Parliamentarism and Brexit, Part 1

Abstract

This article, the first of two on Brexit and British parliamentarism, presents a synthesis of the essential moments of the always problematic relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, which certainly began long before the referendum of 23 June 2016 and will extend well beyond January 31, 2020, the date of the UK’s formal departure from the European Union. Brexit is seen here as a case of political somnambulism, in a double sense: on the one hand, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union was a result unwanted by the politician who promoted it, the Prime Minister at the time David Cameron, and by most British political and economic elites; on the other hand, the unexpected nature of the result of the 2016 referendum clearly shows the distance between these elites and the country’s political and economic reality.