1 - Introduction: How Britain Became Brexitland

Summary

This chapter sets out the plan of the book and our main arguments. We introduce identity conservatives and identity liberals, the new demographic groups whose conflicts are at the heart of identity politics in Brexitland. Identity conflicts in Britain did not begin with Brexit though the EU Referendum brought these conflicts to the fore and made the groups themselves more aware what divides them. The identity conflicts laid bare by Brexit are instead the result of a collection of long-running social trends: demographic changes that have been underway for decades; the political legacies of Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher, on the one side, and the anti-racism legislation and mobilisation around Stephen Lawrence’s murder, on the other; the changes wrought to party competition and voters’ perceptions of the parties by Tony Blair and New Labour; and the long-term consequences of liberal immigration policies introduced by the first two New Labour governments. These trends all set the scene for the developments of 2016, and the Brexitland politics that unfolded post-referendum.