Brexit: Why Did It Happen and What Can We Learn from It?

Abstract

There is no doubt that Brexit is a matter worthy of academic investigation: the future of the U.K. outside the EU is uncertain three years on from the referendum. This paper investigates why a majority of the British population voted Leave with such certainty nonetheless, and finds Brexit’s success to be due to a perfect combination of factors. Historical skepticism conflated with present-day circumstances such as the Syrian Refugee Crisis, while demographic trends give weight to relationships between age, ethnicity, and education – all correlating with voters’ propensity to vote Leave. Yet, Parliamentary transcripts complicate these findings by proving a real economic motivation to leave the EU on both sides of the political spectrum. Comparisons with the 2016 U.S. presidential election through John Sides’ ‘Identity Crisis’ reveal his findings to be mimetic to the British case, uncovering a key idea that voters prioritize their group’s interest before self-interest, illustrated by the example of Sunderland.