Half of Gen Z Britons believe Brexit has been a failure and the majority would vote to rejoin the EU if given the opportunity, new polling has revealed.
Data shows that only a small minority of 18 to 28-year-olds – who were unable to vote in the referendum ten years ago – believe the UK should stay out of the bloc.
Polling of 440 young people across the country, conducted by More in Common for the Guardian, suggests three in five of Gen Z Britons would vote to rejoin the EU if there was another vote.
Meanwhile, only 9 per cent would vote to stay out.
Of those surveyed who say they would be likely to vote in another referendum, 81 per cent say they would vote to rejoin, while 19 per cent say they would vote to remain outside.
The study also found that half of those surveyed consider Brexit a failure, while only 16 per cent see it as a success.
Executive director of More In Common, Luke Tryl, said the study suggests young Britons believe politicians “ruined” Brexit.
“For many Gen Z Britons, the Brexit referendum was formative to their political ‘coming of age’,” he said.
“In focus groups, many in this age group say Brexit was the first political event they were vividly aware of – too young to vote, but with distinct memories of that campaign and the years of debate that followed.
“Ten years on, our polling of Britons aged 18 to 28 reveals how they feel about Brexit: they tend to believe it has failed, and three in five want a fresh referendum on rejoining. But interestingly, few think the principle of Brexit was doomed from the start – like the rest of the public, they tend to say it could have worked well, but that politicians ruined it.
“And while young Britons mostly support rejoining in principle, focus group conversations with gen Z voters suggest they’re hesitant about a return to the endless Brexit debates they remember from their youth, which risks distracting from the issues they care most about – the cost of living, affordable housing, jobs and climate change.”
Sir Keir Starmer had put a “reset” of relations with the European Union at the heart of his premiership before he announced his resignation on Monday.
A second EU-UK summit, set to take place in Brussels on July 22 to make progress on his reset with the bloc, has now been delayed as his likely successor Andy Burnham prepares to for power.
Sir Kier previously vowed not to return to freedom of movement, a customs union, or the EU single market in what he billed as his ‘red lines’, but it is unclear what Mr Burnham’s approach to the UK’s relationship with the EU will be.
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