The Aftermath of the Brexit Referendum: Political and Economic Impact in the UK

The UK referendum, held on June 23, surprised the world with an outcome in favor of leaving the EU, as most surveys anticipated that votes to remain would win by a small margin. What was more surprising than the outcome itself was that no specific plan for exiting from the European Union had been prepared by either side of the Brexit campaigns. In the UK, the discussion over the Brexit referendum was formally triggered when then Prime Minister David Cameron mentioned its possibility at his Bloomberg speech in 2013. More recently, the Brexit referendum was one of the most important parts of the Conservative party manifesto for the 2015 general election. This means that at least three years were available to prepare for the exit from the EU before the actual referendum in June 2016. To the surprise of many observers, even the hardest Brexiteers like former London mayor Boris Johnson and his campaigners failed to provide a clear set of ideas and specific plans for the exit process after winning the referendum. Amongst the increasing uncertainty and speculations over how and when to exit from the EU, at least two things became clear: the referendum was facilitated as a policy tool for obtaining control over power within the dominant party, and political leaders failed to perceive the prevailing sentiment of the general public, especially in the working class, who felt they were left behind from European integration and globalization in a broader sense. Apparently, the most significant impact of the Brexit referendum is that the UK's decision to leave the EU has presented a great deal of uncertainty to the global economy and its negative impact is expected to last a long time. At the same time, it is never enough to emphasize the responsibility of political leaders, whose decisions have an enormous impact on the nation's future. It is important to note that the Brexit referendum was just the beginning of the complex and challenging process of the UK's exit from the EU. Interestingly, as the Leave campaign arguably proclaimed before the referendum, the future of the UK and its relations with other countries now apparently depend on the decisions of the British people alone, regardless of possibility of success or vice versa. While statements from the Prime Minister and key figures of the new cabinet are still unclear or mixed at times, the strong determination of the Prime Minister on leading Brexit to success and to pay more attention to the voices of the less privileged should be perceived as a fine start for the developments to come.