Therese Raphael, Columnist

Britain’s Great Brexit Divide Gets Deeper

Both big political parties lost the European elections. Both are faced with existential decisions about where they stand on Europe.

The new face of British politics?

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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It's tempting to conclude that because pro-Remain parties did better in the U.K.'s European parliamentary elections than those pushing for a no-deal Brexit, the country has made up its mind to reverse the result of the 2016 referendum. If only it were that simple.

The vote showed the public is, if anything, more polarized. The Liberal Democrats, once the third party in Britain but destroyed after a period in coalition government with the Conservatives, rose from the ashes to overtake the Labour Party. They won just over 20% of the vote with an avowedly remain campaign.