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Why did Britain Vote to Leave the European Union?

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 September 2017
DOI10.1177/2041905817726906
AuthorPaul Whiteley
Published date01 September 2017
38 POLITICAL INSIGHT • SEPTEMBER 2017
56 –
52 –
48 –
44 –
40 –
36 –
32 –
%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
48
42
49
37
43
42
2010 Election 2010 Election
– APPROVE – DISAPPROVE
The most striking feature of the
referendum on UK membership
of the European Union in June
2016 was the importance of the
timing of the vote. British attitudes to the
EU have been anything but stable over time
(see Figure 1). Had the vote taken place in
the mid-term of the Coalition government,
say in 2012, Brexit would have been
endorsed by a landslide. But had it taken
place three years later on the same day as
the 2015 General Election, Brexit would
probably have been rejected. As a result we
would not be now negotiating with Brussels
over our departure from the EU.
Explaining Brexit
Why this volatility in attitudes towards the
Why did Britain
Vote to Leave the
European Union?
The 2016 Brexit vote transformed UK politics. But why did Britons decide to leave the EU? Paul Whiteley
argues that the result was a product of various long- and short-term factors, including the power of political
personalities and, most crucially, timing.
Political Insight Sept2017.indd 38 21/07/2017 11:58

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