How the ‘circus’ became the metaphor of choice in political rhetoric

The Circus by Georges Seurat (1891). Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

In his 2023 New Year’s Speech, Labour leader Keir Starmer reiterated his criticism of the “Tory circus” as he lamented the apparently unbreakable but entirely avoidable cycle of crises at Westminster. “Nothing has changed,” Starmer said, “but the circus moves on. Rinse and repeat.”

The performance metaphor has become one of Starmer’s stock insults of the Conservative party. He referred to his political opponent’s “ridiculous, chaotic circus” in an interview with Laura Kuenssberg in October 2022.