The following is an excerpt from Gallup News.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 51% of Britons now approve of EU leadership
- Leave-voting demographics behind the rise in approval
- Slightly more Britons approve of the EU than their own leadership
Britons’ approval rating of the leadership of the European Union surpassed 50% for the first time in 2022, further cementing the popularity of the bloc’s leadership as the EU and the United Kingdom are poised to write a new chapter in post-Brexit relations.
The U.K. and EU recently unveiled a new deal — the Windsor Framework — aiming to address post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland. Announcing the new deal, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck a warm tone and spoke of a desire for a more constructive relationship.
Britons’ approval of the EU has been on a strong upward trend for years, despite their country’s vote to leave the bloc in 2016. In the decade since 2013 — the year Prime Minister David Cameron first pledged to renegotiate the terms of the U.K.’s membership and hold a referendum if reelected — approval of EU leadership has increased by 76%.
Over that same period, only five other member states have seen a faster rise in approval of EU leadership (Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus and Finland), yet the U.K. is the only country that has voted to leave.
Even though disapproval of EU leadership (47%) is notably lower than in the years leading up to the referendum, Britons are still largely divided over the EU. It remains an issue on which almost everyone has an opinion.
Britons Somewhat Less Fond of Their Own Leadership
Britons are less enamored with their own country’s leadership.
Last year was the fourth consecutive year that Britons rated EU leadership slightly higher than their own government, with 46% approving of the leadership of the United Kingdom.
A majority of Britons have not approved of their leadership since 2006 (51%) as former Prime Minister Tony Blair neared the end of his term.
Even though the David Cameron and Theresa May governments of the 2010s never enjoyed the approval ratings that Blair’s government did, their leadership nevertheless was more popular than that of the EU. This is no longer the case.
Gallup World Poll fieldwork in 2022 occurred between May 30 and June 27, shortly after the “Partygate” report was published detailing lockdown breaches in Downing Street, and just before Boris Johnson’s resignation on July 7.
As the U.K. government battled several crises last year, Britons’ opinion of their own leadership and that of their European neighbors stood in relief. (Continued…)
Read more here.
Visit The Sharyl Attkisson Store today
Unique gifts for independent thinkers
Proceeds benefit independent journalism
