There Actually Is a Brexit Consensus Among U.K. Voters
Theresa May’s deal is unloved, but it’s the closest thing to a compromise that most voters could live with.
What they really, really want.
Photographer: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
It has become cliche to say that Brexit has divided the U.K., but political circles now bitterly disagree over the depth and nature of that division. A poll showing public opinion favoring one outcome or another — remaining in the European Union or leaving with no deal, for example — has become a weekly occurrence, giving almost everyone a data point that fits their preferred narrative.
There are several reasons for the confused picture. Some of the more eye-catching findings have come from unscientific “open access” polls of the type run by some local newspapers, which lack controls for demographics or people voting multiple times. But legitimate polls can produce different results too, even when asking the same question, partly because their methodologies vary. How to cut through the noise?