6. July 2016 by Lotta Schneidemesser
When I turned on the radio on the morning of Friday 24 June, it took a few minutes for me to realise that I was listening to David Cameron’s resignation speech – and then another minute or so for the message to sink in: The United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union (EU). As I am writing this, my feelings are mixed – there is anger, disbelief and sadness. I am upset, worried and disheartened in a way that I have never felt after any election so far in my life; above all there is an overwhelming sense of disappointment.
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When I came to the UK eight years ago, ‘Brexit’ was not a recognized term and the EU was low on the country’s agenda. I came for the same reason most EU university students come to the UK: I was seeking high quality education. As it happens my specialization was European Union studies. I aspired to learn from the Brits about their perspective on the Union and Brussels. I soon realized that this was an unrealistic plan: ‘European Governance’ at Oxford had 14 students. I was one of three Germans, we had an Italian, a Czech, a Slovak, two US Americans and a Swiss – but only one British girl. 
A common criticism of the EU is that Britain lacks influence in Brussels and Strasbourg and can be overruled by other nations. Christopher Wratil uses data from Eurobarometer surveys to analyse whether the EU does act in accordance with public opinion and, specifically, how well the views of UK citizens are represented compared to citizens in other EU countries.
Did it all start wrong with the inter-party election of Ed Miliband as President of the Labour in May 2010? Was that May 23rd an unlucky one for the Labour Party? After the electoral defeat in 2010, and the resignation of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party, many hoped that a new era for Labour was on the horizon. Although Miliband the older was a favourite in the inter-party election, younger brother Ed, standing on the shoulders of the trade unions, won the close tie by a small margin, achieving the support of 50,65% of the electoral college. In his early 40s, Ed was the youngest leader in Labour history, while also becoming a leader of the opposition in Parliament.
David Cameron has been returned as prime minister in the UK general elections – not with a landslide victory but with a seat gain sufficient for the Tories to form a single party government. A central electoral pledge of Cameron was his promise to hold an in-or-out referendum on the UK’s EU membership, which he has made a central part of the Queen’s speech outlining the agenda of the new government. It is now crystal-clear that the referendum will be held before the end of 2017 and many people are speculating about the possible outcome of such a referendum. I want to share my perspective here as a political scientist, who studies electoral processes. My aim is not to ‘predict’ the referendum outcome.