Re-Leaver

English

Alternative forms

• re-Leaver

Etymology

Coined by YouGov for a report released on May 12th 2017. Blend of Remainer +‎ Leaver.

Noun

Re-Leaver (plural Re-Leavers)

1. Someone who backed remaining in the European Union up until the referendum on membership, but has since changed to support for leaving, typically out of acceptance of the outcome of the referendum.
   • 2017 May 15, Nicole Stinson, “Rise of ‘Re-Leaver’ voters may lead to a Conservative landslide in the General Election”, in Daily Express:

     THE rise of a class of voters dubbed the “Re-Leavers” could secure the Conservatives a huge majority in the General Election, it has been reported.

   • 2017 May 18, Anoosh Chakelian, “5 things we learned from the leaders’ debates for the smaller parties”, in New Statesman:

     Perhaps it’s because the “Re-Leaver” theory (that many of those who voted Remain have accepted the referendum result and don’t want the result reversed) resonates, or maybe it simply feels stale to stage a rerun of the referendum campaign, but their ideas on housing, climate change, education and health were more compelling than their stance on how (or whether) the UK should leave the European Union.

   • 2017 June 3, Karla Adam, “48 percent of Britain voted to stay in the E.U. last June. Where have they gone?”, in Washington Post:

     He said that nearly half of those who voted to remain in the E.U. — the Re-Leavers — now just want to make the best of an undesirable situation.

   • 2018 July 13, Andrew Gryce, “For the first time since the 2016 vote for Brexit, I think a second referendum could be possible”, in The Independent:

     A Remainer turned “Re-Leaver”, he wants Conservative MPs and members to know he’s a fully paid-up Brexiteer because, along with about 20 rivals, he wants to succeed Theresa May.

   • 2018 August 2, George Eaton, “Why the EEA model is not a safe option for Tory Brexiteers”, in New Statesman:

     Labour Leavers (such as Frank Field and Kate Hoey) and Re-Leavers (such as Caroline Flint and Gareth Snell) would also vote against EEA membership – an alliance of those opposed to free markets and those opposed to free movement means May cannot simply borrow a majority from Labour.

   • 2018 October 18, Robert Shrimsley, “How Brexit killed tolerance”, in Financial Times:

     Once there were Leavers and Remainers. Then Regrexiters, Re-Leavers and Remoaners.

Anagrams

• revealer