Votes From a Small Island

: Brexit and the Middle-Aged, Middle-Class, Liberal-Left on the Isle of Wight

Abstract

The is a qualitative study of the middle aged, middle-class, liberal left using biographies completed for the researcher and follow up questioning during 2019. The English liberal left is concentrated among cosmopolitan, young graduates, in large, multi-cultural cities. This study contains accounts of cosmopolitans ageing and relocating to the Isle of Wight -a Conservative and Eurosceptic stronghold. There is an othering of Islanders by the participants and an inversion of the local status hierarchy that confers prestige to long-term inhabitants. There is little affinity with the Island -beyond its natural beauty and the participants are charged with logical superiority.
This study uniquely adds to existing quantitative knowledge of political realignment by class and reveals the formation and mutability of political identities. It captures accounts of participants’ agency in the formation and transitions in political identities and the impact of social and geographical mobility. It adds to our knowledge of the impact of the immersive experience of higher education and degree holding as a source of cultural authority. While there is wealth of evidence correlating degree holding with tolerance, here we see graduates highly intolerant of both Leavers and Conservatives
The thesis adds to and develops our theoretical knowledge of social differentiation, symbolic boundaries, and the fragmentation of the middle class. Against a backdrop of unstable cultural hierarchies. We see a middle-class sample that sees themselves as intellectually, artistically, and morally superior to their older, affluent middle-class opponents. There is more sympathy and frustration with the working class, and some retain an affinity with their roots. However, all political opponents are envisaged as victims of a powerful and manipulative elite.
Brexit is the participants’ main concern. The study provides new knowledge that captures the formation, emotions, calcification, and consequences of Remainer identities as the affective polarisation emerged 2016-19. It uniquely captures the moment that opponents became enemies. It both builds on the existing survey evidence and adds to our knowledge by showing how Remainers contribute to the polarisation by ostracising Leaver family and friends and refusing to compromise.
Consequently, the participants are devastated by the double defeat of the 2019 General Election- where they feel that they have lost their cultural authority to uneducated and amoral Leavers. We also see new knowledge of Leavers responding to defeat with ageism, anti-democratic sentiments, or redefining who is beneath them. There are no signs of the class realignment in English politics being reversed and participants seek social democratic policies, electoral reform, and measures to address climate change. However, their Remainer identities are likely to be retained and influence future actions and affiliations.

Date of Award	20 Jun 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Charles Leddy-Owen (Supervisor), George Ackers (Supervisor) & Jodi Burkett (Supervisor)