18 May 2021
Brexit may be done, but it continues to shape the pattern of voting behaviour in England. That was a clear message from the results of the double round of local and mayoral elections held on May 6. It should not have come as a surprise. As we wrote before the elections, during the last twelve […]
12 December 2020
It might seem a rather unusual question. How can an election be adjudged a success or a failure? Or at least are we unlikely to discover anything other than the banal conclusion that the winners think it was a success, while the losers prefer to live in hope that they might do better another day? […]
8 October 2020
Today sees the publication of two chapters on Brexit as part of the latest British Social Attitudes report. One examines the legacy of Brexit, that is, the impact that the process of leaving has had on our attitudes towards how we are governed. The other looks at what people hope Brexit will bring in future, […]
19 August 2020
It is now just over a year since Boris Johnson was elected Leader of the Conservative Party and became Prime Minister. The issue of Brexit was a key component of his leadership campaign, with him promising to ‘Get Brexit done’ and have the UK formally leave the EU by 31st October. Whether and how Brexit […]
7 May 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has come to dominate the political agenda. As a result, after three years of rarely being out of the headlines, Brexit is now barely mentioned, even though much remains to be settled so far as the UK’s future relationship with the EU is concerned. Meanwhile, far from being an issue on which […]
15 April 2020
For the first time since the EU referendum, Brexit has gone on the backburner of media attention as the UK endeavours to get on top of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet there are still decisions to be made. As things currently stand, the transition period, under which the UK continues to be part of the EU […]
19 December 2019
One key feature of the 2017 election was that the Conservatives gained ground among those who voted Leave while the party lost support among those who backed Remain. At the same time, Labour advanced more strongly among Remain voters than Leave supporters. But what happened in the 2019 election? Did those trends continue yet further […]
11 December 2019
We argued at the beginning of the election campaign that Brexit seemed set to play a key role in shaping voters’ choices. At that point, the polls suggested that those who voted Leave were for the most part saying they intended to vote for the Conservatives or the Brexit Party, while those who voted Remain […]
8 November 2019
The election on December 12th has been occasioned by the difficulties and divisions that have arisen in the House of Commons as it has endeavoured to deal with the UK’s proposed withdrawal from the EU during the last twelve months. The Prime Minister is seeking a mandate to ‘get Brexit done’, while the opposition parties […]
3 October 2019
The Brexit negotiations have now entered the endgame. Boris Johnson’s government has put forward proposals to replace the Northern Ireland backstop that was the principal reason why MPs rejected the withdrawal treaty that Mrs May had negotiated. The government hopes that its proposals will form the basis for a revised agreement that will enable the […]
