Brexit: more intelligent people were more likely to vote remain and decipher misinformation, study claims

Britons with higher cognitive ability were more likely to vote for Remain, while those with less general intelligence likely voted for Brexit, an academic study has claimed.

The research from the University of Bath’s School of Management found that cognitive skills, such as memory, verbal fluency, fluid reasoning and numerical reasoning, were correlated with how people decided to vote in the EU referendum. Cognitive ability, which is also described as general intelligence, allows people to solve problems and think quickly.

The study found that, of the people with the lowest cognitive ability, only 40% voted remain, whereas 73% of those with the highest cognitive ability voted remain. The research used a nationally representative sample of 3,183 couples to check against cultural factors - such as political beliefs, education level and income. If the pair voted differently, it found the remain-voting partner was likely to do better on cognitive tests.

Key to this, the researchers said, was the ability to decipher misinformation, which they said "proliferated on social media platforms". People with a lower cognitive ability were more susceptible to disinformation.

During the referendum campaign, Michael Gove famously said: “I think the people of this country have had enough of experts with organisations with acronyms saying that they know what is best and getting it consistently wrong.” The research comes as there’s been a rise in Bregret - Brexit regret - with support for rejoining the EU now at its highest level since the referendum in 2016.

Lead author Dr Chris Dawson said: “This study adds to existing academic evidence showing that low cognitive ability makes people more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. People with lower cognitive ability and analytical thinking skills find it harder to detect and discount this type of information.

“We know that evidence has been put forward that information provided to the public in the months leading up to the referendum was contradictory, false and often fraudulent, especially regarding the pro-Leave campaign, and that this information proliferated on social media platforms.”

The Leave campaign put forward a number of election slogans, which were criticised as being untrue - most notably that by voting for Brexit £350 million a week would go to the NHS. The UK Statistics Authority said the figure was misleading. 

Other incorrect statements included that Turkey would join the EU and 76 million Turks would all move to Britain, when the UK in fact had a veto over this. The Leave campaign used these as part of an intensive communications blitz on Facebook and other social media.

“Depending on which side of the debate you fall, reading this may fill you with anger or joy. However, both these emotions are an error of judgement,” said Dr Dawson.

“It is important to understand that our findings are based on average differences: there exists a huge amount of overlap between the distributions of Remain and Leave cognitive abilities. Indeed, we calculated that approximately 36% of Leave voters had higher cognitive ability than the average (mean) Remain voter,” he said.

Dr Paul Baker added: “Low cognitive ability can lead to decision errors and many Leave voters are now saying they regret their choice. The study highlights how the rise in misinformation and disinformation, and people’s inability to counter this information, is undermining the democratic process and can be used to influence democratic outcomes.

The study was criticised by some, who said it exhibited the elitism that was shown by the remain campaign during the referendum. James Mitchinson, editor of the Yorkshire Post, NationalWorld's sister title, said: "This sort of pompous, self-aggrandising, patronising, sneering, tin-eared ignorance is precisely that which fuelled those left behind to smash the Establishment in the face. Their one opportunity to punch upwards & share some of the misery they’ve been forced to endure for years."

Unhappy Leave voters largely blame Brexit going badly on UK politicians, like Boris Johnson and Theresa May, for not getting a good deal, separate research has shown. Only 16% of Brexit voters would now vote to rejoin - despite more than half saying leaving the EU has either not turned out well or it’s turned out badly or very badly. 

This comes from a survey and series of focus groups in May and June carried out by UK in a Changing Europe and the consultancy Public First. It found people associate travel delays, increases in the cost of living and staff vacancies in health and social care to “some extent with Brexit”.

A new poll shows that support for rejoin has reached its joint-highest level over the last year. According to WeThink, it’s reached 63% while the figure of those who want to stay out of the EU is at 37% - those who don’t know have been excluded.

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.