Barnaby Lane
Economist. Pro-Europe, Pro-BrexitUpdated 2y
Brexit is very popular. It’s hard to find an issue on which there’s anything approaching 50% support but Brexit is one. The Conservatives won not despite, but precisely because of the deep popularity of Brexit.
Brexit proved so popular in fact, that people were prepared to break habits of a lifetime, just to secure it. Enough to swing the election for the Conservatives. People who had never voted Conservative in their lives, did so in this election, because of Brexit. They saw the Conservatives as the only way to get it.
Labour’s fence sitting on Brexit didn’t convince them. People cared about Brexit much more than they cared about Labour. Part of the reason for Labour’s undoing in this election was the popularity of Brexit.
General elections are always about multiple issues. You can always find something about the winning government that is unpopular. If Labour had got in, the most glaringly, obviously unpopular thing would have been the Prime Minister, Jeremy Corbyn.
Faced with a choice between a popular issue like Brexit and an unpopular leader like Jeremy Corbyn, the real surprise here is that anyone’s surprised about the outcome.
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