent and other regional varieties are viewed far less favourably when compared to Received Pronunciation. Linguist Rob Drummond suggests "If you just exchange accent for something to do with ethnicity or gender or sexuality, you can see how wrong it is." showing how the routine shaming of regional speakers has no place in a diverse, multicultural society. Additionally, criticising a politician’s accent alienates their constituents as it implies regional speakers, speakers like them, do not belong in parliament or politics generally. This criticism suggests regional speakers are outsiders, showing how, despite diversity increasing in politics, the perceptions of parliament as an elite group remain. However, the accent typically associated with politics and power, Received Pronunciation, is spoken by less than three percent of the U.K. population. It should not be entirely disregarded, as it still represents a group of people, but if we wish to remove the ingrained biases against certain accents, challenging those who shame speakers and the elevated status of Received Pronunciation is incredibly important.

The U.K. hosts a rich variety of accents and parliament, as a representation of the population, should reflect this diversity. Emma Lewell-Buck, South Shield’s Labour MP, suggested the increased variety in Westminster “makes it a more vibrant Parliament. It makes it sound like the country it represents a bit more”. By challenging prescriptive views when we encounter them and supporting speakers of all accents, we can all help to decrease the acceptability of accentism. Rather than condemning and judging non-standard varieties negatively, the linguistic diversity of English should be celebrated!