> The UK government then decided to honour the will demonstrated by the 37.5% of the population that cast a vote in favour of leaving the EU (51.9% of the result at a 72.2% turnout).
That's how elections work. Your logic only serves to allows one to delegitimize any non-landslide election by selectively setting unreasonably high standards. It's probably more legitimate to say that 27.8% of the electorate indicated that they're indifferent to the outcome by not bothering to vote.
Sure, that's a cheap shot but I thought it's worth pointing out as an aside.
Firstly 51.9% is a ridiculously low margin to begin with, especially if you consider that Northern Ireland and Scotland had a majority in the opposite direction.
Secondly the referendum was intended to be non-binding, which means people were more likely to vent their frustration by voting whichever way upsets the status quo.
Lastly even those who wanted out of the EU had formed their opinion based on decades of "us vs them" rhetoric by British MPs who regularly used the EU as a scapegoat and distraction (not to mention the outright lies used in the actual Leave campaign).
That's how elections work. Your logic only serves to allows one to delegitimize any non-landslide election by selectively setting unreasonably high standards. It's probably more legitimate to say that 27.8% of the electorate indicated that they're indifferent to the outcome by not bothering to vote.