James Tilley explores how the 2016 EU referendum created two new political identities in Britain, Remainers and Leavers, which have persisted to the present day.
In his new book with Sara Hobolt, James Tilley explores how the 2016 EU referendum created two new political identities in Britain, Remainers and Leavers, which have persisted to the present day. After the referendum, these ‘tribes’ rapidly became central to how people saw themselves, others, and the world around them. As recent American politics has demonstrated, political tribalism means more than policy disagreement - it leads us to dislike, look down on, and even discriminate against those who belong to opposing political identities. It also shapes how we see the world: influencing our beliefs about facts, our policy preferences, and our views of democratic legitimacy.
Drawing on a wide range of original evidence from the last decade, including surveys, experiments, and analysis of political discourse, we demonstrate that Brexit identities produced all these consequences despite being completely new. As many democracies around the world confront deepening divisions about policy issues, it is more important than ever to understand how one political moment can spark lasting political tribalism and why those tribes so often survive long after that moment has passed.
Bio
James Tilley is a Professor of Politics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Jesus College. His research focuses on public opinion, political behaviour, and British politics. He is the author of Blaming Europe? (2014, with Sara Hobolt), The New Politics of Class (2017, with Geoffrey Evans), and Tribal Politics (2026, with Sara Hobolt).