Ten years ago, Matthew Elliott ran the campaign that changed Britain forever. As the architect of Vote Leave, he helped deliver a result that almost nobody – including many on his own side – genuinely believed would happen.
A decade on, with some senior Labour figures openly discussing a return to the EU, Lord Elliott joined me for this week’s episode of the Capitalist podcast to look back at how Brexit was really won, and to make the case for why the battle isn’t over yet.
Below, you’ll find a short excerpt from our conversation.
Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX
Was it a shock to you when David Cameron resigned after the Brexit vote?
We’d sort of convinced ourselves that he wouldn’t resign, whatever the result.
And certainly that very week. I know that with some of the key Conservative players on the campaign, at least Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, they were very concerned about Cameron resigning.
And there was also talk about letters from Remain MPs and Leave MPs saying that Cameron should stay on. And that was a big topic of conversation.
I think realistically, had we thought about it with a cold towel on our heads, we’d realise that perhaps he was going to resign having committed so heavily to the referendum.
Has Brexit delivered?
Brexit was all about taking back control.
And once control was back in the UK, it’s really up to UK parliamentarians and voters to decide what happens.
Some things I like.
So, for example, if there’s deregulation in certain areas, it helps free up the economy. And I think the tech regulation, for example, at the moment with AI, that’s really helped us thrive.
Some things I really detest.
So for example, the VAT on school fees, that wouldn’t be possible were we to be back in the single market.
So I hate the fact that’s happened, but you’ve got to accept as a Brexiteer that it’s all about UK politicians making UK laws.
What should we be doing to make the most of Brexit?
We need to be going for growth – and of course the Labour Party talked about it to death before the last election, and sadly didn’t deliver. But really at its core that’s what the British people want.
We’re in a situation where we’re doing minusculely better than France, Germany, Italy – so we’ve outperformed them, but we’re still at historically low levels of growth compared to before the financial crisis, for example.
And if we carry on on the current trajectory, we’re going to slip behind Poland very soon in terms of GDP per capita, and behind Turkey by 2043.
So that’s the trajectory we’re on as a country. We need to reverse that.
The solutions are out there. And they’re the same solutions that the CPS talked about and championed in the 1970s and 1980s: lower taxes, lighter government spending, smarter regulation, free trade, sound monetary policy. It’s the very same solution we need to do now in order to get back to growth
