Support for different EU trading relationships in the UK 2023

Over seven years since the Brexit referendum of 2016, Britons are still divided on what they think their relationship with Europe should be. Approximately 31 percent of voters would vote to rejoin the EU, the most popular option, while 30 percent of voters like to increase the trading relationship with the EU without joining the single market. While eleven percent of people wanted to only join the single market, just ten percent were happy with the current relationship, and nine percent wanted to reduce the UK's ties with the EU even further. 

Most voters now regret Brexit

Despite people in the UK struggling to agree on what the UK/EU relationship should look like, a growing majority have started to regret Brexit. When asked if they thought Brexit was the wrong decision, in April 2021, 46 percent of Britons thought it was the right decision, compared with 43 percent who thought it was the wrong decision. Three years later, in April 2024, the share of people who thought Brexit was the wrong decision had increased to 57 percent, while the share who thought it was the correct decision had fallen to just 33 percent.

Brexit and the next UK election

The next UK general election is scheduled to take place at some point before the end of January 2025. Unlike the 2019 general election, where Brexit was arguably the main issue for voters, it is set to play a far more subdued role in the next election. In the same month as the 2019 election, leaving the EU was seen by 62 percent of voters as the main issue facing the UK. As of May 2024, just 14 percent of voters thought Brexit was an important issue, compared with 49 percent who saw the economy as the main issue.