Former MP David Rutley says Brexit was a decision he "couldn't sleep" over

At a Hinckley Forum event at the University of Utah, David Rutley, a former U.K. lawmaker, described Brexit as one of the most consequential and personally difficult decisions he faced in Parliament.

Rutley said he voted to remain in the European Union, but that the question split his party and his local selectorate. “I voted in the end to remain, but it was a really tough call for me,” he said, adding that the referendum outcome led to David Cameron’s resignation and “huge, big, personal, economic, and political ramifications.”

Rutley framed Brexit as emblematic of the larger political pressures officials face when party priorities, constituency concerns and personal judgment diverge. He described the referendum campaign and subsequent years of implementation as intense and protracted: “But then it took us 4 years to deliver it.”

He also reflected on the Conservative Party’s later electoral setbacks, citing leadership missteps and losses of public trust: “There comes a point where people stop listening when they've lost trust and that was the problem.” Rutley credited Labour’s efficient vote in one recent election while noting that Labour initially lacked the clear narrative of earlier leaders.

Audience members at the forum asked about rising polarization and whether the U.K. is experiencing trends similar to the U.S.; Rutley said polarization exists in both countries and advised restraint in social media use and respectful in-person engagement.

Rutley’s remarks placed Brexit in a longer arc of U.K. politics — including the 2010 financial austerity period, the Scottish referendum and subsequent elections — and described how high-stakes national choices can force long deliberation and real consequences for government and party leadership.