The UK's EU Referendum: The Background, the Vote and the Impact

The UK’s involvement in the EU has been shaped by its history and its cultures. Stories from the past combine with pragmatic economics, short-term (party) political and media interests, social and economic cleavages, and broader global and technological issues to form a base-line for understanding why, in the 1950s, European states decided to work together to forge a common market; why the UK decided first to stay out of and then applied to join this venture; and why – after forty-three years – on 23 June 2016, a Conservative government held a referendum. This paper offers an introductory overview of the context within which the UK’s EU referendum of 2016 was held, the events leading up to the referendum, the results, and the impact in the week following the referendum. It ends by reflecting on some of the longer term implications.