The Brexit Effect

I visited Yorkshire just before the referendum and was staggered by the anti Europe rhetoric spouted by my friends

halfpint1

I visited Yorkshire just before the referendum and was staggered by the anti Europe rhetoric spouted by my friends

Believe me it was not just Yorkshire, farmers who had benefitted considerably from the EU were overwhelmingly leave voters, despite the NFU leaders lobbying for remain. No logic no explanation and the prospect of cheap food imports.

nanna8

Funny how few people actually admit to voting to leave. Or who admit to voting Conservative. Maybe a little gnome changed all the votes in the middle of the night on behalf of the Brexiteers? My cousins in the UK voted to leave and said it was a North v South thing. They live in the North. My other London cousins voted to stay, more evolved, obviously.

No, it wasn't as simple as north/south. All areas of Essex voted to leave, although my area was borderline (50.7 leave/49.3 remain). The east of England voted overwhelmingly to leave.

The split in the farmer's vote wasn't 'overwhelming'. Yes, more voted Leave than Remain but the split more nearly reflected the national (far from overwhelming) split.

Farmers that I knew (NE) were in despair at the result.

I think the N/S divide is partly explained by the fact that the North had been well and truly left behind after Thatcher oversaw the destruction of their traditional industries. Northern Leave voters thought that things couldn't get much worse and the Leave campaigners were offering growth and prosperity.

Of course, we had our share of elderly 'We managed before we joined, we'll manage when we've left' Leave voters, but didn't everywhere?

I think the huge ‘give us our country back’ placards that we saw on many farms had a massive effect on the vote. To this day I shudder when I think back to seeing them.

volver

Thank you for answering GG13.

Of course your vote made a difference. Everybody's vote makes a difference, especially in a Yes/No referendum.

It did. However, just as you expect people to accept you voted the way you did, it should surely be the case that those who voted leave, are willing to admit it and explain why, should not then find themselves the object of a pile-on from the remain voters.

I have to say that, in my opinion, neither side showed themselves up well at the referendum. The Leave side lied and the Remain side were arrogant enough to believe they must win.

The middle ground is a very good place to be. You can draw from the good ideas from both sides and ignore the bad from either - once you have worked out which is which

halfpint1

I visited Yorkshire just before the referendum and was staggered by the anti Europe rhetoric spouted by my friends

It's a bit like burning witches. When people don't know or cannot change the reason why their life is not great they tend to find something/someone they can blame.

That doesn't make it right but an attempt to understand why these things happen might mean we can stop it in the future.

nanna8

Funny how few people actually admit to voting to leave. Or who admit to voting Conservative. Maybe a little gnome changed all the votes in the middle of the night on behalf of the Brexiteers? My cousins in the UK voted to leave and said it was a North v South thing. They live in the North. My other London cousins voted to stay, more evolved, obviously.

I think that if you go back over the various threads you will find that the people who supported Remain are still posting now. We have not changed our opinions. There are many former Brexiteers who are admitting to possibly having made a mistake and good for them.

Perhaps one reason for your London cousins voting to Remain was that they were better educated? After all, the North regarded the Southerners as being the metropolitan elite.

DaisyAnne I don't think that those who admitted they made a mistake when voting to leave are experiencing a pile on. All changes of heart are gratefully received.

Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle voted to remain too. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain.

It was more complicated than simply North vs South.

The dividing lines included age, highest educational qualification and (don't ask me why) belief in the death penalty.

Political persuasion played a part, the more right wing voted leave, regardless of age, education etc.

Katie59

Political persuasion played a part, the more right wing voted leave, regardless of age, education etc.

I think there was a cultural element, but that's quite difficult to define. People wiser than I have written books about it.

Katie59

Political persuasion played a part, the more right wing voted leave, regardless of age, education etc.

True.

But right wing voters tend to be older, so less likely to have had tertiary education.

Brexit wouldn’t happen if the vote was now - in 2022.

Dinahmo

DaisyAnne I don't think that those who admitted they made a mistake when voting to leave are experiencing a pile on. All changes of heart are gratefully received.

Well, good for you. I did.

growstuff

Katie59

Political persuasion played a part, the more right wing voted leave, regardless of age, education etc.

I think there was a cultural element, but that's quite difficult to define. People wiser than I have written books about it.

The most effective influence on voting in the EU referendum was newspapers readership.

The foreign billionaires and tax dodging proprietors of the most well read newspapers persuaded their gullible readers to vote for what was in their interest but certainly not in the interest of these gullible readers.

Unfortunately newspaper readers are very loyal to the Daily Expresss, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Sun. But even so, some are just beginning to question the party line.

halfpint1

I visited Yorkshire just before the referendum and was staggered by the anti Europe rhetoric spouted by my friends

Probably because they understood how bad CAP payments are to farming and how corrupt the whole system is.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332220303559

There could be many other influences that distorted these folk's view of the EU.

varian

There could be many other influences that distorted these folk's view of the EU.

It could also be that some of those who voted to stay in have now become very extreme in their "I was right" feelings. There were arguments for both. People made up their minds on what they knew and what they experienced. Telling them they are poor souls who didn't know any better will probably mean some of those voting to leave don't even want the conversation about going back. Nothing is ever quite so cut and dried as the extremes of an argument make it out to be.

You Gov poll

56% think it was wrong to leave the EU.

So quite a lot of leave voters now see that they were wrong.

MaizieD

Katie59

Political persuasion played a part, the more right wing voted leave, regardless of age, education etc.

True.

But right wing voters tend to be older, so less likely to have had tertiary education.

Plenty of younger rednecks in the UK.

True, but the tipping point was about 45.

Katie59

MaizieD

Katie59

Political persuasion played a part, the more right wing voted leave, regardless of age, education etc.

True.

But right wing voters tend to be older, so less likely to have had tertiary education.

Plenty of younger rednecks in the UK.

There aren’t any rednecks in the UK Katie59, rednecks are politically reactionary white Americans.
If you mean young British Tory voters, there aren’t plenty, voting Tory increases with age.
www.britishelectionstudy.com/bes-findings/age-and-voting-behaviour-at-the-2019-general-election/

I use “rednecks” loosely, rebellious young often single males ( some females too) who resent authority, Brexit voters not always Tory voters