Even Leave voters struggle to point to the benefits
Today marks the five year anniversary since Britain left the European Union. YouGov polling from earlier this week has shown that 55% of Britons say the nation was wrong to vote to leave in 2016, with the same number saying they would support rejoining the EU, and just 11% saying that Brexit has been more of a success than a failure.
Now a separate new YouGov survey takes a more specific look at what Britons think the impact of Brexit has been.
Vote Leave famously campaigned on a promise to “take back control”, and of the 18 different areas we asked about, this is the one where Britons are most likely to say Brexit has had a positive impact. Nevertheless, this still only amounts to 31% of the public believing that leaving the EU has been a boon for “the control that the UK has over its own laws” – just as many think it has made no impact in this regard (35%), while a further 21% suggest Brexit has had a negative impact on British sovereignty.
A quarter of Britons (23%) also believe that Brexit had a positive impact on Britain’s ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, although more still think it had a negative impact (30%), and a further 32% think it didn’t make a difference.
In no other area do more than 11% of Britons believe Brexit has been beneficial.
In terms of where Britons are most likely to think that Brexit has had a negative impact, economic considerations come top. Two thirds of the public (67%) say Brexit has been detrimental to the cost of living, while 65% say it has had a negative effect on the economy, and 64% think it has been bad for British businesses.
A similar number also see Brexit as having harmed the UK’s diplomatic standing in Europe (61%), with 52% saying the same about our diplomatic reputation in the wider world.
While the Vote Leave bus famously promised extra cash for the NHS, five years on 52% of Britons think Brexit has been bad for the health service, compared to only 6% who think it has brought improvement.
When it comes to the impact that Britons have felt from Brexit personally, just 8% say that it has had a positive effect on them. Almost half (45%) say that Britain leaving the EU has had a negative impact on them, while 38% say they haven’t felt any impact either way.
Fewer than half of Leave voters find any positive aspect of Brexit
Leave voters are naturally more enthusiastic about the impact of Brexit to date, but even then, fewer than half of those who voted to exit the European Union in 2016 can point to a positive outcome in any area.
As with the wider public, the most favourable consequences of Brexit to Leave voters have been control over UK laws and the pandemic response, but this still only comes to 45% and 40% respectively saying either has seen a positive impact.
After that, only 23% of Leave voters think Brexit has resulted improved levels of UK international trade – another key benefit touted by Leave campaigners during the referendum campaign – with positivity declining from there.
Leave voters are most dissatisfied with the outcome Brexit has had on immigration levels, with 50% saying it has had a negative impact.
Most Leave voters say they haven’t felt any personal impact from Brexit (57%), with most of the remainder evenly split between the 17% who have felt a positive impact and the 19% who feel negatively affected.
When it comes to 2024 voters, sentiment splits predictably along party lines, with Labour and Lib Dem voters more likely to take a negative view of Brexit than their Conservative and Reform UK counterparts.
Full tables coming later today
How do you feel about how Brexit has gone, our future relationship with the EU in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
