Brexit has deeply affected attitudes to referendums in the UK.

In the two decades before June 2016, referendums had been held on multiple questions, including devolution, electoral reform, and Scottish independence. Party manifestos promised more: in 2010, for example, Labour proposed a vote on reform of the House of Lords, the Lib Dems one on a written constitution.

But many politicians and members of the public – Leavers as well as Remainers – saw the Brexit referendum as hugely divisive, forcing a choice between two poorly understood options.

In the Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement, support for the statement ‘Important questions should be determined by referendums more often than today’ fell from 75% in 2015 to 55% three years later. Those attitudes varied less with views on Brexit than we might expect: among respondents to a 2022 Constitution Unit survey, 54% of Leavers and 44% of Remainers said the most important issues should be decided through referendums.

Yet there remains agreement that some matters – notably whether Scotland or Northern Ireland should remain in the UK – can legitimately be decided only by referendum. Likewise, 71% of respondents to our 2022 survey said any decision on rejoining the EU should be made by referendum; 61% thought the same about electoral reform.

So how might referendums be conducted to avoid the shortcomings of the 2016 Brexit vote?

One common demand is that the change option should be spelled out in detail in advance, so that voters know the choice they are making. The Constitution Unit’s 2018 Independent Commission on Referendums endorsed that principle – but acknowledged that it could be hard to deliver. I have since floated the option of sometimes running processes involving two referendums. Constitution Unit research has also examined how to make referendum campaigns more deliberative, leading to outcomes that can command respect even among those on the losing side.

Referendums remain part of the UK constitution. Ensuring future votes are run well is essential.

Alan Renwick is Professor of Democratic Politics and Director of the Constitution Unit, UCL.

Note: The views expressed in this post are those of the authors, and not of the UCL European Institute, nor of UCL.

Image: Cover image of the Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement.