Sara Hobolt / May 2026
Image: Shutterstock
As we approach the ten-year anniversary of the EU membership referendum, you might think that the divisions laid bare by Brexit are long gone. Brexit no longer dominates the headlines, and most politicians prefer not to utter the word. Even the prime instigator of Britain’s exit, Nigel Farage, is quiet on the subject as his Reform UK party leads in the polls.
Yet as it turns out, the British people are still very much divided along Brexit lines. New research demonstrates that almost two-thirds of voters continue to identify as either ‘leavers’ or ‘remainers’ to this day, and those identities that emerged in the context of the Brexit vote are more strongly held than traditional partisan identities.
At one level, this persistence of the Brexit divide is puzzling. Before 2016, the European Union was not a particularly salient issue for most voters. Only a tiny share of the public considered it an important issue. Attitudes towards the EU were often ambivalent, even indifferent. David Cameron chose to call the referendum not because the British people were clamouring for one but in a vain attempt to heal divisions within his own party. While British political elites had long been deeply divided over Europe, there were no clearly defined camps of passionate supporters and opponents in the wider population. And yet in a short space of time, the referendum created exactly that: two new political tribes, Remainers and Leavers.
Brexit referendum provided ideal conditions for such identities to form. First, it was a highly salient and contested issue, dominating political debate for years. Second, it forced people to take a side. Even those with weak or mixed views had to make a binary choice in the polling booth. Third, it cut across traditional party lines, meaning that existing partisan loyalties did not neatly absorb the divide.
Once these conditions were in place, identities formed rapidly. What had been a relatively low-salience issue became a marker of identity, something that defined “people like us” and “people like them”. Crucially, these identities proved remarkably resilient.
Why does this matter? Because political identities shape not only how we vote, but how we think and feel about politics and each other.
One consequence is the emergence of strong in-group loyalty and out-group hostility. People tend to view their own side of the Brexit divide as intelligent, honest and well-intentioned, while seeing the other side as misguided at best and, at worst, selfish and dishonest. In open-ended responses, voters describe the other side as “idiots” and “fools”. This is not just policy disagreement; it is prejudice. These attitudes spill over into everyday life. Experimental evidence shows that people are less willing to interact socially with those from the opposing Brexit camp. In other words, political divisions translate into social distance, which can act as echo chambers reinforcing polarised views.
Another important consequence is what psychologists call “motivated reasoning”. Once we identify with a group, we tend to interpret information in ways that reinforce our existing beliefs. The same economic facts can lead to very different conclusions depending on whether someone identifies as a Leaver or a Remainer. When prices go up, for example, Remainers are more likely to attribute that to Brexit, whereas Leavers blame other geopolitical factors. These differences are not always rooted in detailed knowledge. Many people struggle to name specific consequences of Brexit, yet remain firmly convinced that it has either benefitted or harmed the country.
In this sense, Brexit identities function much like loyalties associated with sports teams or nations. They provide a sense of belonging and pride, but they also encourage people to see the world through an ingroup lens.
This helps explain the central puzzle: why Brexit still matters ten years on. Even as the political agenda has shifted, the underlying divide remains. Few people have switched sides, and attitudes have, if anything, become more polarised over time.
This is also evident in voting behaviour. As the popularity of both Labour and the Conservatives plummets, Leavers flock to Reform, while Remainers seek refuge with the Greens and the Liberal Democrats. Hence, while the party political landscape looks increasingly fragmented, we are also witnessing the rise of two-bloc politics that resemble the Brexit divide.
Ten years on, the legacy of Brexit goes beyond economic and institutional consequences for Britain. It also led to the creation of new political tribes that continue to shape how people see politics, each other, and the country itself.
Brexit may have faded from the headlines. But the divisions it created are still very much with us.
