23 November 2018
In a forthcoming paper, my colleagues and I report the results of a study comparing levels of EU knowledge among Leave voters and Remain voters. We gave a 15-item EU knowledge quiz to nationally representative sample of the British population via an online survey. Our quiz comprised 9 ‘ideologically neutral’ items, as well as 6 […]
10 July 2018
Do voters know what they are doing? This is a question that is often asked about referendums, not least by those who doubt voters’ ability to grapple with major issues of policy. Since the EU referendum it has, perhaps, been regarded as a particularly pressing question by some on the Remain side. For example, the […]
7 June 2018
When the outcome of the EU referendum was announced, it looked at first glance as though it represented a golden opportunity for the nationalist movement. The divergence between the majority Remain vote in Scotland and the majority Leave vote across the UK as a whole provided what must have seemed to nationalists like a perfect illustration […]
18 December 2017
Despite the apparent ambiguity in the stances on Brexit adopted by the Conservatives and Labour during the EU referendum, it appears that voters’ views about Brexit did influence how people voted in the 2017 election. This had implications for the values that were reflected in how people voted.
28 June 2017
It has been a long time a-coming, but the publication today of the latest British Social Attitudes report means that a significant and unique source of evidence on who did and who did not vote in the EU referendum has now finally been unveiled. Turnout was relatively high in the EU referendum. At 72%, it […]
7 June 2017
This was meant to be the Brexit election. In calling tomorrow’s ballot the Prime Minister indicated that she was seeking to strengthen her hand in the Brexit negotiations by securing a significantly larger majority than her party had in the last parliament, thereby providing her with some insulation against the risk that the House of […]
18 May 2017
Until now, at least, it has not received a great deal of attention, but quietly Labour’s position in the opinion polls has strengthened during the course of the election campaign so far. In seven polls conducted in the three days immediately following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 18 April that she wished to hold an […]
21 February 2017
One of the intriguing and important questions about the fallout from the EU referendum is whether it will serve to reshape British party politics. Both UKIP (in the pro-Brexit camp) and the Liberal Democrats (in the anti-Brexit one) are making their very different perspectives on whether and how we should leave the EU the corner […]
16 February 2017
Two by-elections next week in historically safe Labour seats are generating more than the usual level of interest for such contests. The principal opposition party rarely loses a seat it is defending in a by-election – it has only happened six times since 1979. Yet it is being seriously suggested that the Labour party could lose […]
23 December 2016
Britain’s voters did not just surprise many a commentator on June 23rd – they also surprised themselves. In one poll conducted on referendum day itself Lord Ashcroft found that 70% reckoned Remain would win and only 30% that Leave would do so, while in another YouGov ascertained that 52% expected Remain to win and only […]
