[ptaffs]

At the time "polls" predicted a Remain win. Between the vote and the eventual Brexit along with protests, there was a government petition for a redo and a Remain optimism that a re-do would flip the result. For this poll to me meaningful, I would expect to see declining support for Reform. But the opposite is happening.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/revoke-artic...

[ceejayoz]

A change of this magnitude probably should've been like an American constitutional amendment; a stricter requirement than 50%+1 vote.

[f33d5173]

What percentage of the vote was required to join the EU? The EU effectively constitutes a relinquishment of sovereignty, but that's not how it was sold to citizens, they were told that they could leave at any time.

[ceejayoz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Accession_1972

> The United Kingdom consulted its citizens directly only after joining the European Communities: following the British general election of October 1974, the Labour government of Harold Wilson held a referendum to fulfill one of its campaign promises. The non-binding referendum was held on 5 June 1975, some two and half years after the UK's accession. It was the first ever national referendum to be held in the UK, and the "yes" vote won by a landslide 67.23% on a 65% turnout with 66 out of the 68 local counting areas returning majority "yes" votes.

I'm inclined to count that.

[ptaffs]

You remember the story the citizens were sold but not the vote requirement seems odd. From a minimum of research, it seems there was no vote to join the EU, which did not exist at the time (1973) of the European Communities project with common currency and the rest. But in 1975 they had a referendum to stay and decided they would with a 67% Yes.

[f33d5173]

It was a rhetorical question. Usually decisions in democracies require a 50% majority, as here.

[munksbeer]

> the EU effectively constitutes a relinquishment of sovereignty

Agreed, it is pooling sovereignty. The UK already does that with a union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Pooling sovereignty is often regarded as a benefit on the whole.

[bojan]

> At the time "polls" predicted a Remain win.

This is a common trope but is simply not true. The polls were really tight[0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_United...

[ceejayoz]

Your link largely agrees; the "Polls of polls" shows a general consensus on a tight Remain win, and the chart shows the convergence being very late in the game.

[moomin]

Reform don’t need 50%, though. I don’t think even Margaret Thatcher’s landslide got more than 40% of the vote.