Is Brexit Over? Lessons from the Electoral Geography of the Local Elections

12 May 2023 Comment The Brexit process

Previously we have examined the extent to which the relationship between attitudes towards Brexit and party support has changed since 2019, when most Leave voters backed the Conservatives and most Remain supporters did not. We noted that support for the Conservatives has collapsed among those who voted Leave in 2016, while support for Labour has […]



Is The Brexit Debate Really Over? Perhaps Not

10 March 2023 Comment The Brexit process

For the most part, politicians on both sides of the Brexit debate have decided that the decision made seven years ago is not for turning. Not only do the Conservatives, who implemented Brexit, take that view but Labour spokespersons also state that the decision to leave has been taken and should not be revisited. Meanwhile, […]


Soft or Hard Brexit? Depends on How You Ask Us

10 March 2023 Comment What should Brexit mean?

The conclusion of a new agreement between the UK and the EU on how the movement of goods between Great Britain (outside the single market) and Northern Ireland (inside) has fuelled speculation that it might pave the way for some softening of the UK’s relationship with the EU. Public attitudes towards some of the steps […]


Brexit and Party Support: Looking Through a Different Lens

3 February 2023 Comment The Brexit process

In recent blogs we have chartered how public opinion has swung away from backing Brexit, thanks not least to greater pessimism among Leave voters about the economic consequences of being outside the EU. Meanwhile, most Remain voters, though only a minority of Leave supporters, would like a closer relationship with the EU than that provided […]





How Might Voters React to a ‘Swiss-style’ Brexit?

20 December 2022 Comment What should Brexit mean?

A month ago, The Sunday Times ran a front-page story in which it claimed that ‘senior government figures are planning to put Britain on the path towards a Swiss-style relationship with the European Union’. Although outside the EU, a series of bilateral deals mean Switzerland has access to the single market and implements freedom of […]