The pro-Brexit majority which voted to leave the EU nine years ago has “literally died out”, according to a polling expert.
Peter Kellner, who founded YouGov and sat as its president until 2016 – the year of the Brexit referendum – predicted that there’s most likely a majority of 8 million now in favour of rejoining the bloc.
Writing for the New European, he pointed out that 1.3 million more voters backed Leave compared to those who supported Remain in the referendum.
Since then more than six million Brits have died, Kellner said.
Considering the turnout among older voters was higher than average and that 64% of over-65s backed Brexit, he said it is safe to assume 3.2 million pro-Leave voters have died in the last nine years, compared to 1.8 million Remainers.
Kellner said: “This means that among people who are alive today and who voted in the 2016 referendum, Remainers exceed Leavers by 14.3 to 14.2 million.”
In addition, the pollster pointed out that the six million young people who have reached voting age since 2016 are more likely to be pro-EU.
Even if just three million of them were to actually vote in a future referendum, that would take the Remain majority to two million.
Many voters have also changed their minds since the referendum, with four million Leave voters now wanting to rejoin the bloc.
According to Kellner, all of these changes mean there is now an 8.1 million majority among the British electorate for rejoining the EU.
He also rejected claims that it would be undemocratic to overturn the result too, noting: “That requires a belief that the votes of the dead count for more than the views of the young.”
His remarks come amid a shift within the Labour government’s approach towards Brexit.
Prime minister Keir Starmer called out the “wild promises” made by Brexiteers only last week.
Deputy PM David Lammy also sparked controversy when he appeared to hint Britain would be better off if it were in the EU customs union, although the government has officially ruled out attempting to rejoin.
Even so, as the UK economy continues to flounder, evidence of the harm Brexit caused continues to emerge.
National Bureau of Economic Research recently claimed: “By the start of 2025, the UK economy was approximately 8% smaller than it would have been without Brexit.”
This amounts to £240 billion a year – an amount the current cash-strapped government could only baulk at.
📊 The Brexit majority hasn’t just slipped 👉it’s vanished. Completely.
This chart from Peter Kellner/YouGov shows:
• 5 million 2016 voters have died
• New young voters back Rejoin by 5:1
• 29% of Leave voters now want to rejoin
• Net result: Rejoin 19.8m vs Stay Out 11.7m… https://t.co/Bg01MbziBz pic.twitter.com/haTPfg27mF— Liz Webster (@LizWebsterSBF) December 8, 2025