Our Patch AUTUMN 2017
PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES
Losing it
A year on, fallout from the EU referendum still divides
families and fractures friendships. Two west Londoners
have produced a detailed, coolly argued book explaining
why Britain voted Leave. They talked to Tim Harrison
Y
ou can thank Peppa Pig for
the fact that we now have
the definitive book on why
Britain voted the way it did
in last year’s referendum.
West London neighbours
Paul Goldsmith and Jason Farrell were
taking their daughters to the porcine
character’s theme park in the wake of
the result.
Paul, 43, a political blogger and
Latymer Upper politics teacher, argued
that a cocktail of historical factors had
made a Leave vote inevitable. Jason, 46,
a Sky political correspondent, disagreed
and said that it was the way the Leave
16/17
and Remain campaigns had been run
which had determined the outcome.
As their daughters rolled their eyes in
the back seat, Paul and Jason continued
the heated debate for 70 miles.
By the time they were careering
down the log flume at the Hampshire
adventure park they had decided to
collaborate on a book to try to make
sense of a vote which has split the
country, turning generations against
each other and fracturing lifelong
friendships. The result, How To Lose A
Referendum, was published a year to the
day after the fateful ballot.
In the space of eight months, while
holding down their day jobs, the pair
researched and wrote a 180,000-word
manuscript, complete with detailed
footnotes. “I think the next book we’ll
write is How To Lose A Family,” joked
Paul, who lives near Ealing Common.
“We were sometimes writing for 14
hours a day; in coffee shops, in different
rooms in my house… sometimes Jason
actually lived here!”
He acknowledges that it was not
a task he could have completed on
his own, even though he’s a prolific
political blogger (pjgoldsmith.com).
“He has skills I don’t have,” said Paul.
“Jason did some amazing interviews,