Brexit support collapses as majority of Brits back EU
Anti-Brexit campaigners demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament with EU flags as members of Parliament return following Easter break, London, England, April 16, 2018. (Getty Photo)


Support for European Union membership among the British people has surged since the Brexit referendum, according to the biennial European Social Survey.

The survey, which was conducted and finished in 2019, found that support for the EU has increased across UK as 57% of Brits prefer to rejoin the EU and said they would vote for it, in comparison to the 50% who said the same in 2017.

Around 35% of Brits said they would vote for leaving the EU, compared to 44% who said the same in 2017 and 52% in 2016.

Meanwhile, 8% of people said they would not vote at all.

According to the survey, support for EU membership has risen across the continent, despite various predictions that Brexit would trigger opposition of the union in many European countries.

The United Kingdom formally left the bloc on Jan. 31, after a slim majority voted for Brexit in a 2016 referendum.

The survey was conducted and published four years after British citizens voted to leave the EU.

Little has changed during a planned 11-month transition that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had vowed not to extend, despite a lack of progress in talks that have been overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis.

The U.K. maintains the same trade and customs rules it had before the referendum since it is still within the Brexit transition period.