Half of Britons believe Brexit has been mostly a failure so far

A new Ipsos UK poll reveals that just over half (54%) of Britons believe that Brexit was the wrong decision for the United Kingdom (32% right). This figure has remained relatively stable since May 2023, when 57% believed it was the wrong decision (35% right). 
Public opinion remains divided along party and referendum lines. Most 2016 Leave voters (69%), and 2024 Conservative (61%) and Reform UK (67%) voters believe Brexit was the right decision. This contrasts sharply with 2016 Remain voters and 2024 Labour voters, where 85% and 67% respectively believe it was the wrong decision.

Furthermore, the poll reveals that half of Britons (51%) think Brexit has been more of a failure than a success (13% think it has been more of a success, and 18% both a success and failure equally). Again, this view is highest among 2016 Remain and 2024 Labour voters, with 76% and 65% respectively considering it more of a failure. However, even those who supported Leave in 2016 are divided on whether it has been a success so far, with 28% deeming it a failure, 24% a success, and 27% a mix of success and failure.  Reform UK voters are most likely to see it as an overall success, although still less than half at 38%.

Among those who believe Brexit has been a failure, Boris Johnson is most often cited as having contributed most to this outcome (53%). He is followed by David Cameron and Nigel Farage (36% each). However, those who consider Brexit a success also point to Boris Johnson as the largest contributor (33%), followed by British businesses (25%) and Nigel Farage (22%).

Gideon Skinner, Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said: 
 

Although Britons have found other things to worry about in the 5 years since the UK left the European Union, that’s not because they believe that Brexit has been an outright success.  While people are still divided along party and referendum lines as to whether it was the right decision in the first place, even Leave voters are unlikely to say it has been a complete success so far.  Boris Johnson still looms over the decision, being given most credit for Brexit’s success as well as most blame for its failures, but the question for the current Labour government is how it can build public confidence that it will deliver on Britons’ priorities for the future relationship with the EU, around trade and investment, immigration and crime.

Technical note: 

• Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,092 online British adults aged 18-75 across Great Britain between –24th-26th January 2025. 
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.