Introduction: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going

Despite the efforts of leading party spokespersons in the UK to marginalise Brexit as an issue of public discussion, it shows no sign of disappearing from the political agenda any time soon. If ‘the Brexit experiment’, comes widely to be perceived as having been a failure, then it is possible that the forces that have never reconciled themselves to Brexit, will grow stronger. The purpose of this book is therefore to assess the strength of these forces and the prospects for a road back to EU membership being taken any time soon. Against this background, the purpose of this introductory chapter is to contextualise the discussion to come by looking back at the antecedents of the 2016 referendum and at its immediate consequences. I ask: Why was the referendum held? Why did the leave side win? What institutions have been established to govern the UK’s relations with the EU and its member states, to replace those of the EU itself now that the UK is no longer a member? How do the concerns of this book speak to the existing scholarly literature on Brexit and its aftermath?