Marina Wheeler Reveals She Also Backed Brexit in 2016, Citing EU Judicial Overreach and Loss of UK Control

Marina Wheeler, Boris Johnson’s ex-wife and a leading human rights lawyer, states that her decision to oppose continued EU membership in 2016 likely influenced his choice to lead the Brexit campaign. The couple had been married for 27 years after marrying in 1993 and divorcing in 2020. Both attended the European School in Brussels.

Wheeler writes in Sir Anthony Seldon’s book “The Brexit Effect,” now being serialised by The Independent, that she had long supported the EU while Johnson remained a sceptic. ” “The fact that I, a lifelong supporter of the project, felt in 2016 that the status quo was no longer acceptable undoubtedly struck him,” Wheeler writes.

“Perhaps he saw the shift in my view as a bellwether of wider opinion.

In a sense, it was. ” She recalls conducting a straw poll among friends ahead of the referendum that showed few could name their MEP. Wheeler adds that EU decision-making had grown while national politics shrank, tipping the balance for her by 2016.

Johnson announced his decision to lead the Leave campaign four months before the June 2016 referendum. Reports later showed he had drafted one essay supporting Brexit and another opposing it before making up his mind. Wheeler says she does not regret the outcome.

“Ten years on, I do not regret the decision,” she writes. “But the continuing division is dispiriting. ” The Independent is running the serialisation as part of its “Europe: The Way Back” campaign, which examines the impact of Brexit and future UK-EU relations.