Majority of Britons now say Brexit was the wrong decision: Polls

A majority of Britons now believe the UK was wrong to leave the European Union, while several recent polls also show support for rejoining the bloc – though the strength of that support varies depending on how the question is asked.

The findings, highlighted by Independent in a recent report, come a decade after the UK's 2016 Brexit referendum.

A YouGov poll conducted on 2-3 June found that 57% of Britons believed the UK had made the wrong decision by voting to leave the EU, while 30% said it had made the right decision.

The share saying Brexit was the wrong choice has remained above 50% in YouGov's tracking since July 2022.

The latest figures also show a sharp divide between those who voted Leave and Remain in 2016. Among Leave voters, 64% still believe the decision was right, while 23% now say it was wrong. Among Remain voters, 89% say the decision was wrong and 6% say it was right.

Party support also remains closely associated with views on Brexit. Eighty per cent of people who voted for Reform UK in the 2024 general election said leaving the EU was the right decision, compared with 56% of Conservative voters.

The corresponding figures were 13% among Labour voters, 13% among Liberal Democrat voters and 10% among Green voters.

What about rejoining?

Support for actually rejoining the EU is less straightforward.

YouGov's June poll found that 55% of Britons supported the UK rejoining the EU, compared with 34% who opposed it.

However, support dropped sharply when respondents were told that rejoining would mean giving up the opt-outs the UK previously had as an EU member. Under that scenario, support fell to 35%, while opposition rose to 43%.

This distinction is significant because the wording of polling questions can produce substantially different results.

An Ipsos poll conducted among 1,137 British adults between 14 and 20 May found that 52% believed the UK should apply to rejoin the EU, while 33% thought it should remain outside.

When asked how they would vote in a hypothetical referendum, 58% of likely voters said they would support applying to rejoin, compared with 37% who would vote to stay out.

Age is another major dividing line in the Ipsos findings. Support for applying to rejoin stood at 68% among 18-34-year-olds, 58% among those aged 35-54 and 37% among people aged 55 and over.

Party differences were also pronounced, with support for rejoining highest among Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green supporters, while it was considerably lower among Conservative and Reform UK supporters.

Closer ties or full membership?

Polling suggests that support for closer ties with the EU may be broader than support for full membership.

YouGov found that 59% supported a closer relationship with the EU without rejoining the bloc, the single market or the customs union, while 20% opposed such an arrangement.

That helps explain why different surveys can produce apparently contradictory findings. A respondent may favour a closer relationship with Brussels while opposing full EU membership, particularly if rejoining is presented as requiring the UK to accept policies it previously opted out of.

The polling therefore points to a shift in British attitudes towards Brexit, but it does not establish a single, settled public position on what the UK's future relationship with the EU should look like.

What is clearer is that the question has changed since the 2016 referendum: while the UK remains outside the EU, a majority in several recent surveys now say leaving was the wrong decision, and substantial shares of the public express support for either rejoining or establishing closer ties with the bloc.