A new opinion poll shows that a majority of Britons want to re-join the EU

10 years later, it seems like a lot of people on the British islands don't think Brexit has brought the prosperity they were promised.
Text: Jonas Mäki
Published 2026-06-08

In 2017, the British government submitted its request to leave the EU following a 2016 referendum in which 51.9% voted to "leave" while 48.1% voted to "remain." It was primarily England and Wales that boosted the figures, while Northern Ireland was clearly in favour of staying in the EU, and in Scotland, a full 62.0% voted to remain.

Since then, many seem to feel that things have not turned out as promised, and there are now debates about possibly trying to re-join the EU. According to Bloomberg, a new survey shows that public opinion is shifting, with only 33% currently believing the UK should remain outside the EU, and people under 55 in particular being the most supportive of re-joining.

Joining the EU is not like joining a golf club or signing up for a Netflix subscription, and decisions like this need to be preceded by clear public support that also takes the outcome of the previous vote into account, so don't count on re-entry anytime soon. But if public opinion holds steady, it is of course not impossible that the issue will eventually begin to be seriously explored.

Back