Personal drivers behind the Brexit vote

The aim of this article is threefold. Firstly, by using the survey carried out in 2013 by the International Social Survey Program (ISSP), we compare the voting intentions of the British prior to Brexit with the 2016 referendum results, and we show that these results were not a surprise. Secondly, we provide clear evidence for the correlation between the Brexit´s results and protectionist preferences and opinions towards immigrants. Finally, we estimate probit and logit models that shed light on the impact of sociodemographic attributes on these preferences which are in line with the 2016 referendum results.