Getting Brexit Done

In the early hours of Friday, December 13, 2019, a triumphant Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, stood in front of his supporters and declared, “We did it – we pulled it off, didn’t we? We broke the deadlock, [. . .] we smashed the roadblock. [. . .] This election means getting Brexit done is now the irrefutable, irresistible, unarguable decision of the British people.” To Johnson, this was the culmination of a long process that had started with the shocking results of the 2016 referendum on Britain’s exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU). But many long-run economic and political challenges still lay ahead: Would the UK and the EU be able to agree on a mutually-beneficial economic relationship before the end of the transition period? Could the UK negotiate better deals with other countries in a context of rising global protectionism? With renewed calls for Scottish independence and uncertainty about Northern Ireland’s future, would the UK itself start to break apart?