As the UK marks nine years since the Brexit referendum, we want to know whether you think leaving the EU has been a success
June 23rd 2025 marks nine years since the Brexit referendum, signalling the country’s intention to leave the European Union. The vote ultimately ended a 47-year relationship with the political and economic bloc – but with nearly a decade now past since we went to the polls, do you think Brexit has been a success for the UK?
The referendum – in which Brits narrowly voted to leave by 51.9% to 48.1% – lead to years of uncertainty across the country. Shortly after the result was released, David Cameron stepped down as Tory leader leading to a flurry of four different Conservative prime ministers in the space of five years – including Liz Truss, whose premiership lasted just 49 days.
Rachel Reeves has previously blasted the Tories’ Brexit deal, saying it ‘reduced trade flows’ between Britain and Europe. Similarly, Starmer has also criticised Boris Johnson’s botched deal to leave the EU, stating it hampered the UK’s ability to tackle the small boats crisis.
The current Labour government has now committed to repairing the ‘fractured’ relationship with their nearest neighbours. In May, the PM announced his ‘common sense’ deal with the EU, which he declared was a ‘win-win’ deal that would put the UK ‘back on the world stage’.
Starmer announced key changes, including allowing tourists to use e-gates at airports in Europe. He said businesses will be able to sell burgers and sausages into the bloc again and shoppers will see cheaper prices in the supermarket.
The deal marked a stark difference from the tensions during Theresa May’s time as PM, when the UK and EU were locked in fraught negotiations to get a Brexit deal over the line. The PM said: “It’s time to look forward. To move on from the stale old debates and political fights to find common sense, practical solutions which get the best for the British people.” If you can’t see the poll below, click here.
At the beginning on 2025, a YouGov poll revealed that just 30% of Brits believe it was right to leave the EU, with 55% believing Brexit was wrong and just 11% seeing it as more of a success than a failure. The survey also revealed that one in six leave voters now say it was the wrong choice, marking the lowest public belief in Brexit since YouGov began asking after the 2020 referendum.
In a previous poll, Mirror readers shared their comments slamming Brexit as an ‘unmitigated disaster’ without ‘one single benefit’. Orient Geoff wrote: “Unmitigated disaster! Nothing we were promised has happened, especially with regards to immigration, and it has cost the country billions in lost trade.
“That’s before we deal with the mountain of red tape people have to go through when importing or exporting goods, little of which existed when we were members of the EU. It certainly wasn’t perfect but we should have dealt with that from within. not isolate ourselves on the back of false promises.”
Agreeing with the overwhelming anti-Brexit response to the questions, Taeidy said: “Another EU referendum is necessary and this time the result would be different. UK economy from around the fourth strongest sliding down to a break-down economy with no chance of recovery.”
Iron57 also wrote: “I voted for Brexit and realise I got it badly wrong. I cannot name one single benefit of Brexit, but I can name plenty of negatives. Given the information we now have, I’d relish the chance to reverse my mistake, and so would many others in my experience.”
Ralan said: “I think we were betrayed by those who advocated for Brexit. Political sovereignty was a perfectly legitimate objective and we expected a cost to do that. However it now appears that the economic cost was played down quite considerably and the immigration problems were overstated.”
What do you think? Do you agree with the readers’ comments above? Nine years on from the Brexit referendum, has leaving the EU has been a failure? Take our poll and have your say in the comments below.
