ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the implications of the result of the referendum vote in 2016 in favour of Brexit, and the possible influence of populism. Support for a referendum, to be included in the United Kingdom (UK’s) unwritten constitutional arrangements, has a long history. Political expediency underpins reasons for holding a referendum. While a referendum may allow a form of direct democracy, it is often in opposition to representative or parliamentary democracy. The reconciliation of different forms of choice – the party political and the popular have proved difficult. In the UK the referendum is normally non-binding, authorised by an Act of Parliament, triggered by a dissatisfaction with the politics of political parties or an inability of groups within political parties to agree. Control of policy-making, traditionally vested in the government of the day, underwent unprecedented challenge as the government struggled to secure agreement within its own ranks as to the best policy to pursue in negotiations with the European Union.
