My views on EU may have influenced Boris Johnson’s decision to back Brexit, his ex-wife says

Boris Johnson’s ex-wife has claimed her views on the European Union may have influenced her husband’s decision to lead the Brexit campaign.

Marina Wheeler, a leading human rights lawyer, says that, unlike her ex-husband, she was a strong supporter of the EU for most of their 27-year marriage.

However, in Sir Anthony Seldon’s book ‘The Brexit Effect’, serialized in 2013, he states that his view changed when he was ‘horrified’ to learn of the ‘unacceptable’ power of European judges over UK law. Independent.

Serialization is part of a new campaign Independent on how Britain could rebuild its broken ties with Europe. The Europe: Road to Return campaign will feature news, analysis, interviews and live events examining the impact of Brexit and what our relationship with Europe should look like.

Ms Wheeler says her change of heart ahead of the 2016 EU referendum had a huge impact on Mr Johnson, to whom she was married at the time.

“As a lifelong supporter of the project, he was undoubtedly touched by the fact that in 2016 I felt that the status quo was no longer acceptable. Perhaps he saw my change in view as a precursor to broader views. In a way, it was. The EU had changed,” he writes.

Ms Wheeler suggests this may have convinced her that public opinion had turned against the EU.

Mr Johnson’s decision to lead the successful Brexit campaign came just four months before the vote and caused a sensation. After the referendum, it emerged that he was so indecisive before making his decision that he wrote two articles, one for and one against Brexit.

In her article, Ms. Wheeler describes how they met when they attended the European School in Brussels. They married in 1993 and divorced in 2020.

He writes: “Since our Brussels days in the 1990s, he had remained a (euro) skeptic and I an enthusiast. As a lifelong supporter of the (European) project, he was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that in 2016 I felt that the status quo was no longer acceptable. Perhaps he saw my change in view as a precursor to a broader idea. In a sense, it was. The EU had changed.”

Ms Wheeler says it was the right decision even though the post-Brexit situation “threatens to tear apart the social fabric”.

“Ten years later, I don’t regret my decision. But the continued division is demoralizing. We’re still in our silos, clinging to outdated thinking, resentful and too shy to make the changes we need.”

His support for the EU “in its heyday in the 1990s” waned “as the EU’s decision-making grew (and) national policies shrank”.

Ms Wheeler says she conducted a survey of her friends at the time, which showed that very few people even knew their MP’s name.

The discovery of the power of the European Court of Justice over UK justice – “a dramatic loss of national control” – had a huge impact on him. “I must admit, I was horrified when I came across this.

“I was still married to Boris at that point. For a while the promised benefits seemed to outweigh the restrictions. But by 2016 I and others felt the balance tipping the other way.

“As voters challenged the status quo, the need for change became urgent. When it became clear that the EU did not want to do it… I reluctantly concluded that it was time to take back control.”

Ms Wheeler says “strong close relations between the UK and continental Europe” are vital.

But he adds: “Talking about ‘rejoining’ the EU is not a productive way forward.

“EU action was often seen as an attack on national sovereignty, which Britain had to resist. Rejoining the EU or unilaterally aligning with it… would be reactionary.”

But Ms. Wheeler says Brussels also needs to change. “On the EU side, it is time to stop punishing the UK for leaving.”

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