Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period

Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period

The article examines how the UK Liberal Democrats reshaped their position on Europe after the 2016 Brexit referendum and how this strategic repositioning affected both their electoral fortunes and internal party dynamics. After its collapse in 2015, the party tried to turn a traditional vote loser i...

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Pubblicato in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/osb,
Autore principale: Leveque, Clémence
Natura: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lingua:Anglais
Pubblicazione: Observatoire de la société britannique 2026
Soggetti:
Liberal Democrats
electoral strategy
Europhilia
leadership-membership relations
Accesso online:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
id openedition-oai:revues.org:osb_6830
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spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:osb_6830 https://doi.org/10.4000/16lfu urn:doi:10.4000/16lfu en https://journals.openedition.org/osb/6830 2026-07-17T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/16lfu https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period Observatoire de la société britannique Université de Toulon info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1775-4135 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1957-3383 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/osb Leveque, Clémence Liberal Democrats electoral strategy Europhilia leadership-membership relations The article examines how the UK Liberal Democrats reshaped their position on Europe after the 2016 Brexit referendum and how this strategic repositioning affected both their electoral fortunes and internal party dynamics. After its collapse in 2015, the party tried to turn a traditional vote loser into a vote winner. It gradually radicalised its position between 2016 and 2019, arguing successively for a soft Brexit, a second referendum and the revocation of Brexit, in order to benefit from voter polarisation and gain the support of Remainers. Following the disappointing 2019 election, the party deliberately blurred its EU position, downplaying Brexit and focusing instead on domestic issues in order to attract a broader coalition of voters in Conservative-facing seats. Although this approach created tensions and a growing divide with strongly pro‑European members, it contributed to the party’s revival in 2024. The article concludes that the party’s pro‑Europeanism remains pragmatic, conditional, and primarily shaped by electoral incentives.
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic Liberal Democrats
electoral strategy
Europhilia
leadership-membership relations
spellingShingle Liberal Democrats
electoral strategy
Europhilia
leadership-membership relations
Leveque, Clémence
Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period
description The article examines how the UK Liberal Democrats reshaped their position on Europe after the 2016 Brexit referendum and how this strategic repositioning affected both their electoral fortunes and internal party dynamics. After its collapse in 2015, the party tried to turn a traditional vote loser into a vote winner. It gradually radicalised its position between 2016 and 2019, arguing successively for a soft Brexit, a second referendum and the revocation of Brexit, in order to benefit from voter polarisation and gain the support of Remainers. Following the disappointing 2019 election, the party deliberately blurred its EU position, downplaying Brexit and focusing instead on domestic issues in order to attract a broader coalition of voters in Conservative-facing seats. Although this approach created tensions and a growing divide with strongly pro‑European members, it contributed to the party’s revival in 2024. The article concludes that the party’s pro‑Europeanism remains pragmatic, conditional, and primarily shaped by electoral incentives.
author Leveque, Clémence
author_facet Leveque, Clémence
author_sort Leveque, Clémence
title Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period
title_short Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period
title_full Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period
title_fullStr Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period
title_full_unstemmed Pragmatic Europhiles? The Liberal Democrats’ ambiguous commitment to EU membership in the post-Brexit referendum period
title_sort pragmatic europhiles? the liberal democrats’ ambiguous commitment to eu membership in the post-brexit referendum period
publisher Observatoire de la société britannique
publishDate 2026
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/osb
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/16lfu
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/osb/6830
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