ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on Britain’s relations with the European project, looking at the nature of public opinion before Britain joined the European Economic Community and throughout its subsequent period of membership, culminating in the country voting to leave the European Union (EU) in the June 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. It examines overall trends in public opinion across the decades, both before and during membership. The chapter compares the views of the British public with those of the EU, in relation to the ‘deepening’ and ‘widening’ of the integration process. It also examines the changing party-political basis of Eurosceptic opinion over time. The chapter explores the socio-demographic basis of Euroscepticism across the decades. The cross-national Eurobarometer surveys, undertaken since the early 1970s, enable comparisons of public opinion in the UK and the EU, shedding light on the common labelling of the UK as a traditionally Eurosceptic country and an ‘awkward’ or ‘reluctant’ partner.