Famous Last Words - A Comparative Focus on Resignation Speeches to Trace Contemporary European Instability: The Cases of David Cameron and Matteo Renzi

In 2016, the governing coalitions of two European countries each held a public referendum which resulted in the resignation of their celebrity leader. The British Prime Minister David Cameron quit after the “Leave” campaign won the Brexit vote in June. A few months later, in December, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned as well, following the negative outcome of the Italian Constitutional referendum. Several media platforms broadcast their speeches in real time, marking the political fall of both leaders, precipitating a transition in power in their respective democracies and threatening the stability of the European Union.
In the light of the growing interest about the rise and impact of celebrity politicians, [see e.g. Street, 2004; Wheeler, 2013], this article provides a comparative insight into both Cameron and Renzi’s resignation ceremonies as key moments of tracing their downfall under the media spotlight - from high office to civilian life once more. Combining speech-writing and screenwriting tools in conjunction with celebrity studies, this paper investigates the ways in which a resignation ceremony marks the exact fall of an institutional representative; what words and communication strategy are used to preserve political stability and, finally, what celebrity politicians’ resignation speeches can tell us about the future of European leadership.