Most Britons see Brexit as having been more of a failure than a success, but they tend not to see trying to return as a priority
23 June marks nine years since the UK voted to leave the European Union. YouGov polling has long since shown that the public are ‘Bregretful’ about that outcome, with our latest survey showing 56% think it was wrong for Britain to vote to leave the EU.
Only 31% continue to say this was the right decision, although two thirds of Leave voters (68%) still believe they made the right choice.
Who do Britons blame for Brexit going badly?
Most Britons say that Brexit has been more of a failure than a success (61%), with 20% saying it has neither been a success nor failure and 13% seeing it as more of a success.
But who do those Britons who see Brexit as a failure blame for this? The Conservative party and Boris Johnson top the list, with 88% and 84% respectively laying the blame at their door.
Two thirds attribute blame to prime ministers Theresa May (66%) and Rishi Sunak (64%), with a similar number saying so for Nigel Farage (67%).
One in three (37%) blame the European Union for Brexit going badly, including 60% of Leave voters.
Keir Starmer (28%) and Labour (39%) come in for less blame, as do the UK civil service (30%).
Blame for Keir Starmer and Labour, the civil service, and the EU is higher among Conservative, Reform and Leave voters, although it is worth noting that only around a third of these groups say (or are willing to admit) that Brexit has been a failure so far. In any case, even among these voters, Boris Johnson and the Conservatives still take the largest portion of blame for Brexit going badly.
What kind of future relationships with the EU would Britons support?
With Brexit widely seen as having been more of a failure, it is no surprise to see that almost two thirds of Britons now want to see a closer relationship with the European Union (65%) – a stance that is popular across all main parties (51-78%), as well as among Leave voters (60%).
Indeed, most Britons want to see the UK return to the EU (56%), although this does not include many of those who voted to leave it in the first place (24%) or among the Tory (28%) and Reform UK electorates (16%).
Is returning to the EU a priority?
While most Britons may support a return to the EU, they are less convinced that it is a priority at the current time. More than four in ten (44%) said attempting a ‘Breturn’ would be the wrong priority for the government at the current time when balanced against the other issues the UK currently faces, compared to 37% who believe it would be the right priority.
A YouGov survey conducted in August of last year found that neither Britons nor Labour’s own voters believed that the new government had been given a mandate to bring the UK back into the EU.
However, the majority of those who elected this government last year say that rejoining the EU is the right priority (56%), as do similar numbers of Green (59%) and Lib Dem (55%) voters. Only between 25-30% of these voters think attempting to rejoin is the wrong priority at the current time.
When should there be another referendum?
Britons divide on whether or not there should be a rejoin referendum in the next five years, with 45% saying there should, but 42% saying there should not.
Extending the timeframe to the next 10 years sees a more convincing lead in favour of a referendum, with 49% now saying there should be and only 34% now saying there should not.
Over a 25-year timeframe, the pro-referendum side now doubles the anti-, with 52% saying there should be a referendum by this point compared to 26% who continue to disagree.
How do you feel about how Brexit has gone, what the future relationship with the EU should look like, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
