Cover image for Britain left the EU 10 years ago. Its politics has been an unruly mess
World 23 Jun 2026

Britain left the EU 10 years ago. Its politics has been an unruly mess

Brexit fractured the European Union, and broke British politics. A decade on, millions of voters have deserted the two big parties for alternatives.

Image: Daily English Reader / Local generated SVG (Project-owned local asset)

5 min read B2

B2 Version

Click any word for its Thai meaning.

0:00 0:00
Brexit fractured the European Union, and broke British politics. LONDONBrexit fractured the European Union, and broke British politics. The U.K. is about to get its seventh prime minister since June 23, 2016, a decade ago Tuesday, when the country voted 52%-48% to leave the EU after more than four decades of membership. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned for the U.K. to stay in the bloc, quit the next day. The latest is Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced Monday that he was stepping down after two years of a sluggish economy, malfunctioning government and a divided and jaded electorateall legacies, at least in part, of Brexit. Though the decision has faded from headlines, "the subterranean trace of Brexit" still runs through Britain's increasingly unruly politics, said Chris Grey, an academic who has studied the fallout from Britain's EU departure. Campaigners for Brexit promised that leaving the then-28 member political and economic bloc would let the U.K.

Save & Review

Only words saved from this story appear here.