Exactly ten years ago this week, the United Kingdom held its most consequential and significant referendum in its history. After decades of membership in the European Union and its predecessors, the British populace approved leaving the bloc in the 2016 referendum. With a 72% turnout rate, it is clear that the issue of EU membership was of utmost concern to British voters, also evident by the rise of Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the early 2010’s. Concerns regarding high immigration to the UK, the EU’s overreaching regulations strangling businesses, and required budget contributions to fund EU projects motivated right-wing voters to choose “Leave,” which ultimately won by a narrow margin under 4%. But did Brexit result in the accomplishment of the goals of the conservatives who campaigned so hard for it?

Before Brexit took effect at the start of 2021, there was reciprocal freedom of movement of workers between the UK and all other EU countries. In other words, citizens of any EU member state could freely live and work in the UK, and vice versa. Massive amounts of immigrants from poorer countries in the former Warsaw Pact, such as Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, took the opportunity to move to the UK after expansion of the EU eastwards in the 2000s. Major strains on public services and an increasingly competitive labor market in the UK resulting from this wave prompted the rise of anti-immigration populism. But after the end of free movement from the EU, net migration from non-EU countries surged as Boris Johnson’s government snuck in new immigration rules. In fact, this “Boriswave” of immigration in the early 2020s was the highest in British history, only exacerbating the effects of an already strained economy. And, considering that new arrivals are dominated by nationalities with radically different institutions and cultures from those of the British, such as Indians, Pakistanis, and the Chinese, it is safe to say that the demographic transformation of the UK is only accelerating. So, the preservation of western culture and values has not been accomplished.

Did Brexit at least cut red tape for entrepreneurs? The European Union has historically represented a significant fraction of British imports and exports due to geographical proximity and virtually zero trade barriers, but this, too, has changed after Brexit. Since 2021, paperwork and bureaucracy relating to customs, differing regulations, and licensing has grown far more costly for British businesses since Britain is no longer treated as part of the European market. This has crippled many small businesses, especially those in agriculture, with many cutting exports to the EU altogether. If conservative politicians care so much about free markets and eliminating red tape, they should not have shrunk the market to which Brits previously enjoyed access. 

When Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson was mayor of London in 2016, he was notable for his “Brexit bus” and his assertion that the 350 million pounds per week that the United Kingdom sent to the EU each week should be used to fund the NHS instead. But this figure was highly misleading. This is merely equal to the amount Westminster sent to Brussels each week before accounting for the rebates the EU provides in return in budgets. When that is accounted for, the net fiscal impact is roughly halved. Even if it is a slight fiscal drain, the macroeconomic benefits of EU membership vastly offset this figure as Brexit is estimated to have cost the UK over 6% of its annual GDP. 

Despite the failure of Brexit to fulfill the wishes of conservatives across the UK, the Reform UK party—led by Farage—has dominated national polling over the past year. He alleges that the reason Brexit failed was because the Conservative party that was in charge of it. But if he truly believes that, it is strange that his party has adopted several prominent conservatives who were in charge of deciding Britain’s future following Brexit. If Brits want a true conservative alternative, they should consider Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain party whose priorities include not only reversing the waves of mass immigration, but actively preventing such waves from occurring ever again. The party promises careful selection of immigrants based on cultural and economic benefit. Lowe will also impose economic conservatism by ending numerous public benefits for the few migrants he would allow to enter and by removing costly bureaucracy that strains independent contractors, freelancers, and small businesses. With a British general election due in the next three years, Restore Britain may have a shot at delivering a true Brexit.